Professional Background
I hold a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a juris doctorate from Stanford Law School Order of the Coif, and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1999. I have worked as an attorney in the Travis County Attorney’s Office, the Office of the Texas Secretary of State and the Texas Legislative Council. As an assistant county attorney for Travis County, I tried numerous cases before a judge and jury and learned firsthand how difficult it is to predict outcomes at trial due to the unreliable nature of witness testimony and unpredictability of the judge’s or jury’s decision-making processes.
My training in conflict resolution began at Pomona College, where I was a volunteer for the Alternatives to Violence Project, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching conflict resolution skills in a variety of settings. After practicing law for many years, I decided to pursue additional conflict resolution training opportunities. To that end, I completed my basic mediation training at the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution and the Advanced Family Mediation Course and the Elder Mediation Training at the Dispute Resolution Center in Austin, Texas. I am a TMCA Credentialed Mediator and am a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, the Austin Association of Mediators and the Texas Association of Mediators. I also am a volunteer mediator at the Dispute Resolution Center in Austin, where I have mediated numerous family law cases, among others.