Paralegal Spotlight: LJ Frederick
Lajon E. Frederick (“LJ”) is a North Carolina Certified Paralegal at Fresh Start Family Law. LJ has an undeniable passion for family law and client support. When LJ reflects on her decades-long paralegal career, she does not describe it in terms of titles or positions. Instead, she talks about the families she has helped, the people she has supported through difficult moments and the importance of working in environments that align with her values and her approach to client care.
Building Skills from the Ground Up
LJ began her legal career in 1996 as a receptionist at the Law Offices of Mark E. Sullivan, P.A. It wasn’t long before the front desk became a stepping stone to broader legal work. LJ quickly moved from receptionist to legal secretary, then to legal assistant, and before long was performing paralegal tasks at the firm. During those early years, LJ learned everything from dictation to drafting pleadings. The experience shaped more than her technical skills. She learned to pay close attention to detail, to value structured process and to think through the work in step with the attorneys she supported. She credits this early exposure to foundational, “old-school” training with developing and sharpening skills that have served her well throughout her career.
Professional Milestones
LJ later joined the Williams Law Group, a family law firm where she’d spend 14 years. The role placed her at the center of active litigation matters, prepping for trials, coordinating case materials, managing timelines, and supporting attorneys as cases moved toward resolution. It was work that required precision, consistency and a deep understanding of both process and people. By this point, LJ felt firmly established in her paralegal career and went on to receive the North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal designation.
LJ, right, and her husband.
The Human Side of Family Law
LJ loves being a family law paralegal, not because it’s easy, but because the work feels deeply meaningful to her. LJ understands family transitions instinctively. She understands the emotional weight clients carry into conference rooms and phone calls, and she recognizes the role a paralegal can play in steadying that process, despite the work being demanding and often unseen.
A Different View of Family Law
In 2017, LJ joined Triangle Divorce Lawyers as a paralegal. In 2022, she began her role as an intake consultant in the firm’s sales division. LJ excelled in this new position. The role allowed her to see family law from a new vantage point, meeting clients at the very beginning of their legal experience, both emotionally and financially. However, she soon realized her interaction with new clients was brief and lacked the depth of involvement that had long defined her career. She often found herself wondering about the progress and resolution of each client’s case when they moved beyond her role. The experience reinforced what she valued most: working one-on-one with clients as a part of their lives shifts to something new.
LJ, third from left, is pictured at the NCBA Family Law CLE, 2025.
Finding the Right Fit
In January 2023, LJ began her new position as Senior Paralegal at Fresh Start Family Law. LJ found that the firm’s philosophy and client-centered approach matched her own values and approach to client support. The fit was not about prestige or pace. It was about the way the work unfolded day to day, how clients were treated, how their concerns were addressed and how care was reflected in the firm’s daily practice. LJ found her alignment with Fresh Start Family Law, where her work and relationships with clients simply fit.
Trusting Her Instincts
Through experience, LJ learned to embrace her calling and recognize when and where she thrived. Understanding her strengths gave LJ motivation to contribute fully and do her best and most meaningful work. When something feels off, she views it as motivation to continue moving toward spaces where she can contribute fully and do her best and most meaningful work.
Family, Faith, and Community
Outside of the office, LJ spends much of her time and energy with her family and in her community. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for almost thirty-five years. She is a proud mother of four children, a grandmother to seven, and she is affectionately known to a host of other extended family, children, and friends as “Nanny.” She has been a member of New Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Clayton for 20 years, where she can often be found singing in two different choirs and on the Praise Team, assisting with the Youth Choir and serving as a member of the Youth Committee. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, singing karaoke and spending countless hours supporting her grandchildren in various sports and extracurricular activities.
LJ and her family at Christmas, 2025.
Honoring the Path Forward
LJ Frederick’s story isn’t just about professional success. It’s about honoring where you started, trusting what you’ve gained through experience and allowing that wisdom to guide what comes next. Over her career, she has trained many in this field and presented at multiple CLEs. It is important to LJ that her attorneys and her clients know that she is dependable, reliable, and willing to lend a listening ear. She has been told that having a conversation with her, even over the phone, is equivalent to receiving a warm hug. Whether it’s with clients, fellow staff members or colleagues, this perception is what honors her the most.
Lakisha Chichester, ACP, NCCP, is a certified paralegal and real estate broker in Durham, NC. With over a decade of experience in legal and regulatory compliance, real estate, and corporate governance, she is passionate about staying at the forefront of legal and real estate trends. When not working, Lakisha enjoys reading, spending time outdoors, and making memories with her six grandchildren.
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.
You may also wish to participate in the Division by using our virtual suggestion box to submit suggestions/ideas to the Division Council, nominating a paralegal for Paralegal Spotlight, or completing the Paralegal Spotlight Questionnaire if you are nominating yourself. If you are interested in volunteering with the Communications Committee, please contact the Communications Committee Chair at [email protected]. If you are interested in joining other division committees, you can review a list of committees and sign up here.