I grew up in a home where my father was an insurance defense attorney, my brother was a real estate lawyer, and my sister was a certified paralegal. As such, I was exposed to law from a young age. By age ten, my father would take me to his law office in Kew Gardens, and I would file and do other small tasks his legal secretary would have for me. In high school, when my father and brother had their own practice with my brother’s best friend, who was a trial attorney who mostly handled plaintiff’s personal injury cases, I worked as a legal secretary after school and in the summers. During college and law school, I worked as a paralegal, drafting responsive pleadings and discovery, sitting in on meetings with clients, and learning about both litigation and real estate. There was no doubt I would become an attorney. The only question was what type of attorney I would become.

My undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan was in law, criminology, and deviance, so criminal law was an area I strongly considered. After obtaining my law degree from The George Washington University, I was offered a job as a public defender in Chicago. When the federal government shut down during my third year and funding became an issue, I had to find a different job. With a strong interest in international law and a fluency in Italian, I went to work for a law firm in Milan. I primarily worked on mergers and acquisitions for some very well-known corporations, and I learned that I preferred litigation to transactional law. I also learned that I wanted to help people.

I headed back to New York and was hired at a plaintiff’s firm with offices throughout New York City and Long Island that handled personal injury, worker’s compensation, Social Security disability, and labor and employment law. I was quickly given a caseload of my own and sent off to court. I learned by doing and am thankful for that approach, as many of my friends at larger firms were nowhere near a court room this early in their careers. I, on the other hand, was taking depositions, appearing in court, preparing for trial, taking expert testimony, and learning how to navigate litigation in New York.

After a few years, I questioned whether practicing law was what I really wanted to do. I think it was in part due to the fact that I had decided to get a law degree at such a young age. Seeking change, I interviewed with the FBI. When they told me to get a few years of law enforcement experience, I joined the NYPD. Given my law degree, the department wanted to move me to internal affairs, and I quickly decided to go back to practicing law. I had been fortunate enough to be working per diem for my old firm, and they offered a full-time position when I left the police department. Returning to the law made it clear to me that I had made the correct career choice from the beginning.

I know many attorneys who do not like practicing law. I am fortunate in that I truly enjoy the law and have since I was a child. Taking the long route back to litigation proved to me that I was correct and showed me my passion for the law.

After moving to Scottsdale, I continued to litigate, eventually becoming in-house counsel for a number of insurance companies. The flexibility of working in-house was appealing, as the main reason for the move to Arizona was to be better able to balance work and raising a family. Once my children were grown, I decided to pursue a position in a law firm in the hopes of being able to more consistently handle complex litigation, be exposed to a wider variety of cases, challenge myself, and hone my skills as a litigator. I was fortunate to have been offered a position with Tyson & Mendes, which has provided me with the valuable opportunity to continue my career and personal growth.