Professional Biography My dad was convicted of a felony when I was young, and it derailed my family’s life. WE STRUGGLED. I STRUGGLED. My home life deteriorated. I got into trouble with law enforcement. I had nowhere to go when I needed help. I had a hard time trusting the police. I moved out my own when I was still a teen. I became addicted. I lost friends to crimes of violence. I had acts of violence perpetrated upon me. I made mistakes. I did things to others that did not make me feel good about myself. I finally chose differently. I overcame addiction. Then I became a first-generation college student. I studied at night and killed it at my full-time job during the day. I always cheered for the underdog, but it had never occurred to me that someone like me could become a lawyer … to become the lawyer I wished my dad had. But an immediate love for the law and some incredible mentoring from law professors set me on my journey to law school. Committed from the beginning to defending the accused, I fell in love with the Constitution and what the founders set in place as a set of rules for society to operate under. And it showed me how to fight to tell the stories of people accused of crimes. Because I’ve had those experiences, I know how my clients find themselves here, and I don’t start from a place of judgement. I see myself, my sister, my mom and my dad in the faces of the people sitting before me. When I sit down with you to work on your case, my goal isn’t just to take care of the person you are today, but also the future version of you 20 years from now. Your children's children will be affected by what we do today. And that’s the story I want to share with prosecutors, judges, and juries: A generational story. My story. Your story.