I always wanted to be an attorney, ever since high school.

I try to keep lines of communication with my client open, listen to what they are saying, and understand why they want what they want. I communicate with them as clearly as possible, and try to give them a realistic expectation of the ease or difficulty of achieving what they want, so they can make informed decisions.

The need for help in this area of law is undeniable. Every adult has, or knows someone who has had a time in their life that was impacted by family law issues.

For one thing, we are straight shooters. We tell it like it is, because whether it is good news or bad news, our clients are going to make life altering decisions based on that advice. If something is a waste of your time and money, we will tell you that. We expect our clients to be part of their own legal team, and to do the home work to help us get the best result. We have open, direct discussions with our client about the evidence needed to prove their case and the work involved to get it. We believe preparation and organization is a must, not an ideal. Another area that distinguishes our firm from many family law firms that our definition of family law is broad enough to encompass today's definition of family. In addition to issues dealing with marriage and the end of marriage, we represent never married parents, grandparents, and LGBT clients. We also represent many international clients who are overseas, but have family law cases in Ohio.

We have a lot of military clients, and we love being able to help them with their family matters from out of state or overseas.

I'm a big fan of adoption, having adopted four children - 3 from foster care and one from overseas. I'm also a big animal lover - 2 dogs, 1 cat and 6 gold fish. I'm also a big fan of photography, coin collecting and scrapbooking. I grew up in Alaska, and love to go deep sea fishing or salmon fishing.

At one time I managed a grass roots organization to feed the homeless on the streets of my hometown.