Although not a popular thing to say in Texas: I was born and raised in Oklahoma.  I still have family there but I have lived and worked in Dallas, Texas long enough to consider myself a Texan.

I was born in 1957 in Enid, Oklahoma where I graduated from high school in 1975.  I was active in speech, debate and drama societies as well as the usual teenage activities of church and friends.

My family has a long tradition of attending Oklahoma State University (for my parents it was called Oklahoma A&M) and I was no exception.  I graduated in 1979 with a bachelor of science degree from the School of Journalism where I majored in public relations which was a blend of the full range of journalism and advertising with business and marketing classes.  I was selected for the honorary Mortar Board Society; I was an active member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority; and I participated in the Student Government Association.

I worked for five years for the Stillwater NewsPress starting as a reporter and ending as the editor in the "family" section which included consumer news as well as food, nutrition, fashion, arts and entertainment and religion.   Stillwater, Oklahoma is not just a college town.  I was fortunate to be active in many civic organizations including the First United Methodist Church, board of directors of Big Brothers & Sisters, board of directors of the hospice organization, and on the founding board of The Christmas Store, a combined effort of all agencies and organizations to provide assistance with dignity for the less fortunate during the holidays.

A myth from my college days was that if you didn’t go straight on to law school or graduate school, instead entering the workforce, you would never go back to school.  I was just stubborn enough to want to disprove that theory.   I loved my job at the newspaper and my life in the community but was ready to go back to school.  I was accepted into several law schools and chose Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where I entered law school in the fall of 1985.

Law school in many ways was similar to my old job: you had to be there everyday and read a lot.  School loans and part-time jobs supported me for the three years of law school, including the semester I did a full-time internship at the Texas Supreme Court in Austin.

I graduated in 1988 and passed the bar in November of that year.   I had already been hired by a small (by Dallas standards) personal injury plaintiff’s law firm.  I learned workers’ compensation and personal injury litigation.  I started the Social Security disability section before I left in 1993.   I went to work for another personal injury plaintiff’s law firm where I got more trial exposure.  In 1995 I passed the exam to become board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. In 2004, I was in the first group to take the exam in the new specialty area, Workers' Compensation Law. I am now board certified in this small, but specialized, area of the law.

January 1, 1996 is a red-letter day for me.  I opened my own law firm that day.  I wanted to have a broader practice than just personal injury. And I wanted to have more direct contact with my clients.  I still represent people injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, and I still handle workers’ compensation and car accident claims but I also handle a variety of family law matters such as divorce and child support and custody modifications.  I prepare wills, mostly for small estates.  I have some business clients.   I represent people on a variety of legal needs.  If I can’t help them, I often refer them to someone who can.  For example, I don’t handle criminal matters or complex estate planning.

For a time, my office was in North Dallas and then in Richardson, Texas (a suburb on the north side of Dallas). In March of 2000, I moved into the McKool Building, a few miles north of downtown Dallas, on Central Expressway/Interstate Highway 75. Over the years I've hired dedicated hard-working staff. Currently Norelia Reyes is my legal assistant.  My sister works for the Richardson Independent School District and so I give a fee discount to employees from this school district.

Professionally, I served on the board of directors of the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association (1998 - 2000); treasurer of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Claimant’s Lawyers Association (1998 - 1999); member of the Dallas Bar Association, American Trial Lawyers Association, and State of Texas Bar Association where I belong to a variety of sections including family law and tort litigation.  I am past president of the small firm/solo practice section of the Dallas Bar Association.  At the end of 1998, I ended an enjoyable five year stint on the board of directors of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association and one year on the board of directors of the Texas Women Lawyers Association.  I am a founding member of the Dallas Association of Social Security Claimant’s Attorneys. I served on the board of directors of a political action committee, Citizens For A Fair Judiciary (2000); I served on the board of directors of the Dallas Area Chapter of the American Red Cross from 2000 to 2003. I am a member of the First United Methodist Church of Dallas.