Professional Profile: Kari Berger, Indianapolis, IN

Professional Profile: Kari Berger, Indianapolis, IN

Kari Berger, of Indianapolis, IN, answers my Thirteen Questions this week. She is employed by Delaney & Delaney, LLC. in Indianapolis. Kari is the Marketing/Public Relations Director for the Indiana Paralegal Association (IPA) and is also a member of NFPA.

You’ll enjoy reading Kari’s profile, particularly her ideas for keeping your paralegal career interesting…and what she’d do if she couldn’t work as a paralegal. Thanks, Kari!

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Kari L. Berger
Indianapolis, Indiana

1. Where do you work and what is your job title? I’m a paralegal with DeLaney & DeLaney LLC. in Indianapolis.

2. What prompted you to choose a paralegal career? It was supposed to be a stop along the way to law school but I fell in love with the position and the people in my office.

3. What is your favorite part of your job? I love being the person to initially review documents in a case through the discovery process…I love finding the “smoking guns”.

4. What professional associations do you belong to? Indiana Paralegal Association, National Federation of Paralegals, Indianapolis Women’s Golf League and I volunteer on the Operations Committee for the Susan G. Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure.

5. How has your membership benefited you? My memberships have helped me become more connected to the legal community and other working women in Indianapolis. It has been a very strong networking tool.

6. Do you have any professional certifications? The preliminary results reflect that I recently passed the PACE examination, however I am not allowed to start using this certification until September when the official results are released.

7. What has been the highlight of your career? I received the 2008 New Member Paralegal of the Year award from the IPA.

8. What do you see as hot trends in the paralegal industry? E-discovery! This is everywhere you look right now — especially CLE’s!!

9. Have you dipped your toes in the social media waters? I do have a Facebook account.

10. If someone contemplating a paralegal career asked you for career advice, what would your answer be? It is the perfect position for someone who loves to be involved in the legal community, but does not like public speaking. I never have to appear in front of a judge, which seems a little scary to me!

11. Is there a quote that inspires you? “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”

12. You’ve enjoyed a successful paralegal career. To what single event or person do you attribute that success? Kathleen DeLaney took a chance on me when I was fresh out of college. She has been a fantastic teacher and mentor.

13. What is the most important step a paralegal can take to keep his or her career interesting? With all the new technology out there today, there is always a new development or some new software related to the legal field. I try to attend CLE seminars to learn about all the new advancements. This gives me an opportunity to keep in touch with modern technology and gives me ideas of how to do my job more efficiently

Bonus…just for fun question: If you could not be a paralegal, what would be your dream job? That’s easy…I’d be a professional golfer.