Biographical Info
Education
JD Marquette University 1984
Training
1st Annual Family Tax Seminar-January 2013; 12th Annual Meeting “Are we really listening?” Nov 2012; 1st Annual Family Tax Seminar-January 2013; Beyond Building Blocks-Sept 2013; 13th Annual Meeting & Symposium-Nov 2013; 2nd Annual Family Financial & Tax Seminar-Jan 2014; Boomer Divorce-Sept 2014; 14th Annual Meeting -Charting a Course at the Crossroads,Nov 2014; 3rd Annual Family Financial & Tax Seminar, Jan 2015; 15th Annual Meeting-Nov 2015; 4th Annual Family Financial & Tax Seminar-Jan 2016.
Profile
When you are young people ask you “What do you want to be when you grow up? My answer was always ” a lawyer”. After thirty years of practicing law, I still stand by this statement. My legal career began in 1984 in the areas of general practice and litigation. Through the years my interest, energy and skills have led me to concentrate on family law which is now my sole area of practice. Since 2001 I have been a member of the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin and can offer the collaborative process option for divorce to my clients. More about collaborative divorce can be learned at https://www.collabdivorce.com. I offer services as a mediator, an arbitrator, and a special master. I am also appointed as a Guardian ad Litem, an attorney appointed to act in the best interest of children whose parents are in the process of a divorce. I believe that children are our most precious resource so I work hard to maintain stability and consistency for them when they are separated into two households.
I believe that as a family lawyer it is my role to guide people through what is one of the most traumatic and stressful times of their lives, their divorce. I understand this is a difficult time when people are not necessarily thinking logically or clearly. I am there to both listen and to advise people on what the law is. I ensure that my clients understand what their options are and the consequences of various courses of action they may take. I believe in being direct and to the point, and giving my clients options so they may assess for themselves the impact their decisions will have on their family.
When I am not working with my clients, I am busy in various other capacities because I truly believe in giving back to the community. I am the President of the Waukesha Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Academy Governing Board as well as the Chair of the City of Waukesha Police and Fire Commission. I have served on the YMCA Board of Directors, City of Waukesha Board of Review-Tax Assessments, Board of Directors for the Prevention and Protection of Abused Children, and a Volunteer Advocate Attorney at The Womens Center, Inc.
I was awarded Waukesha County Freeman Citizen Of The Year in 2012. I have been named as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer for every year since 2006. I am also rated an A-V preeminent attorney by Martindale Hubbell