I was born in Palo Alto, California, but my parents brought me to Bakersfield when I was three—I’m practically a native! I am a product of local schools, including CSU Bakersfield. After college, I spent several years in the business world—health insurance and the mortuary/cemetery industry—before attending law school at night. When I graduated from law school, I joined KDG as a litigator. It has been several years since I became a lawyer, and I still love coming to work every day. My practice has evolved over the years and now focuses on appeals and writs, with a good helping of complex civil litigation in the mix. I enjoy the collegial, team atmosphere at KDG where we work hard to help our clients resolve significant disputes that affect their lives and implicate their futures.

Q:		Why do you like practicing law in the San Joaquin Valley?
A:		Without a doubt, the camaraderie among the Bench and Bar makes Kern County a great place to practice law. I know many of the other lawyers in town. We’ve been on the same side, and the opposite side, and we’ve worked on Bar projects together. In the end, we can usually work out issues because we know and respect one another.

Book I'm reading:		I read a lot of legal books and cases—that is the life of an appellate lawyer! So for fun I listen to audio books in my car. I relish a good mystery, so I’m usually listening to something by Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell, or Tess Gerritsen.
Favorite Movie:		It is actually hard to pick just one, but I (and a lot of other lawyers I know) love “My Cousin Vinny.” The director was trained as a lawyer, which probably explains the detailed accuracy that lawyers tend to enjoy amid the laughs.
Pets?:		Of course! I have three beautiful miniature Dachshunds: Shadow, Gretel, and Olive. They are moderately well behaved and quite entertaining little clowns.