Karen Wheadon
Injury and Malpractice Paralegal
Karen Wheadon has been a Paralegal with the firm since 2001.
Born and raised in Horseheads, Karen graduated from Notre Dame High School and earned an associate’s degree in Paralegal Sciences from Corning Community College.
She now lives in Pine City with her family. She and her husband Jeremy, who works at Hilliard Corp, were married in 2001. Karen has two children, Emily and Elise and two stepchildren, Justin and Erica.
Kim Leipham
Nurse Paralegal
Kim Leipham joined the Ziff Law Firm as a paralegal to partner Christina Sonsire and the law firm’s first legal nurse consultant.
Leipham, a former director of cardiovascular services and longtime patient advocate at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, says patients have always been at the center of all she does. “It is exciting that I will be able to help patients by bringing together the medical and legal components with the lawyers at Ziff Law.” Kim, who worked for Arnot Ogden for more than 30 years, started in July 2022 with Ziff Law.
Sara Preston
Receptionist
Sara Preston enjoys meeting new people every day, which is a good thing given her position as receptionist at the Ziff Law Firm! Sara greets Attorneys, Stenographers, Judges, clients and more – a constant flow of new faces daily.
Sara has been with Ziff Law Firm since 2007. She answers calls from the switchboard, distributes the firm’s mail and handles a variety of important clerical duties, including maintaining our client database.
An Elmira native, Sara graduated from Elmira Free Academy in 2002. Sara has three beautiful little girls, Leigha, Sophie, & Ava. Sara has strong roots in Elmira- her parents, Jeff and Deanna Denierio, own and operate Denierio’s Auto Detailing in Elmira. Sara has two younger brothers, Jeffrey and Vinnie.
Outside of work Sara enjoys spending lots of time with her family and friends. In her spare time she likes to decorate. Interior design has always been a huge interest of mine.
Sara also says how much she enjoys cleaning and accessorizing her vehicles. “Being a daddy’s girl this is something I have learned from him and we enjoy doing together,” she says.