Sarah Winkler
“Ms. Winkler enjoys the hustle and bustle of the large Cape Fear office staff, which is a departure from her previous firm. “At my other job, there were only three people: the attorney, the bookkeeper, and me, the paralegal. But here there’s nine lawyers and five or six paralegals and they’re just so friendly and welcoming. It’s like a family here, I love it.” “
Sarah Winkler
Meet Sarah
Sarah “no relation to Henry” Winkler is one of Cape Fear’s friendly, hard working paralegals. She started in January 2022 after being at another local law firm for 21 years and 5 months, up until the day her former boss retired.
She is a Wilmington native, graduating from New Hanover High School and taking classes at Cape Fear Community College. After a couple of years she opted for marriage.
“I got two wonderful kids out of it, but the marriage ended in divorce,” she says. Although it didn’t work out for her, Sarah feels the experience helps her better understand Cape Fear’s clients. “I can relate to them having gone through similar issues,” Sarah adds.
Ms. Winkler enjoys the hustle and bustle of the large Cape Fear office staff, which is a departure from her previous firm. “At my other job, there were only three people: the attorney, the bookkeeper, and me, the paralegal. But here there’s nine lawyers and five or six paralegals and they’re just so friendly and welcoming. It’s like a family here, I love it.”
Sarah’s day begins with her booting up the computer, checking her task list, and jumping around depending on the availability of documents. Then she’ll do some trial prep, answer phones, handle court filings, and scan them for clients. “It’s never a dull moment here,” she quips.
Sarah appreciates the way head attorney Janet Gemmell interacts with the staff. “She speaks in plain English so you understand where she’s coming from. Some attorneys think you’re a mind reader. And if you do make a mistake she just casually says ‘no, this isn’t the way it’s done.’ You don’t feel like you’re getting in trouble.”
It’s been a bit of a learning curve for Sarah as she adapts to the tech savviness of the Cape Fear office. “The other attorney I worked for was super old-school; everything was pen and paper,” she states. Ms. Winkler is also finally working towards receiving her paralegal certification, which her previous boss didn’t require.
On weekends, Sarah tends to spend her time relaxing with her two cats Ninja and Merlin as well as her little dog Angel. She also loves photography, which is her number one hobby.
“I love nature photography and landscapes, especially capturing the sunrise or sunset. I’m usually at Wrightsville Beach catching the sunrise or the sunset at Carolina Beach, sometimes both on the same day. It’s awesome.”
