Karen Matson Donohue was appointed to the King County Superior Court in 2018. Judge Donohue has served as the Chief Criminal Judge, Assistant Chief Criminal Judge, as Lead Involuntary Treatment Act Judge and as a member of King County Superior Court’s Executive Committee, Education Committee, Budget Committee, Personnel Committee and Safety Committee. Judge Donohue served as a Superior Court Judges’ Association (SCJA) District 1 Trustee in 2019 – 22. Prior to her appointment to Superior Court, Judge Donohue served for seven years on the Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) bench where she was the presiding judge of SMC between 2016 and the time of her appointment to Superior Court.

Within NAWJ, Judge Donohue has served in several roles: District 13 Director (2016 – 18); Vice President of Publications (2018 – 19); President Elect (2019 – 20); President (2020 – 21), Immediate Past President (2021 – 22) and chair of the Bylaws Committee. In 2016, she was awarded the Justice Vaino Spencer Leadership Award from the NAWJ and the Nevins Award from the Washington Judges’ Foundation.