I grew up in the Albany area, spending my elementary school years in Green Island, NY, and then attending high school in Latham, NY.  I've always been a resident of the Capital District, and went to college and law school in the area.

I made the decision to be a lawyer after my first experience with our legal system as a 16 year old.  During the summer of the year I got my driver's license, I also got my first speeding ticket.  Luckily for me, my mother was at the time an office manager for an area law firm, and although one of her bosses appeared in court with me and reduced my ticket, my penalties included moving boxes and files at that law firm for the rest of that summer.  I stayed with that firm as summer help the next year, and became a courier there during college, a law clerk there during law school and eventually an associate attorney after graduation.  I moved on from that firm shortly after becoming an attorney, but my love of the practice of law and my desire to help everyday people was born back in those years of my youth.

The purpose of my law practice is simple - for me to make my living helping people, and to feel good about what I do at the end of each day.  Whether that means helping someone in buying a house, settling a family court dispute, drafting a will, defending a criminal charge or fighting a bill collector, I apply this philosophy evenly.   

ATTORNEY PROFILE

Admitted to New York and the US District Court for the Northern District in 1998, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1999.

Education

Albany Law School of Union University, JD, 1997

Siena College, BA, Political Science, 1994

    Co-editor of the Siena College Newspaper, The Promethean

Relevant Experience

In private practice from 1998 through 2002, in general practice with considerable experience in real estate, mortgage foreclosure law and bankruptcy.  Involved in non-legal business world from 2002 through 2005 in mortgage finance and real estate management.

Former adjunct instructor at Bryant & Stratton in Albany, from 2001 through 2002, where I taught paralegal studies, legal writing and research.

Volunteer Experience

2005 to present, Volunteer Attorney at The Legal Project, representing individuals in real estate purchases as part of the project's Affordable Housing Attorney Assistance program (AHAA), and as a panel attorney for the project's Domestic Violence Legal Connection program.