I came late in life to the law; I graduated from college (Smith) in 1978 and from law school (Franklin Pierce) in 2003. In the intervening years, I went to graduate school (Rensselaer Polytechic Institute) and spent a long time as a technical writer and editor, working for large industries, small startups, consulting groups and even a scientific and technical post-graduate-level publisher.
I now concentrate my strictly transactional law practice in intellectual property and business law. I am a patent attorney registered in the US, so I handle patent prosecution work; I also handle trademark and copyright prosecution, IP negotiations, tech transfer, licensing and franchising work. On the business side, I work with forming business entities and with developing contracts of many types, including terms-of-service agreements and agreements to form and govern strategic alliances.
I do NOT litigate, although I work closely with litigators and will happily provide referrals to attorneys with whom I have had good experience.
In 2009, I was honored to receive the Kurt Clobridge Memorial Award for Pro Bono Service from The Legal Project of the Capital District Women's Bar Association. This award is given annually to an attorney "...who embodies the spirit of pro bono volunteerism and selflessness that Kurt Clobridge, an active participant in The Legal Project's programs, exemplified during his life."
In 2017, I was honored to receive the Small Business Administration's Small Business of the Year award in upstate New York
In my spare(?) time, I enjoy reading (yes, I read John Grisham novels), flying small planes, swimming (I worked my way through college as a NYState lifeguard), and movies, among many other things. I do watch television -- collapsing for an hour in front of the tube is good stress relief for me.
My daughter is an honors college student and the office manager for a litigation support company in Boston, MA. She plans to continue her schooling to the Master's level and is likely to one day become the next J.K. Rowling.
I have eight cats; one, a Russian blue female named Jasmine, is the matriarch of the group; Jazzy keeps everyone else well in line. Gus is 25 pounds of sleek, black marshmallow; everyone knows Gus is Best Cat. Motley is the messenger; he tells me when there is anything amiss in the cats' world. Furby is just a sweet boy who sits beside me and holds my hand in a very dignified manner. Linus is the class clown; Lucy, Linus' littermate, rules them all with an iron paw. The Justices -- Ginsburg and Scalia -- are the babies of the bunch, born in 2018. Ginsburg is an outrageous flirt, and Scalia is Little Miss Mischief; she gets into EVERYTHING and loves to play fetch. They all keep me well entertained.