Attorney Profile
The touchstone of my practice is my desire to create an environment in which my clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive and difficult issues such as family dynamics and financial, economic and life decisions.
It’s All Greek to Me
My name is definitely unique – named after my grandmother who came through Ellis Island from Greece in 1911. I was born near San Francisco, but raised in McCloud, California (a very small town on the southern base of Mt. Shasta). My mother was a teacher and traveled with us kids to Eugene every summer to take master’s courses in education at the University of Oregon. During those summers I came to know the Eugene of the late 60s. While I was still in high school my mother moved here to complete a doctorate and I attended South Eugene High School for a year, started jogging, then attended the University of Oregon for a few years, and seriously ran for a year wearing the school colors around Hayward Field.
The Practice of Law
I traveled in Europe for a few years, and then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from San Francisco State University in 1986, and a law degree from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California, in 1990. I worked in private practice with litigation firms that specialized in personal injury, family and business law, and estate planning. In 1998, I began working for Legal Aid of Marin & Napa Counties, and then was hired by the State of California to work as a “court facilitator”, working as a neutral attorney who provided legal assistance to self-represented parties in all areas of law. The most important part of my facilitator years was the privilege of hearing thousands of “family” stories, at the rate of about 1000 a year. It is those stories that allow me to intimately understand each situation my client’s find themselves in.
Relocating to Eugene
I moved back to Eugene as a quality of life decision, focused on raising my young daughter and spending time volunteering and working with local arts organizations. In March 2006, I started working for local family law and estate planning attorneys and in May 2007 was admitted to the Oregon State Bar. I opened my own practice in June 2007, and now work from a home office located in the University area. In my free time I try my best at tango, ride my horse, or jog around the neighborhood with our growing wolf/malamute puppy.
In addition to my legal practice I serve on the Legal Ethics Committee and the Public Service Committees of the Oregon State Bar, and remain a member of the California State Bar.
" Nearly two decades of experience. "