I grew up in central Ohio, received a degree in social work from Ohio State University in 1980, and obtained my law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1983.  Immediately after completing law school, I took a position with an Ohio state agency dedicated to protecting the rights of disabled persons.  After several years in this position, I joined a Legal Services agency that provided representation to low-income persons throughout Ohio.

In 1992 I came to Knoxville to become Litigation Director of Knoxville Legal aid Society (now Legal Aid of East Tennessee).  After seven years with that agency, I started my own law practice in 1999.  I've now joined the firm of Eshbaugh, Waters, Strange-Boston and Kern.

I have taught classes in interviewing and negotiations at the University of Tennessee College of Law, and I am a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed mediator.  I am also a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys.  I have over twenty years experience representing both adoptive parents and birth parents in all types of adoptions.

My goal as an attorney is to help my clients make the best decisions for themselves, and to obtain the best results, in any situation.  My philosophy is that I and my staff work for our clients.  Our job is to give each client the attention he or she deserves, to ensure that each client is provided all of the information necessary to make the best informed decisions, and to plan and execute a course of action that will create the greatest chance of obtaining each client's wishes.