Karen Stanley
Karen Stanley
Partner
Email Address : karen@shelegal.com.au
Phone Number : 0420 349 737
Social : Facebook
If you ask Karen’s clients what they think of her legal services, they’d probably say she gives honest advice. She calls it as she sees it and doesn’t beat around the bush. It means there are no nasty surprises for her clients about their legal position or chances of success. They’d also say she’s a fierce defender of personal rights and committed to ensuring the police don’t overstep their powers.
These are the values that underpin Karen’s outstanding legal services. You’ll get clear information, legal brilliance, and firmly held values when you engage Karen as your lawyer.
How Karen helps her clients
As a former prosecutor, Karen understands how the other side approaches a case. She uses that knowledge to work out the best approach for her clients, often resulting in charges being withdrawn or downgraded. This is partly because Karen has an excellent working relationship with prosecutors and court staff, and she has their respect.
Karen’s success is also due to her ability to understand and interpret highly technical concepts. This means she can highlight technical issues to the prosecution early on, which sometimes helps to resolve charges before trial. It saves the time, money, stress and disruption that a criminal trial can cause.
Even better, as a skilled trial lawyer, Karen runs cases from beginning to end. From taking first instructions and giving advice to representing clients in court and, if necessary, appealing cases to the Supreme Court
Traffic law expertise
Karen’s skills as a traffic lawyer are widely celebrated.
She’s known for her impressive understanding of the technical aspects of traffic law, particularly in cases involving calibrated detection devices such as speed guns, speed cameras, red light cameras and breath analysis machines.
She has run several successful Supreme Court appeals, many of which now form the basis of how traffic offences are prosecuted and defended in South Australia. They include:
- The Supreme Court ruling that prosecution could not prove the accuracy of hand-held speed guns, resulting in the dismissal of all pending fines and charges at the time. The government had to amend legislation to overcome the problems with the testing regime, as highlighted in the Supreme Court judgments.
- The Supreme Court ruling that the testing regime for red light cameras was not done as required by legislation, resulting in the dismissal of all pending fines and charges at the time.
- Police withdrawing all fines and charges relating to trucks/buses exceeding the speed limit on the South Eastern Freeway due to issues with evidence, as highlighted by Karen.
Karen’s ability to find technical problems in prosecution cases has often led to not-guilty findings or the withdrawal of charges for her clients and all defendants facing the same charges
Criminal law career path
Karen’s passion has always been criminal law.
After starting her career as an insurance lawyer, in the early 2000s she moved to Queensland to work as a prosecutor with the Queensland Government.
She was involved in the prosecution of serious and complex crimes, including:
- Offending against children
- Historical sex offences
- Fraud, theft and robbery
- Serious assaults
Karen earned a reputation for her strong empathy for the victims and her determination to fight hard for justice.
But soon, Karen realised that this fight demanded strong advocates on both sides. Without dedicated defence lawyers, innocent people may suffer injustice due to the often complicated and overwhelming criminal justice system.
So, Karen returned to South Australia to take up a role as a criminal law specialist in a private law firm. During this time, Karen worked closely with Naomi Hill in criminal and traffic law. She also worked with Laura Elkins, observing how family law clients often needed trustworthy, straightforward legal help. The similarities between these legal areas were clear.
Several years later, in 2017, Karen established her own criminal and traffic law firm, Stanley Law. In 2022, Naomi Hill joined Stanley Law, and in 2025 it became Stanley Hill Elkins when family lawyer Laura Elkins joined the team.
Read more about Stanley Law’s transformation to Stanley Hill Elkins.
Media appearances and mentions
Journalists often call on Karen to provide comment or give advice about criminal law technicalities as background to their stories.
Here are some of her media appearances and mentions:
Parole win
- Derek Bromley ‘relieved’ to be granted freedom after 40 years in jail for murder he says he didn’t commit
- After 40 years in jail, Derek Bromley awaits parole decision while serving life sentence for the murder of Stephen Docoza
Speeding
- Traffic lawyer says new extreme speeding laws may not make it easier to punish hoons
- Driver of car clocked 51kph over limit in Seacliff Park wins appeal against speeding conviction
- Freeway fiasco: Police drop hundreds of fines, cases
- Fines may be paid back after speed guns debacle
- SA Police to withdraw use of laser speed guns following court cases
- Speeding fine challenges likely after landmark South Australian court ruling, lawyer says
- Ruling casts doubt on thousands of speeding fines
- Fines may be paid back after speed guns debacle
- Top cop denies police will drop SE freeway fines
- Freeway fines fiasco may have caught hundreds more
- Driver of car clocked 51kph over limit in Seacliff Park wins appeal against speeding conviction
Red light traffic cameras
- Supreme Court finds fixed traffic camera testing ‘invalid’
- Adelaide man gets off red-light camera fine because no-one tested cars going through it on red
- Red-light camera fines could be challenged on ‘case-by-case basis’ after judgement
- The honeymoon is over – red light camera fines are back
Mobile phone use
- Mobile phone payments ban at takeaway drive-throughs spark motorist backlash
- Adelaide drivers fined for resting phones on laps after being caught by mobile detection cameras
Drug driving
Professional memberships
Karen is highly involved in the legal community and is a member of the Law Society of South Australia’s Criminal Law Committee, often talking to the media about criminal law issues on behalf of the Law Society.
How Karen helps her clients
As a former prosecutor, Karen understands how the other side approaches a case. She uses that knowledge to work out the best approach for her clients, often resulting in charges being withdrawn or downgraded. This is partly because Karen has an excellent working relationship with prosecutors and court staff, and she has their respect.
Karen’s success is also due to her ability to understand and interpret highly technical concepts. This means she can highlight technical issues to the prosecution early on, which sometimes helps to resolve charges before trial. It saves the time, money, stress and disruption that a criminal trial can cause.
Even better, as a skilled trial lawyer, Karen runs cases from beginning to end. From taking first instructions and giving advice to representing clients in court and, if necessary, appealing cases to the Supreme Court
Traffic law expertise
Karen’s skills as a traffic lawyer are widely celebrated.
She’s known for her impressive understanding of the technical aspects of traffic law, particularly in cases involving calibrated detection devices such as speed guns, speed cameras, red light cameras and breath analysis machines.
She has run several successful Supreme Court appeals, many of which now form the basis of how traffic offences are prosecuted and defended in South Australia. They include:
- The Supreme Court ruling that prosecution could not prove the accuracy of hand-held speed guns, resulting in the dismissal of all pending fines and charges at the time. The government had to amend legislation to overcome the problems with the testing regime, as highlighted in the Supreme Court judgments.
- The Supreme Court ruling that the testing regime for red light cameras was not done as required by legislation, resulting in the dismissal of all pending fines and charges at the time.
- Police withdrawing all fines and charges relating to trucks/buses exceeding the speed limit on the South Eastern Freeway due to issues with evidence, as highlighted by Karen.
Karen’s ability to find technical problems in prosecution cases has often led to not-guilty findings or the withdrawal of charges for her clients and all defendants facing the same charges
Criminal law career path
Karen’s passion has always been criminal law.
After starting her career as an insurance lawyer, in the early 2000s she moved to Queensland to work as a prosecutor with the Queensland Government.
She was involved in the prosecution of serious and complex crimes, including:
- Offending against children
- Historical sex offences
- Fraud, theft and robbery
- Serious assaults
Karen earned a reputation for her strong empathy for the victims and her determination to fight hard for justice.
But soon, Karen realised that this fight demanded strong advocates on both sides. Without dedicated defence lawyers, innocent people may suffer injustice due to the often complicated and overwhelming criminal justice system.
So, Karen returned to South Australia to take up a role as a criminal law specialist in a private law firm. During this time, Karen worked closely with Naomi Hill in criminal and traffic law. She also worked with Laura Elkins, observing how family law clients often needed trustworthy, straightforward legal help. The similarities between these legal areas were clear.
Several years later, in 2017, Karen established her own criminal and traffic law firm, Stanley Law. In 2022, Naomi Hill joined Stanley Law, and in 2025 it became Stanley Hill Elkins when family lawyer Laura Elkins joined the team.
Read more about Stanley Law’s transformation to Stanley Hill Elkins.
Media appearances and mentions
Journalists often call on Karen to provide comment or give advice about criminal law technicalities as background to their stories.
Here are some of her media appearances and mentions:
Parole win
- Derek Bromley ‘relieved’ to be granted freedom after 40 years in jail for murder he says he didn’t commit
- After 40 years in jail, Derek Bromley awaits parole decision while serving life sentence for the murder of Stephen Docoza
Speeding
- Traffic lawyer says new extreme speeding laws may not make it easier to punish hoons
- Driver of car clocked 51kph over limit in Seacliff Park wins appeal against speeding conviction
- Freeway fiasco: Police drop hundreds of fines, cases
- Fines may be paid back after speed guns debacle
- SA Police to withdraw use of laser speed guns following court cases
- Speeding fine challenges likely after landmark South Australian court ruling, lawyer says
- Ruling casts doubt on thousands of speeding fines
- Fines may be paid back after speed guns debacle
- Top cop denies police will drop SE freeway fines
- Freeway fines fiasco may have caught hundreds more
- Driver of car clocked 51kph over limit in Seacliff Park wins appeal against speeding conviction
Red light traffic cameras
- Supreme Court finds fixed traffic camera testing ‘invalid’
- Adelaide man gets off red-light camera fine because no-one tested cars going through it on red
- Red-light camera fines could be challenged on ‘case-by-case basis’ after judgement
- The honeymoon is over – red light camera fines are back
Mobile phone use
- Mobile phone payments ban at takeaway drive-throughs spark motorist backlash
- Adelaide drivers fined for resting phones on laps after being caught by mobile detection cameras
Drug driving
Professional memberships
Karen is highly involved in the legal community and is a member of the Law Society of South Australia’s Criminal Law Committee, often talking to the media about criminal law issues on behalf of the Law Society.
Get in touch
To arrange your free first consultation, contact Karen by phone or email, or fill out our contact form.
Email Address : karen@shelegal.com.au
Phone Number : 0420 349 737