var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); });
device = device.default;
//this function refreshes [adhesion] ad slot every 60 second and makes prebid bid on it every 60 seconds // Set timer to refresh slot every 60 seconds function setIntervalMobile() { if (!device.mobile()) return if (adhesion) setInterval(function(){ googletag.pubads().refresh([adhesion]); }, 60000); } if(device.desktop()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.tablet()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.mobile()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Enable lazy loading with... googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ // Fetch slots within 5 viewports. // fetchMarginPercent: 500, fetchMarginPercent: 100, // Render slots within 2 viewports. // renderMarginPercent: 200, renderMarginPercent: 100, // Double the above values on mobile, where viewports are smaller // and users tend to scroll faster. mobileScaling: 2.0 }); });
Download App | FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
 Upload Your Resume   Employers / Post Jobs 

Karen Woodward: CLA, Pearson, Horowitz & Burnett, P.C., Denver, CO

published July 24, 2006

Published By
( 44 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
<<Woodward is currently taking training courses that will prepare her to be a Child and Family Investigator (CFI). She already has 30 out of the 40 required training hours and is excited about finishing up and getting involved in what she describes as a "very cool field."

"[A CFI is] a Child and Family Investigator appointed by the courts in divorce matters to help facilitate and recommend to the court parenting time plans [and] potential counseling that may be needed for either the parent or children or both and to kind of be a liaison between the children [and the courts]," she said.


Woodward thinks the voice of the children should be heard in family law issues and that judges should heed the recommendations of CFIs when dealing with divorce cases. She said her interest in this area came from her past experiences with family law, a need she saw in the court system, and some of her own personal experiences.

"I did do some family law for a while which was very interesting," she said. "Having to listen to everyone's immediate problems…and what they considered emergencies in their life, you really took a different perspective on the fact that you were not only helping someone get the divorce but you were helping them learn to cope with visitation, learn to cope with having to be nice to this person that they want to divorce, and [learn to] work together for the sake of the children."

Woodward first became a paralegal at the suggestion of some attorneys with whom she worked at the time.

"I had actually been working in foreclosures and bankruptcies for a mortgage company, and the attorneys that we were using kept talking to me and saying, 'Karen, you're on the wrong side of the fence. You really ought to be with us. You've got great potential here. Why don't you think about moving into more of a legal career?'" she said.

After considering their suggestions, she decided to pursue a paralegal position. In order to improve her knowledge of the law while she was in school, she got a part time job as a legal secretary in a law office, something she recommends to all paralegal students. She said working in the legal field while in school is a great way to get a realistic idea of what paralegals do after graduation, and it also helped her better understand the material she learned in class.

Currently, Woodward's position at Pearson, Horowitz & Burnett is a combination of a paralegal and legal secretary position. As one of only two paralegals at the firm, she works in a variety of different areas.

"I do kind of a combination of everything, primarily civil litigation," she said. "We do some employment and labor law work, as well as general civil cases. We have a lot of trial work going on right now. We also do a mixture of other things. We've done some wills and estates and other things on occasion—kind of a general practice for most of the clients that we service."

Her favorite parts of her job include organizing documents, preparing the firm's attorneys for trial, and participating in case discussions.

Over the course of her career, Woodward has worked for firms in various states including Florida and California; and she has made some great memories.

"In California, I really enjoyed the complex litigation cases," she said. "I really enjoyed digging through documents—mounds and mounds and rooms full of documents—and hopefully finding that one little smoking-gun piece, which I have done on occasion; and it really makes for a great time in a case."

In addition to her duties at the firm, Woodward is also involved in the Colorado Association of Professional Paralegals and Legal Assistants (CAPPLA) and helped found the association. Upon moving to Colorado, she and several other Certified Legal Assistants (CLAs) decided to start an association that would provide continuing education to CLAs in their area. CAPPLA was also instrumental in getting the state of Colorado to adopt an official Paralegal Day on which paralegals would be celebrated and honored.

"It makes the law firms aware of what we do for them, and it also makes the general public aware," she said.

published July 24, 2006

( 44 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.