Karen Frink Wolf at a glance
- Current role
- U.S. Magistrate Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Maine · Federal
- Judicial service
- Active
Karen Frink Wolf
U.S. Magistrate Judge · U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
Service record and verification
Judicial service and assignments
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maine · U.S. Magistrate Judge · Active · Assignment source ↗
Appointment and verification
- Source authority
- Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
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Biography
Professional career
- Karen Frink Wolf as a U.S. magistrate judge in the District of Maine, selected in 2022 to succeed John H. Rich III
- U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, appointed in April 2022 after selection by the court’s judges in October 2021
- On October 20, 2021, the judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine announced Wolf’s selection as a magistrate judge
- Before joining the bench, Wolf was a partner at Verrill Dana LLP in Portland, Maine, on the firm’s Executive Board, and practiced litigation for 36 years.
Education
- B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law (1985).
- It records a University of New Hampshire BA, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1982 and Syracuse JD in 1985.
Additional information
- She officially began her term on April 1, 2022, succeeding Judge John H. Rich, III.
- It lists 1985 publication and law review service awards, a trial advocacy honor, an AV rating, Maine bar and Katahdin Counsel pro bono recognition, adjunct teaching in pretrial practice at Maine Law, and service on Maine civil procedure and First Circuit rules advisory committees.
- She is admitted to practice in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals District of Maine
- She is a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been recognized by the Maine State Bar Association and Katahdin Counsel Program for her pro bono work.
- She has served on the Maine Judicial Branch Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure and the First Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Advisory Committee, and was an adjunct professor of pretrial practice at the University of Maine School of Law District of Maine
- Before judicial service she litigated for approximately 36 years, among them at Friedman & Babcock and as a Verrill Dana partner and executive board member.
- Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and First Circuit admissions are reported.
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Remote appearances
Courtwide
In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.
For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗
Recording and broadcasting
Courtwide
Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.
Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗
Published courtroom rules
Shared court rules
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the District of Maine
Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule.
Official source ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Sources
Identity source checked July 29, 2026.
Biography sources checked July 29, 2026.
U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster
Identity source · HTML · Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts · Source checked July 29, 2026
View U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster ↗Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗med.uscourts.gov
Biography source · HTML · med.uscourts.gov · verification date not recorded
View med.uscourts.gov ↗