Karine Basmadjian

Ms. Basmadjian holds undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Sociology from the University of Southern California (USC), and obtained her Juris Doctor at the University of La Verne College of Law in 1992. During her training, she was mentored by a retired California Supreme Court Justice, and she began her career working for the Pasadena branch of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. After being admitted to the California state bar in 1994, she was quickly promoted to the rank of Deputy District Attorney and served in that capacity before leaving to co-found her first private criminal defense practice. From 1995 to 2005, Ms. Basmadjian held the position of Senior Managing Partner at Nam & Basmadjian, P.C., the firm she co-founded.

Ms. Basmadjian formed Basmadjian Law in 2005 after her first eleven years in legal practice, which included stints in both the DA’s Office and the Indigent Criminal Defense Program (a panel of 330 court-appointed lawyers representing low-income criminal defendants in the Los Angeles County Superior Courts whom the Office of the Public Defender is unable to accommodate). The experience and insight she gained in working with such diverse client bases provided her with a unique understanding of how to apply policy and procedure to best serve each case; when she left the public sector to practice as a private criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, this knowledge was an invaluable asset.