"When I was asked to describe my practice philosophy I sat down and wrote, and then rewrote, my answer.  Over and over again.  I struggled to put into words why I am a family law attorney and how I approach family law cases.  No matter how eloquently I tried to put it, I kept coming back to these simple words:  I really care about my clients and I want to help them.  It sounds corny even as I write it now.  But, it really does come down to that.  There is no magical formula or high browed reasoning behind it.  Quite the opposite, I think people either like what they do for a living or they don’t.  I do.

You see, I really never chose to be a family law attorney, family law chose me.   When I graduated from law school I was not sure what type of law I wanted to practice, but I knew it was not family law.  I could not imagine being embroiled every day with squabbling husbands and wives airing their dirty laundry in the courts.  There was more power and prestige in other areas of law, I thought. This was my jaded and uninformed opinion for the first years of my professional life as I dabbled in these supposedly more attractive areas of the law.  It was not until I was forced to take over a few family law cases for another attorney in my firm who went out on leave that my prejudices collided with the realities of the needs of my clients.  For the first time in my legal career, someone actually needed my help and I could make a difference in that person’s life."

• Speaker: "Managing Your Case", North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Family Law Seminar, September 7, 2001
• Speaker/Moderator: "Trial Skills--Family Law 2001: Fourth Annual Food for the Mind and Body", Mecklenburg County Bar Association Family Law Section, December 7, 2001
  • Speaker: "Practical Child Support Problems", North Carolina Bar Association Seminar "What About the Children?: Child Custody and Support in 2002", September 13, 2002
• Speaker: "Family Law", Mecklenburg County Bar Assocation Academic Internship Program, December 10, 2002
• Speaker: "Miscellaneous Evidentiary Issues", Seventh Annual Food for the Mind and Body: Evidentiary Issues in Family Law, April 23, 2004
• Speaker: "Cross Examination of Business Valuation Expert", North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, "Family Law: Mastering the Experts", August 28, 2004

Professional

• Board Certified Specialist in Family Law
• North Carolina State Bar
  • Family Law Council: Former Co-Chair Domestic Violence Sub-Committee
  • Young Lawyers Division: Former Judicial District Representative
• North Carolina Bar Association
  • General Enrollment: Member
  • Family Law Section: Member
• South Carolina Bar Association
• Mecklenburg County Bar Association
  • General Enrollment: Member
  • Family Law Section: Member
  • Young Lawyers Division: Former Board Member
  • Ask A Lawyer Program Committee: Former Chair
  • Long Term Planning Committee: Former Member
  • Sports and Social Committee: Former Member
• Mecklenburg County Courts
  • Family Law Committee: Member
  • Domestic Violence Court Committee: Member
• Justice Bobbitt Inns of Court: Member
• Mecklenburg County Collaborative Law Group: Member
• North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers

• Women's Commission: Guest Lecturer at Divorce Clinic
• Men For Change: Board Member
• Business Leaders of Charlotte: Member
• Charlotte Chamber of Commerce: Member
• Morrocroft Homeowners Association: Board Member
• Myers Park Baptist Church: Member