Law is a second career for me. After earning my MA from Purdue, I was an Assistant Professor of Communications at Ancilla College, a small, private college in northern Indiana. I went back to law school in my early 30s and moved to Cincinnati to join Dinsmore after graduating from IU Maurer School of Law (Bloomington). At Dinsmore, I practice within our White Collar Crime & Government Investigations practice group. My practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on investigations and litigation under the federal False Claims Act.
YLS has been my gateway into the Cincinnati legal community. As a Cincinnati transplant, I had no connections in the city when I moved here, and it often felt like everyone knew each other, whether it was from law school or even childhood! I was looking for a chance to connect with other attorneys and YLS was the perfect fit. I’ve made so many professional and personal relationships through my time with the CBA and YLS.
As a “non-traditional” new attorney who went to law school later in life, my goal is to make sure YLS is a home that caters to all new attorneys regardless of age or background. Those eligible for YLS membership haven’t all come straight from undergrad to law degrees. We have several members who are married, have children, may be caring for aging family members, or may have become an attorney as a second or third career. The one thing we all have in common is being new attorneys and those experiences are similar regardless of our background. I want to make sure we have events and programming that everyone can connect with and relate to.
The CBA makes a difference in our community and makes the legal profession a better one. It is an invaluable resource to not only attorneys but our community. The CBA gives attorneys a chance to foster relationships with their colleagues or even their adversaries to make Cincinnati a great place to practice!