I received my J.D. from Duke Law School in 1990 and my B.A. in Political Science and French from Duke University in 1982. I am the founding member of The MacKenzie Law Firm, an immigration law firm based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. My interest in immigration law began with my work as an immigration law paralegal in Frankfurt am Main, Germany from 1984-86. In this capacity, I assisted in the representation of clients before the US Consulate including matters such as consular processing, immigrant and non-immigrant visas, and asylum.

Following graduation from Duke Law in 1990, I joined the firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia as an associate in the corporate and international law practice group. After moving back to North Carolina, I became an associate in the corporate department of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice in Winston-Salem. And in 1997, founded a law firm specializing exclusively in immigration and nationality law comprising all aspects of employment and family-based immigration, asylum and removal. I have since then successfully represented clients before the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

In 2002 to 2005, I was appointed Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law, where I taught a course in Immigration Law.