Growing up, I learned from my mother that I could become anything I wanted…so long as I was a doctor, lawyer, or the first woman president of the United States. After a couple of years as a pre-medical student at UT-Austin, and taking courses in nineteen different departments, including a legal course taught by Sarah Weddington, the attorney who represented “Jane Roe” in the Roe v. Wade case before the United States Supreme Court, I still found myself in search of a career where I could help people when they needed it most and make a positive difference in their lives. It wasn’t until my senior year while taking a mediation course, where I became a certified mediator, that I realized that this is what I wanted to do, and applied for law school.
The summer before I began law school at South Texas College of Law Houston, I began my internship at the Greenway Mediation Center where I had the opportunity to observe and interact with many different mediators who were former Judges and attorneys, and the people they represented. I saw firsthand the benefits of encouraging the parties to reach a resolution that met the needs of everyone involved. I also realized how important it was to observe as many different attorneys and their approaches, meet as many students/future attorneys, and take advantage of every opportunity and learning experience I could in and out of law school. As a member of the South Texas College of Law Houston’s varsity mock trial team, I was assigned to teams that competed all around the country and learned the inner workings of being in a courtroom and trying a case. I was elected by the law school’s student body to serve as their Student Bar President, where amongst other responsibilities, I represented the students as a member of the South Texas College of Law Houston’s President and Dean Selection Committee with professors, alumni, and deans from the school. I also continued to work for different law firms, in different legal areas and interned for The Honorable Grant Dorfman in the 129th Judicial District Court. At graduation as Student Bar President, I had the honor of speaking to my peers, and it was an incredible experience knowing that these individuals would become attorneys, Judges, and opposing counsels that I would continue to interact with for years to come.
After earning my law degree, I worked for several different firms in many different legal areas including insurance defense, civil litigation, product liability/wrongful death, commercial litigation, including the civil defense of Enron employees, family law, estate planning, probate litigation, corporate formation and transactions, bankruptcy, and real estate. These experiences culminated in my decision in 2007 to exclusively pursue family law, and I became a certified member of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the field of Family Law in 2012. Family law incorporates all areas of the law as well as a very personal human component. Every case is different and deserves the attention and knowledge necessary to assist each client with obtaining the best outcome for that client and his or her family. Every day, I use my 20+ years of legal experience and lifelong attention to detail to assist my clients with managing complex and high net worth divorce cases, involving entities, properties, trusts, foundations, characterization issues, reimbursement, fraud and waste issues, working with forensic experts, business valuators, real estate and personal property appraisers, and negotiating child custody, modifications, pre/post-marital agreements, jurisdictional issues involving different states and/or countries, termination/adoption matters, enforcements, and other family law and divorce concerns.
I stay connected with the members of the Texas Bar by actively participating in family law organizations, including but not limited to the Houston and Texas Bar Associations, Family Law Sections, and serving on the Board of Directors for the Houston Bar Association, Family Law Section, President of the Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inns of Court, and President of Texas Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists. This is beneficial to my clients because I am interacting professionally with other family law attorneys and Judges in a positive environment which ultimately carries over to my cases when I find myself on the opposite side of a case or in the Judge’s courtroom. It allows for professional courtesies and understandings and creates a healthier environment for our clients to be able to reach agreements and resolve matters without the necessity of the Court’s assistance. Litigation should be a last resort, not the initial action whenever possible.
Request a Consultation
Request a Consultation
