Candidate for
Superior Court Judge, Room 1; County of Mendocino

Prior to becoming an attorney, I served as an investigator for the Washington D.C. Public Defender's Office. In 1983 I was one of four female deputy sheriffs in Sonoma County, and experienced first-hand every human tragedy from rape to domestic violence to murder.

A severe injury incurred on the job led me to reassess my career in law enforcement, and I decided to pursue the practice of law. Unlike the majority of attorneys in this country, I did not complete my legal training behind the ivory walls of a prestigious law school. I successfully completed a rare and highly-esteemed law-office study process, passing the California State Bar Exam on the first attempt. Only 200 of the currently 1,143,358 attorneys practicing in the United States have achieved this (and only about 50% pass the bar on their first attempt).

After being in practice several years, I pursued and obtained(while continuing my full-time law practice)a Masters Degree in Taxation Law (LL.M), with honors. I believe both of these achievements are a testament to my discipline and commitment to law and learning.

I have 19 years as a seasoned and highly respected attorney in Mendocino and Sonoma County, also representing clients in counties throughout the state, across the country and Europe. I have successfully tried many cases in the courtroom, and am fully knowledgeable of the judicial process.

I am admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the State of California, the United States Tax Court; United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I have appeared before the California First District Court of Appeals, successfully prevailing in 4 of 5 cases, two of which have become written California state law.

My case load is extensive, including estate planning (many clients with complex estates), contested will and probate proceedings, an extremely wide range of real estate matters (including multi-million dollar vineyard sales and purchases as well as the purchase and sale of land and residences) formation and dissolution of complex business entities, formation and advisement for non-profit organizations, construction defect, conservation easements, copyright infringement, elder abuse, civil harassment, fraud and embezzlement, land disputes (including rights-of-way, easements, water rights), family law, election law, civil rights, transactional law, tax law, representing clients in IRS disputes, bankruptcy and intellectual property rights.

In addition to my legal education, I have extensive training in mediation, arbitration and collaborative law, and am a strong proponent of alternate dispute resolution, and early settlement of cases prior to trial.

Pro-bono legal services have been an important part of my practice, and I have volunteered hundreds of hours of free legal training and services to indiviudals and non-profit organizations throughtout my career. I have served as a temporary judge, as well as a Sonoma County Superior Court appointed fee arbitrator, and am currently acting as a Mendocino County Superior Court-appointed arbitrator in the civil harassment calendar.

I am ready and willing to go to work immediately to do the hard work necessary to make our court system work, and make our beautiful county a safer place to live. I am uniquely qualified, from the street to the courtroom, with extensive legal experience in multiple areas of law, and I have the even-keeled temperament that is so necessary to serve as your next Mendocino County Superior Court judge.