Career Heroes - Anna Kerr

Tell us more about you

I grew up in South Belfast and attended Methodist College. It was during my time at Methody, through events such as Mock Trial and Model UN, I discovered my love for both Law and Politics. From studying the American political system during my A Levels, I became fascinated with the workings of US law and politics.

When I'm out of the office, I spend a lot of my time trying to keep up with my energetic 4-year-old daughter and our family puppy. When I find some quiet time to myself, I enjoy reading. I've always been fascinated by history and recently I've found myself being pulled into the topic of Irish History and have been consuming any and all literature I can get my hands on!

What kind of work do you do?

As a Paralegal Team Lead at Allstate, I manage a team of nine Paralegals. My team operates within the Louisiana, Capital, and Florida Client Legal Services Offices. When insurance claims are unable to be resolved easily, these cases are often litigated and arrive with Client Legal Services. We handle a wide variety of cases such as bodily injuries (mainly from Road Traffic Accidents), dog bite cases, and hurricane property damage cases (these are particularly prevalent in Louisiana).

I manage the day-to-day activities of the team as well as training any new team members and getting them up to speed. At times it can seem like an ongoing 'fire fight'. However, watching my team’s knowledge and confidence grow is highly rewarding.

It's a privilege working for a company such as Allstate where the company's values are demonstrated and incorporated into daily working life. The collaboration and inclusivity I've observed since joining the company in June 2022 has inspired me.

How did you become a Paralegal Team Lead?

I had the unique opportunity when I was 17 to attend an International Law and Politics course at Yale University, USA. This further ignited my fascination and love of all things legal in the States.

Following my time in Methody, I pursued a Law Degree at Queen's University, Belfast. After working in couple of high street and commercial legal firms, I joined the Legal Services Department at Allstate, and was truly able to explore my passion for the US Legal System.

If you could do-over, What would you do differently?

I often joke with my family that I should have gone into medicine. I enjoy critical thinking, research, and delving into problems to find the correct and appropriate 'diagnosis' or solution. I'm glad I did not choose this career route though as I don't do very well with anything gruesome! Instead, I've been able to apply all of these skills to my role at Allstate.