EXPERIENCE
My first "career" was as a high school social studies teacher, where I taught twelfth graders introductory economics, political science and sociology. Even then, I knew my goal was to become an attorney, and I went to William Mitchell College of Law to achieve that goal.
My first legal related work was in the labor-management world, where I learned the essence of negotiating and what we now call alternative dispute resolution. My early experiences included drafting contract language, preparing for and attending arbitrations, participating in contract negotiations, which often ended up in mediation.
In 1987, I went into private practice, focusing on family law and criminal defense, and spent the next twelve years as a part time Ramsey County Public Defender. My initial training as a mediation took place in 1989, and I worked in some of the early dispute resolution programs offered by the Mediation Center and the Ramsey County Settlement Conference Coordinator program.
For the first fifteen years of my practice, my hope was that family law would incorporate those techniques and processes I first learned in my labor-management days. However, in my opinion, family law remained "stuck" in the old, adversarial world, and I spent a lot of my energy on criminal defense work.
Five years ago, that paradigm began to shift, and I began to reenergize my family law and dispute resolution practice. I set up a new office in Maplewood, working with like minded colleagues, and closed out the felony part of my criminal defense work. I now focus my practice on quality family law work and dispute resolution, helping other navigate major transitions in their lives. Recently I began offering cooperative practice, social and financial neutral evaluation, parenting consulting and parenting expediting to the services I offer.
My educational experiences in addition to my JD include a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Economics, from the University of Minnesota; a Master of Arts Degree from the University of St. Thomas in Education, and a completion of a program in Leadership in Ethics through the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.
In addition to my admission to practice law in the State of Minnesota, I currently have the following qualifications.
- Rule 114 Qualified Mediator, Civil and Family, Civil and Family Arbitration
- Early Financial Neutral Evaluator - on panels in Ramsey and Washington County
- Social Early Neutral Evaluator - on panel in Ramsey County
- Parenting Time Expeditor - training through Hamline University School of Law
- Parenting Consultant - training through continuing legal education programs and AFCC
My current professional activities include:
- Ramsey County Volunteer Family Law Mediation Program - senior mediator
- Ramsey County Bar Association, Continuing Education Oversight Committee - member
- Warren E. Burger Inn of Court, St. Paul, Minnesota - President-elect and Treasurer
- Cooperative Practice Network of Minnesota, founding member
- Minnesota State Bar Association, Family Law, Dispute Resolution and Criminal Law Sections
- Association of Family and Conciliation Courts - member
- Ramsey County Bar Association, Family Law and Criminal Law Sections - member
- Springboard for the Arts, volunteer lawyer
My recent Continuing Legal Education activities include presentations in the areas of Juvenile Law, Dispute Resolution, and Representing Vulnerable Clients.
In addition to my professional activities, I am involved in community activities including Save the Victoria Theatre, St. Paul, and a variety of arts related groups. In my "spare time" I maintains a pottery studio in Frogtown, Minnesota, where I have occasional shows.