Photo by Mary Steinmetz
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
When Kelsee Bearinger earned her undergrad degree in history from Grand Valley State University, she learned about laws in different eras, conflicts that arose because of them, and how those laws fared through the years.
Those studies ignited a passion for the law, as did an internship in Farmington Hills with Burns & Wilcox, a division of Kaufman Financial Group and a national insurance wholesale broker and underwriting management company.
“Learning about the different policies they wrote and watching how things were handled from the legal end when claims were filed had me starting to shift my focus from pursuing a master’s degree in archival studies to something in the legal field,” she explains.
“I also had to reinvent myself after graduating in the midst of the recession and searching for a career path that allowed me to build on those skills and combine it with helping people.”
Bearinger went on to earn a paralegal certificate from Lansing Community College, where she appreciated her professors’ use of real life experiences in their lectures, particularly in the litigation and probate classes, both of which were taught by attorneys in current practice.
Five months as a paralegal intern at the Jackson County Probate Court was an invaluable experience.
“I enjoyed learning about how the law works from the court end of things, getting to meet different attorneys in the area, and getting to experience many different situations and cases in the mental health, guardianship, and estate administration proceedings,” she says.
Bearinger is now in her second year as a paralegal at Anderson & Makulski, PC, in downtown Jackson, where her work entails drafting dictated estate plans, corporate/LLC company documents, correspondence, filing documents with the courts and LARA, and occasional real estate litigation documents.
“I enjoy working with the clients, the research projects, and drafting many of the documents I work on,” she says.
A member of NALS of Jackson County since June 2015, Bearinger currently serves as the group’s corresponding secretary.
“I enjoy networking with other NALS members, and the interesting presentations on different topics at the general assembly meetings, learning about what programs and legal assistance are available in the community and how one can get involved with the organizations,” she says.
A native of Rives Junction, north of Jackson, Bearinger is the oldest of three siblings. Her mother is a retired Jackson Public Schools special education/first grade teacher, and her father is an engineer for Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Hueber, Inc.
Bearinger makes her home in Jackson, where she attends the First United Methodist Church and has been a member of the Jackson Community Concert Band since 2006. In her leisure time she enjoys kayaking, writing, ballet, biking and walking on the many local trails, and spending time in Northern Michigan.
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