Vaughn & Associates

Vaughn & Associates

About Us

Founded in 2014 by former teacher and attorney Karen Vaughn, this firm is based on the premise that all clients should be educated about their legal options.

We assist clients facing criminal charges including DWI's, traffic violations, drug charges, assault, and other criminal violations.

We also practice education law: fight for a child's educational rights while in public school which may encompass attending IEP and 504 meetings, bullying, suspensions, or any issue that occurs while on school grounds.

We practice juvenile law including juvenile delinquency, cases with involvement by the Department of Social Services, and truancy.

With an office located conveniently off of Highway 77 in Mooresville, we can meet the needs of clients in the entire Piedmont region and represent education clients in every county in North Carolina. We also represent clients facing criminal charges including misdemeanors, felonies, DWI's, and traffic infractions in Iredell county.

Karen Vaughn, M.Ed., Esq.

We know how important it is to know the background of the Attorneys and legal staff handling your legal needs.

Karen maintains an office in Mooresville but is licensed to practice across the state. Her primary areas of practice include education law, criminal law, and juvenile law. Prior to becoming an attorney, Karen was a North Carolina public school educator, teaching students with special needs for eleven years. Her focus was late elementary school to early middle school across multiple disabilities.

Karen earned a B.S. degree from Illinois State University, her master's degree in education from Pennsylvania State University, and her Juris Doctor from Charlotte School of Law, where she created the Education Legal Society and the LGBT Legal Society..

Karen has previously conducted a training on special education law to paralegals, presented a CLE on special education law to school personnel and attorneys in North Carolina, co-taught a session regarding school discipline to School Resource Officers, and instructed Guardian Ad Litem's about maintaining services for children in the public school while they are in DSS custody. She is a member of the Iredell County Bar association and a member of COPAA (Council for Parent Attorneys and Advocates). She holds a current bar license for the State of North Carolina and is sworn into the Federal Court for the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of North Carolina. Karen is also sworn in to practice in the 4th Circuit of the United States.

When Karen is not working, she focuses her time on her three children- being an Army mom, Special Olympics mom, and band mom. When that doesn't consume her time, she enjoys going to the theater and watching hockey games.

Judith Sachs, Office Manager

Judy joined our team in October 2016. She is the office manager and holds down the fort for our attorneys. She is knowledgeable about how the law works given that her husband and both of their children are attorneys.

She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She has lived in Philadelphia, PA, Apple Valley, MN and Chicago, IL but has called Mooresville home since 2011. When not working she loves to travel the world with her husband Jeff and spend time with her five grandchildren.

She has become the office's official "Den Mother" so if you choose to call her Mom, she will laugh and answer to that name. She has one person in the office that can truly call her Mom because Attorney Karen Vaughn is her daughter.