From the time I was a child, my mother always told me that I would grow up to be an attorney. Naturally, I fought the idea and I fought her belief in the idea. But amazing things happened for me once I stopped fighting – I found myself falling in love with the idea of being of service to others. And so this is what I do now – I live my life in service of others who are in need of a little legal assistance.
The beautiful thing about my services are that I understand the fears of being involved in a legal matter, of being cross-examined all day by a hostile adversary, and of putting all of my faith and hope in legal counsel. I also understand the complete helplessness of incarceration. I know how it feels to have my heart broken in predictable and unpredictable ways. The most hopeful message I can offer you is that this too shall pass – it always does – until the next wave arrives.
As the daughter of a retired thirty year family law paralegal, I know the ins and outs of family law matters; I have been living them since I was a child! The same is true for estate planning and criminal defense (since criminal defense and family law often follow one another, hand-in-hand).
I hail from the great state of Texas – San Antonio, Texas and am the youngest daughter of two working class parents. I received my undergraduate education at Oberlin College in Ohio, majoring in Classical Civilization with a minor in Religion. My law degree is from the University of New Mexico School of Law, where I was twice on the mediation team that competed in Lubbock, TX and later in San Diego, CA and where a paper I wrote became required reading for all 1Ls. My law school truly helped me discover how to practice law from both my heart and my head while minding the details and keeping my eyes on the larger pictures. And how did I get to Asheville? I followed my heart.
When I’m not practicing law, you can find me dancing my heart out at one of the various off-shoots of Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms. Or you can find me being walked by my Cocker Spaniel or my Yorkie. And when all of the conditions collapse into that brave, courageous moment – you’ll find me on my purple mountain bike on these majestic purple mountains.
My volunteer time has most recently been spent drafting relevant legal documents with Wills for Heroes and spearheading a 30K weekend renovation project at the Children’s Recovery Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I also volunteer with Pisgah Legal Services, Youth OUTright, and the Re-Direct Your Life Experience, and will be volunteering with the Campaign for Southern Equality at the Blue Ridge Pride festival.
