--- title: "Karen Frink Wolf | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-rhode-island-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Karen Frink Wolf U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island - State: Rhode Island - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: recalled - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - On October 20, 2021, the judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine announced that Wolf had been selected to serve as a Magistrate Judge, succeeding John H. Rich III, who retired April 1, 2022 - 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 - District of Maine magistrate judge; visiting service by designation in Rhode Island - U.S. magistrate judge based in the District of Maine who has also served by designation in Rhode Island - 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. - Before the bench, she practiced litigation for 36 years and was a partner at Verrill in Portland; she is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. ### Education - B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and her J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law (1985). - University of New Hampshire — bio-444b8abfce43; bio-b7f36aef788c; user_supplied_research - Syracuse University College of Law — bio-444b8abfce43; bio-b7f36aef788c; user_supplied_research ### Additional information - Former Verrill partner in Portland, Maine; litigation practice spanning 36 years. - She is admitted to the bars of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals District of Maine - 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 - She is a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Trial Lawyers, recognized by the Maine State Bar Association and Katahdin Counsel Program for extensive pro bono work. ## 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=7) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=7) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=7) - [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) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-rhode-island-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/karen-frink-wolf-rhode-island-us-magistrate", "name": "Karen Frink Wolf | KnowJudges", "description": "Karen Frink Wolf, U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. 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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.