Karen Banks, an LSE alumna, is one of the most senior officials in the European Commission, serving as Deputy Director-General of the Commission Legal Service. In this capacity she coordinates certain activities of the Legal Service of the Commission, which is in charge of providing legal advice within the institution and of acting on its behalf before the General Court and the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Previously, as a senior member of the Legal Service Karen Banks had responsibility for a series of major portfolios, including the media and intellectual property sectors, and, as a Commission official, oversaw the legal aspects of external relations with candidate Central and Eastern European states. She has also published several influential pieces on EU law, including in the European Law Review, the Common Market Law Review, and the Industrial Law Journal, and is a regular commentator at leading conferences on EU law. Karen Banks holds an LLM from LSE and a BCL from University College Dublin and is an Ireland-qualified solicitor.