Danielle Cayford did not grow up dreaming of becoming a paralegal. In fact, she barely knew what a paralegal was. It took finding herself on the client side of a law firm to change that.

Danielle had recently moved to North Carolina from Maine when she found herself needing an attorney. She was far from family, dealing with a situation she had never expected, and trying to figure out what came next. What she remembers most about the experience wasn’t actually the attorney. It was the paralegal.

Her paralegal listened when Danielle needed someone to listen, let her be frustrated when she needed to be frustrated, and then helped her understand what came next. Danielle remembers thinking, I could do that.

So she did.

Danielle enrolled in Meredith College’s paralegal program and went on to become a North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal. She then spent more than five years with the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners, where she gained plenty of experience managing details, deadlines, difficult conversations, and the occasional person who had decidedly lost their cool. It was valuable experience, but after five years, Danielle realized she missed the part of the legal world that had drawn her in to begin with: working directly with clients.

That realization ultimately brought her to family law and Triangle Smart Divorce. As a TSD paralegal, Danielle helps clients navigating divorce and other family law matters throughout Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and the surrounding Triangle. More importantly, the role gives her the chance to be the kind of paralegal she remembers having when she needed one herself: someone who listens, helps make sense of what is happening, and helps you figure out what comes next.

In Danielle’s words, she wants to be both “a listening ear and a guiding light,” while also being willing to sit with a client when things are just plain hard. We think that pretty accurately sums up a great family law paralegal.

Danielle is originally from Maine, where she earned her psychology degree from the University of Maine. When it was time to decide what came next, she quite literally pulled out a map and started researching. The Research Triangle caught her attention, she made the thousand-mile move knowing almost no one, and she has been happily calling Durham home ever since.

After getting some help training one of her own dogs, Danielle became interested enough in dog training to complete an apprenticeship. She still spends her weekends working with dogs, because apparently dogs are both a job and a hobby when you love them as much as Danielle does.

Then again, sitting still has never really been Danielle’s thing. She is much more of a play-the-sport or watch-it-live person than a watch-it-on-TV person. She played rugby for six years in college, still follows women’s rugby, loves going to NC Courage games, and has wisely stayed neutral in the UNC/Duke/NC State debate. These days, she plays kickball and loves hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, snowboarding, and pretty much anything else that gets her outside and moving.

We’re happy Danielle’s winding path eventually brought her to Triangle Smart Divorce. As part of our family law Team, she brings the professional experience of a North Carolina Certified Paralegal and the personal perspective of someone who knows what it feels like to need legal help yourself. She knows from both sides of the desk how much it matters to have someone listen when life suddenly looks very different than you expected and, just as importantly, have someone beside you who can help figure out what comes next.