Libby joined KL 4 years ago as a paralegal. Her experience as a paralegal – and as an educator before that – gives her an invaluable perspective on advocating for others.
We caught up with her to learn more about how she helps KL affect change for their clients.
What was your background before working at KL?
Before working at KL, I was at another personal injury firm. Prior to that, I was teaching. I taught for 10 years – third, fourth, and fifth grade.
What inspired you to pursue roles where you advocate for others?
I think it’s just something I’m ingrained with. My parents were very hard workers – both took a lot of pride in their work and caring for their clients, keeping customers happy. My dad had his own land surveying business, and my mom was an executive housekeeper for hotel chains. So, she was in charge of a bunch of employees and always had to make sure that everything was perfect. She would never settle for less.
What attracted you to work for KL Injury Attorneys?
My sister works for KL as a paralegal. She’s been in the business for 35 years, and she’s known Ian, Bennett, and Nick for years and always spoke very highly of them. From my standpoint, they’re very easy to talk to and very caring and compassionate with their employees and their clients. I just feel very comfortable working for them. I feel like they’re an extended family – we’re all working together.
What skills from being an educator do you think help most working as a paralegal?
I would say communication, communicating to clients frequently, staying in touch with them, answering their questions and breaking down the process of a personal injury claim. There are a lot of questions and a lot of different stages along the way. So, I explain this to the clients and then I often re-explain it two or three more times throughout the case just because it’s a lot of information. And being a teacher, you want to make sure they understand and are always kept in the loop.
If you could teach the KL team one skill from your teaching days, what would it be?
That’s a hard question, but I do have one thing that I’ve been thinking about. I actually would like to see ongoing education. There is a lot of information everyone here has to share about unique cases and new laws that go into effect – things like that.
KL is sponsoring a “Teacher of the Month” with WFPB 25 News. What would you have done for your classroom if you’d won the $1000 prize?
I used to work in a low-income school with low socioeconomic status. A lot of the students there came from single-parent homes, didn’t have a lot of money, you know, but the families were always very involved. Every year, I would ask my students, “Raise your hand: how many of you are in an organized sport? How many of you play on a team—soccer or whatever?”
And every year in the 10 years that I taught, I would have maybe one kid raise their hand. They were active little children, but they were never on an organized team. So, if I had $1,000 handed to me, I would probably just sign them all up for soccer, basketball, dance, something like that. Because to me, it’s not only about educating them in the classroom, buying more books, buying more math manipulatives to help them with their academics. I feel like it’s important to be part of the community outside of school.
They can develop their talents and discover talents they didn’t realize they even had. It creates opportunities for them and hope, especially in those lower-income schools where they feel kind of limited. But if sports was not an option, then I would spend the money on hands-on science activities and have somebody come to give a full day of fun, hands-on science experiments.
What do you do for fun?
I love being outdoors as much as possible. Walking, biking, running, hiking, going to the beach, dining near the water, taking my dogs for long walks. We just moved to Sebastian, so I’m near the water here – it’s awesome. We like going to mom-and-pop places. Lots of fun food here to eat and bands almost every night. A lot of 80s-based, you know, my era. But I like 50s, 60s, 80s. Today’s music’s pretty good, too.
Do you miss having summers off?
Ha! Sure, but I will say that the summers go fast, even for a teacher. You spend a lot of your time planning for the school year.