Walt Karnstein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 6, 1965. He was raised just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and in 1983 moved to Chicago, Illinois to attend Northwestern University. In 1987, Walt received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and moved to Oregon to attend Willamette University Law School. He joined Kolisch Hartwell upon graduation from law school in 1990. Walt is a member of the Oregon State Bar, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Walt began his technical training as a draftsman while still in high school, but later worked at various electronics and computer-related jobs. One of those jobs took Walt to Frankfurt, Germany, where he worked on the development and testing of a factory-automation, monorail conveyor system.
Walt is active in the American Bar Association, serving on the Executive Counsel of the ABA's Law Practice Management Section. Walt also chairs ABA/LPM's Practice Management Committee, and is Vice Chair of Development on its Publishing Board, which produces books relating to a variety of legal topics. He has also served on the Executive Council of the ABA's Young Lawyers Division, has chaired the Oregon New Lawyers Division, and served on the Board of Directors of the Multnomah Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section. He was Chief Editor of The Affiliate, a national legal magazine. Walt also is a member of the Oregon Patent Law Association and the Intellectual Property Law Sections of the ABA and Oregon State Bar.
Walt has written articles on various intellectual property matters, has served on the ALI/ABA Committee on Continuing Professional Education, and has organized and presented various educational programs on legal topics in various parts of the United States.