The newest addition to our attorney team, Charlotte E. Krem was admitted to practice law in the State of California in 2019, and joined Kirtland & Packard LLP in January of 2021. Her work spans an array of practice areas, including personal injury, discrimination in employment and education, wage and hour, and mass torts cases. From handling the written discovery process, witness depositions, and motion practice, to legal research, negotiations with opposing counsel, and the cultivation of open, mutually trusting, and communicative client relationships, Charlotte is steadily broadening her experience and sharpening her expertise in every phase of the litigation process.
Charlotte’s academic and professional background primarily centers criminal justice and international human rights law, however, her recent transition into plaintiffs’ side civil litigation is a fitting one. She has always rooted for the underdog, stood up for the little guy, and endeavored to support and amplify the voices of those who are marginalized or mistreated. Recognition of the challenges and consequences of inequality, and a fierce commitment to fundamental fairness motivated Charlotte to pursue a legal career. She believes the law should be a tool for empowerment and accountability, and is thankful to be part of a practice that increases access to justice and emboldens the aggrieved to seek the relief they deserve.
Prior to joining the firm, Charlotte was a Deputy Public Defender in Santa Barbara County, where she managed a substantial caseload comprised of all misdemeanor offenses in the City of Lompoc, in addition to civil contempt matters. She gained extensive courtroom experience, appearing on a daily basis in adult criminal court and various specialized treatment courts on behalf of indigent individuals facing criminal charges, handling each case from arraignment all the way to settlement or preparation for trial. Charlotte’s practice was guided by principles of client-centered and holistic representation. Building trust and rapport with her clients was a priority, and her advocacy on their behalf extended beyond the courtroom—remaining available and accessible, regardless of the hour, and striving to ensure any non-legal and re-entry needs were also met.
While in Santa Barbara, Charlotte also volunteered for the People’s Justice Project, a small non-profit law firm dauntlessly dedicated to protecting the civil rights, liberties, and dignity of the County’s most vulnerable residents. She contributed to critical pre-litigation stages of a lawsuit filed on behalf of a local individual, with disabilities and experiencing homelessness, seeking accountability for police harassment and misconduct.
During law school, Charlotte interned in Madrid with Women’s Link Worldwide, an international human rights non-profit organization, innovatively utilizing the law to facilitate jurisprudential, legislative, and social change advancing the rights of women and girls at the local, domestic, regional, and global level. Another summer was spent in New York City as legal intern for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence. In addition to providing comprehensive legal research and writing support, Charlotte authored a notable portion of the Annual Report to the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly. In her chapter, “Legal Framework,” she outlines the international legal obligations of nation states in transitional contexts, and detailes a novel approach to the analysis and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms that draws meaningful distinctions between their application in post-authoritarian and post-conflict contexts. In her final year, Charlotte clerked here in California for the Office of the Alameda County Public Defender.
Shaped by her diverse, public interest oriented background, Charlotte’s work is characterized by compassion, creativity, and dedication. She is excited to continue developing her practice and refining her craft, to provide thoughtful, diligent, and tenacious legal representation to her clients. In particular, Charlotte is interested in trial work and pursuing cases against large corporations, insurance companies, and other imposing institutional entities. She hopes such vigorous litigation will not only improve the lives of each client, but perhaps ultimately, the broader incentive structures, which she feels too often produce and expose individuals to exploitative, unsympathetic, and pernicious practices.
When she is not in the office, Charlotte can almost certainly be found at 13,000 feet jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. She is committed to bringing the same spirit and fearlessness to the courtroom to fight for her clients.
Education
After graduating high school in New Zealand—top of her class and in the top four percent of International Baccalaureate students worldwide—Charlotte moved to the United States for her tertiary education. In 2011, she graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a minor in psychology, and later continued her studies at Columbia University in New York City, receiving a graduate Certification of Professional Achievement in Human Rights
Charlotte earned her Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 2018. She served on the executive board of student organizations such as the Stanford Human Rights Law Association, and was active in the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, where she drafted sections of a communiqué to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and conducted field-research in Greece on the conditions and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.