Legal Expertise

I love people and I have always had a heart for the underdog.  Practicing law gives me the chance to protect those who are often overwhelmed, confused and nervous about their circumstances. In college, I studied brains, bodies and families and the different ways in which they develop and function together.  I worked in radio and television and eventually left to become the Program Director of a statewide anti-violence coalition, training all levels of multi-disciplinary teams and partners to improve their responses to sex crimes and victims of violent crime. I chaired a Victims’ Rights alliance, served as a member of the Attorney General’s Victims of Crime Subcommittee and taught federal agents better ways to respond to victims of human trafficking and child abuse.  For more than a decade, I also had the honor of personally advocating for sexual and domestic violence victims in their darkest moments of need. I became a nationally certified self-defense instructor, a mediator and a hypnotherapist with a focus on trauma resolution.  Throughout the years, I was honored with the Social Justice Superhero Award, Advocate of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, a nominee for the Top 100 Most Influential & Inspiring People in Northern Nevada and I received recognition for my work with tribal communities and at-risk teens and children.  ​ Sure, the accolades are a fine way of reminding us that someone, somewhere noticed something nice, but in my bones I knew a law degree would give me the tools to make a bigger difference. So, I left life as I knew it behind. I attended one of the top law schools in the country (Hook ‘Em Horns!) and was a member of their award-winning mock trial team. I graduated from the Home of the National Crime Victims’ Law Institute (Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College) and spent time learning in the largest trial division in the country. I also externed with the Los Angeles and Colorado LGBTQ centers and learned from the experts at the Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center and AEquitas, the Prosecutor’s Resource Center based in Washington, D.C. When it was all done, I took a year to explore the country in an RV, I hiked the national parks and forests, I flew my first (but not my last) helicopter and eventually, I developed a ranch from raw land and adopted a host of  wild mustangs and burros who trained me while I thought I was training them! When I felt like I had remembered what it was like to be a human instead of a lawyer - I got to work. Now, I help clients by allowing them to focus on getting better, while I focus on getting them what they deserve. Outside of work, I find my joy in wild horses, scuba diving, firearms, wicked hot yoga, “trick” hula hooping, aerial silks and loving on my nieces and nephews. If you can't find me on a plane searching for a new adventure, you can check my reading chair….chances are you’ll find me there with a journal and a book.