I have been with the firm since 1999, and I am a partner. I specialize in helping people with their workers’ compensation and personal injury claims because it is personally rewarding for me when I am able to help an injured person get the benefits that they deserve, and I am able to hold an insurance company accountable. I understand that having an injury can be very difficult and I know that insurance companies often do not treat people fairly. My clients like me because I am passionate about their claims and don’t give up! Clients and others in the workers’ compensation arena have been known to call me a pit bull! It is obvious that I enjoy what I do.. I am caring, but also aggressive and persistent.
I understand that the legal process is long and can be quite frustrating for most people, and I do my part by following my conscience, using common sense, and being really, really persistent. I form strong relationships with my clients and I do really care about winning. My most rewarding cases have been apparent long shots, medically complicated or factually difficult, but ultimate winners when tested at hearing at the Department of Labor or in Superior Court, because my clients were honest, hard-working, and deserving. My pride in my work comes from getting good results and winning cases for my clients.
I am proud to represent Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) members, NEA members, nurses, state troopers, and steel and granite workers. If you are getting taken advantage of, you want me on your side. I love seeing the relief on my client’s faces when they know they can relax and let us do the heavy lifting, that they will take care of and that we will do the best for them that is possible in their claim.
Since 2014, I have served as vice president of Kids’ Chance of Vermont, a wonderful organization whose mission is to help the children of injured workers pay for college. You can read about why I support Kids’ Chance here. I am also the President of the Washington County Bar Association and also serve as a Small Claims Judge periodically as a public service.
I come from a very modest background. My grandfather was a coal miner, my grandmother worked in a manufacturing plant, and I was the first in my family to graduate from college and law school. I know what it means to work hard and I remember what it is like to have little money. Like many of my clients, I have also experienced physical pain. Although my pain is improved, I know what it is like to live with chronic pain and how hard it is to describe to someone who has never had it before. Not all attorneys know how it feels to experience that kind of pain or to be poor. My injury clients often deal with these tough issues. I think it helps that I understand my clients’ situations and their stress. I work hard for my clients to get the best results for them because I do care and I want them to have a better life, too.
I have lived in Montpelier for two decades with my husband, who is also an attorney. I enjoy attending baseball games (Red Sox, Vermont Mountaineers, Lake Monsters, and my son’s team) and coordinating the bat kid program for the Mountaineers. We have a son in middle school (an avid baseball catcher) and a daughter who enjoys ballet and contemporary dance.