--- title: "Karen Frink Wolf | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-maine-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Karen Frink Wolf U.S. District Court for the District of Maine · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maine - State: Maine - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## 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. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: 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. Evidence excerpt: 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](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: 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. Evidence excerpt: 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](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=3) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=3) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=3) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [med.uscourts.gov](https://med.uscourts.gov/news/karen-frink-wolf-selected-%C2%A0us-magistrate-judge) - [prabook.com](https://prabook.com/web/karen.frink_wolf/2703945) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-maine-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-maine-us-magistrate", "name": "Karen Frink Wolf | KnowJudges", "description": "Karen Frink Wolf, U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. 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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](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — 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](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.