The son of an abstract expressionist painter and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Curtis Karnow grew up in Hong Kong and came to the United States for school in the 9th grade. Known for his expertise in complex litigation, Karnow is an acclaimed author, mentor and teacher who has developed courses for judges and lawyers on implicit bias in the courts.
After completing his education at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Judge Karnow served as an assistant U.S. attorney and specialized in antitrust, intellectual property litigation, and computer and internet law while in private practice. His pro bono work included major appellate work for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and representing indigent San Francisco families to obtain guardianships of children.
A lifelong Democrat, Judge Karnow was appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court in 2005. He serves on the court’s Complex Civil Litigation department and was presiding judge of the Court’s Appellate Division. Karnow has been credited with saving San Francisco City College (CCSF). In 2015 and 2016, he issued rulings against the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and in favor of CCSF. The rulings prevented CCSF from losing its accreditation and shutting down.
Judge Karnow teaches new and experienced judges and has lectured at the University of Michigan Business School, the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and the law schools at Stanford, New York University, Yale, Hastings and University of San Francisco. He frequently speaks at bar meetings on civil procedure and complex litigation, experts, legal writing, technology, bias and decision-making, and settlement.
Judge Karnow is also an accomplished author. He is co-author of “The Rutter Guide,” the bible of California’s civil lawyers, and his most recent book, “Litigation in Practice,” was heralded as one of the “8 Best Litigation Books of All Time.” He is married with two adult children.
