The Florida Justice Association has honored Carol Goraczko with its Joan Williams Award, which “recognizes a non-attorney who demonstrates professionalism and perseverance in promoting and protecting the civil justice system.”
In Carol’s case, it is hard to imagine a better fit.
Carol has been a paralegal at our firm for seventeen years, working our cases from the first client conversation through trial. She has taken on every role asked of her, and then some. We have never really thought of Carol as working for us. She works with us, and for our clients.
Carol’s intelligence and creativity shape how we try cases. She is involved in nearly every part of the work, conferencing with expert witnesses, filming and editing day-in-the-life footage, helping prepare for focus groups, developing themes for trial, and sitting in on depositions where her input often changes the direction of a case. The results we obtain for clients are better because she has a hand in building them.
That kind of contribution rarely shows up in a verdict or a news story. The attorneys argue the case, but the case is built on the preparation and judgment that someone like Carol brings to it day after day.
Service Beyond the Office
What sets Carol apart is harder to put in a job description. She becomes family to the people we represent. She has been the shoulder to cry on, the sounding board, the friend who is there in the hardest moments. For many clients, that relationship lasts long after the case is over.
When clients have been able to move into homes built for their medical needs, Carol has been there helping them decorate and settle in. When our youngest clients have birthdays, Carol shows up to celebrate. That is what this work is supposed to be about, and few people live it the way she does.
Carol gives the same energy to her profession and her community. She has spent countless hours coaching and judging mock trial students at local high schools and at Florida International University, helping shape the next generation of advocates. She is an active member of the FJA’s paralegal section and has pitched in on legislative receptions, networking events, and other gatherings that keep the association’s work moving.
She also serves as President of the Broward Chapter of the Paralegal Association of Florida, where she has organized and presented continuing legal education programs and brought paralegals together for years.
What Carol’s Award Means to Us
The firm could not be prouder to see Carol recognized this way. She brings something to our clients, our practice, our profession, and the civil justice system that is genuinely rare. We are grateful for everything she does, and we are glad the FJA saw what we see every day.