Paralegal Spotlight: Kari Fabrizio
By the Communications Committee
Kari Fabrizio began her legal career in Baldwinsville, New York, where she owned her own freelance transcriptionist company. Since resettling to Forsyth County, North Carolina nearly 30 years ago, she has supported some of North Carolina’s most sought-after family law attorneys. Today, Kari is a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal at Dana Wilson Law in Winston-Salem. In her role as a family law paralegal, Kari works closely with people facing some of the most difficult times of their lives. After all, nobody hires a family lawyer because things are great at home. Kari’s ability to make every client feel heard is one of her many paralegal superpowers. From an attorney support perspective, Kari digests and organizes large volumes of information with ease, prepares motions, discovery, and financial affidavits with a keen eye for detail, and assembles mediation and trial preparation materials like it is in her DNA. Kari’s diligent nature goes a long way toward attorneys and clients presenting their best possible case.
When asked about some of her biggest paralegal pet peeves, Kari shared that communication is key. “It’s really important to have a clear understanding of what the lawyer wants and to receive timely feedback,” she says. Kari also assists clients in gathering the necessary documents in order to maintain and organize their files and says that the most successful cases are the ones where the client, the paralegal, and the attorney all communicate and work together towards the client’s objectives. She thinks that attorneys and paralegals should collaborate within their firms to develop best practices that provide excellent service to the clients. Organizing and maintaining the many aspects of a family lawyer’s practice takes a lot of finesse, and colleagues describe Kari as fiercely organized, an excellent communicator, and great listener. She’s also very generous with her time when it comes to sharing her practical skills and experience. Kari’s advice to new paralegals is to always take good notes – and refer back to them! She says that training a new paralegal is an expensive commitment – from a temporal and financial perspective – so taking good notes is one way you can demonstrate that you appreciate that investment.
In her free time, Kari enjoys good tunes and good times. She spends many weekends heading out in her camper – frequently traveling to the region’s lakes, beaches, mountains, and music festivals. She is a mother to adult sons and her favorite job in the world is being a Mimi.
The division appreciates Kari for participating in the Paralegal Spotlight. Thank you for taking the time to read her story!
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The Paralegal Division Blog is managed by the Division’s Communications Committee. Via the blog, the Communications Committee provides information written by attorneys, paralegals, and other experts designed specifically for paralegals in the areas of substantive law, ethics, technology, paralegal practice advice, and more. If you are interested in signing up to submit a blog post on a future date, you can do so here. When you are ready to submit a blog post, you can do so by using this form.
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