Johnson Kraeuter, LLC is a mid-size law firm in the heart of the low country focusing its practice areas on family law, mediation, and personal injury cases. Since its founding, partners Paul Johnson and Scot Kraeuter have methodically built a team of attorneys and support staff with specialized backgrounds to address the broad range of issues inherent in high-asset divorces and complex personal injury cases. Although some mid-sized firms may not be generally equipped to manage the nuanced needs of clients facing complex litigation issues, Johnson Kraeuter has leveraged its bandwidth through a team approach to provide impeccable personal service to meet diverse client needs.
The Johnson Kraeuter team is comprised of full-time attorneys, contract attorneys, and support staff. Its members possess broad diversity of skills and experience, and each is assigned responsibility for different cases, or issues within cases, based on specific skill sets.
Your attorney is the leader of your legal team. Some of the many tasks your attorney will perform are:
- Sign documents filed with the court
- Appear in court on your behalf
- Explain the applicable law to you
- Provide legal advice in light of the laws and facts of your case
- Engage in negotiations on your behalf
- Strategize to achieve a favorable resolution
- Assign team members to complete various tasks related to your case
For more information about what your attorney should be doing for you, see this recent blog post. At Johnson Kraeuter, you can expect a combination of attorneys and support staff to work on your case to provide the highest level of personalized service in the most efficient and economical fashion.
OUR FULL-TIME ATTORNEYS
K. Paul Johnson is a founding partner of Johnson Kraeuter, and he brings nearly twenty-five years of experience practicing family law in Savannah and the low-country. He specializes in high asset cases, business valuation and division, and complex divorce litigation; he is also a certified mediator. Paul is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a prestigious and exclusive organization dedicated to “promoting professionalism and excellence in the practice of family law.” To become a member, AAML fellows must have practiced family law for at least ten years, possess an impeccable reputation and background, and pass a rigorous examination and investigation. Paul is one of only 32 lawyers in the entire state of Georgia who has earned membership in this elite organization. Paul is a former President of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and he currently serves as Treasurer of the Savannah Bar Association. Paul has tried hundreds of cases, including more than twenty jury trials. Additionally, he has represented clients in more than fifty cases before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Georgia Supreme Court, resulting in seventeen reported decisions.
R. Scot Kraeuter is a founding member of Johnson Kraeuter, and he has been practicing domestic and personal injury law in Savannah since 1995. Like Paul, Scot is a statewide leader in family law and has been repeatedly recognized as a member of Georgia’s Legal Elite and a Super Lawyer. He has served as the President of the Family Law Section of the State Bar and continues to be an active member of the Executive Committee of the Section. Scot has tried hundreds of domestic and personal injury cases, and he is well-respected for his complex motion practice and record for zealously representing clients with integrity. In addition to several notable jury verdicts, Scot has three reported cases decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia. Scot and Paul often collaborate on developing strategies for their cases in anticipation of trial or appeal post-trial, so the clients of Johnson Kraeuter enjoy the benefit of input by two of the most brilliant and leading legal minds in Georgia.
Samantha Fassett is a fifth-year associate attorney in Savannah who focuses her practice on domestic cases. In addition to serving as lead counsel to her own clients, she provides support to partners Paul Johnson and Scot Kraeuter by consulting with their clients and assisting in the preparation of cases for trial. Samantha is adept at counseling clients, patiently explaining the status of pending cases, and thoroughly preparing clients for what to expect at trial. Clients frequently remark that Samantha provides reassurance and comfort throughout the emotionally-wrought divorce process. Samantha is also a certified mediator and is skilled at negotiating creative resolutions to complex family law cases. Over the last five years, Samantha has also developed a strong reputation as a diligent Guardian ad Litem protecting the interests of children involved in contested custody actions.
OUR CONTRACT ATTORNEYS
Elizabeth Berenguer is a professor of legal research and writing at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. For the past twelve years, she has specialized in training law students on the complexities of legal analysis, legal research, and legal drafting. She has published numerous scholarly articles and just recently published a textbook, The Legal Scholar’s Guidebook. Prior to teaching, Elizabeth practiced as a criminal defense attorney representing hundreds of clients on misdemeanor and felony charges. Johnson Kraeuter consults with Elizabeth on complex research and drafting projects, including, but not limited to, motions for summary judgment, motions in limine, applications for discretionary appeal, and appellate briefs. Johnson Kraeuter’s clients benefit from her expertise as a legal researcher and writer, and she provides unparalleled focus in creatively addressing challenging legal questions. Since 2016, Elizabeth has drafted appellate documents on four appeals and countless motions for clients of Johnson Kraeuter. From time-to-time, Elizabeth also argues complex motions in court, prepares clients for testifying at trial, collaborates with the Partners on trial strategy, and second-chairs complex trials with the Partners. As a native Spanish-speaker, Elizabeth also provides translation services for the clients of Johnson Kraeuter, which has facilitated the Firm’s expansion of services to a broader community.
Christine Bedingfield Kraeuter is one of Johnson Kraeuter’s contract attorneys who specializes in research and drafting in complex cases. Christy spent eleven years of her practice as a staff attorney for the Chapter 13 Trustee, and she also has extensive experience in real estate law. Christy’s background in real estate and debtor/creditor law allows her to provide specialized insight into the complex financial and property issues inherent in high asset divorce as well as personal injury cases. Her experience has proven beneficial in drafting discovery requests and in helping clients strategize favorable resolutions to their cases.
Kristine Sheehan has been licensed to practice law since 1995 and has been working as a contract attorney for Johnson Kraeuter since 2013. Early in her career, Kristine focused her practice on insurance defense, and she also has experience working as in-house counsel for Terminal Investment Corporation. Her background in insurance law and corporate America provides particularly beneficial insight to Johnson Kraeuter’s personal injury clients. She is highly skilled at strategizing discovery questions in personal injury cases, developing creative motions and legal arguments, and positioning cases for successful negotiation of favorable settlements.
Anne Allen Westbrook has been practicing law since 2001 and has worked as a contract attorney with Johnson Kraeuter since 2013. As a contract attorney, Anne Allen focuses on specialized drafting like wills, prenuptial agreements, and other domestic law documents. Most recently, Anne Allen has expanded her practice to the area of QDROs. A QDRO is prepared after a divorce is resolved to facilitate the distribution of retirement funds from one spouse to another. The preparation of a QDRO can be complicated and time consuming. If done incorrectly, it can cost clients unnecessary stress, time, and money. Additionally, many firms are not equipped to prepare QDROs in-house. Anne Allen’s recent training allows Johnson Kraeuter to provide clients with increasingly specialized representation throughout all phases of divorce, including drafting post-divorce documents to ensure clients correctly effectuate the terms of their divorce.
THE REST OF THE TEAM
Three paralegals support the attorneys at Johnson Kraeuter: Linda Walker, Martin Keefer, and Cheryl Hunt. Linda Walker has worked for Paul for nearly 25 years. She works closely with clients to prepare discovery responses and she processes incoming discovery from opposing parties. Linda is primarily responsible for supporting Paul and Samantha in a variety of administrative tasks, and she ensures discovery deadlines are timely met. Martin and Cheryl primarily work for Scot to ensure pleadings are timely filed, discovery requests are timely processed, and cases are resolved in the most efficient and effective manner for the clients. Katie Williams is an administrative assistant who supports Paul and Samantha. She is primarily responsible for scheduling, filing pleadings, and sending out correspondence from the attorneys.
CLIENT EXPECTATIONS
While many clients want to hear from their attorneys on a daily basis, that is simply not a realistic expectation. Not only would that become prohibitively expensive for the client, it also interferes with the attorney’s ability to focus on the high-level legal analysis necessary to effectively strategize and advise the client. There are times when it is essential for the attorney to speak with the client directly, and the attorney will allocate his or her time to spend with the client as necessary. But in the interim, clients are much more likely to interact with support staff or one of the contract attorneys who is working on a specialized assignment.
Understanding the team approach to representation at Johnson Kraeuter goes a long way to ensuring client satisfaction during the litigation process. It is in clients’ best interests for attorneys to focus on what they do best – research, strategize, negotiate, and otherwise manage the direction of cases. Associate and contract attorneys as well as support staff are responsible for executing various tasks assigned by the lead attorneys. More often than not, clients will engage with associate and contract attorneys, paralegals, and administrative assistants before they interact with one of the partners. This system allows Johnson Kraeuter to continue providing exceptional representation to all of its clients.