MONROE, N.C. — Karen Carpenter and her daughter, Kayley, both went to UNC for college. Both were journalism majors. Kayley also majored in drama. Both became lawyers. Both are now the same kind or attorney (assistant public defender), and both work in the same office (Union County).
>>CLICK HERE for more Action 9 reports
“My mom and I have always been very close and very similar people,” Kayley told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke.
You may be surprised: It was actually Kayley who landed the Union County job first, not her mother.
She knew almost right away she wanted to represent people who couldn’t afford lawyers.
“Serving those who are underserved,” she explained.
So, she joined the public defender’s office in 2024.
Karen spent years in real estate law. She was licensed in California but sat for the North Carolina Bar Exam in her 40s, so she could practice here.
Then there was that fateful day in Matthews. Remember Kayley was a drama major? Well, she was in a play at Matthews Playhouse. She brought her mother and her boss, public defender Randolph Lee. She had no idea what was about to happen.
“My mom made some offhand comment about, ‘I’m just waiting for my job offer, ha, ha, ha.’ And he kind of brought it up to me at a later time and said, ‘You know, we’re looking for someone to take on these kind of alternative cases. Was she serious?’” Kayley said.
The answer: Yes. Karen joined the office in 2025, about a year after Kayley.
“I just really loved watching her and seeing her enthusiasm,” she said. “And that just really appealed and so at this kind of later stage in the game, I guess I followed my daughter.”
“I think a big part of who raised me dictated my values and why I turned out to be here in the first place, and so it’s not that surprising to me that she’s here. It just maybe took her more of a roundabout way to find it,” Kayley said.
She says a juror in one of her cases summed it up perfectly: “Everyone deserves a defense and I’m like, ‘Yep, that’s exactly what we believe too.’”
Kayley handles more felony charges and likes going in front of jurors, using her journalism and storytelling background to help build -- what she calls -- an “empathy bridge” between the jury and her client.
Karen is less of a fan of trial and focuses on DSS courts, juvenile courts, and the treatment courts. But she has gone to court to see her daughter in action and support her.
“Always, always,” she smiled.
As for Dad, he’s in real estate, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll ever go the lawyer route. So, he will stick to closings, not closing arguments. He’ll leave that to Karen and Kayley.
“It’s nice to know that we’re both similarly aligned and that we’re helping people and preserving people’s constitutional rights,” Kayley said.
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
