AJ
Biography
While I wish my bio stated that I am a former professional athlete and have a nonprofit organization eradicating the world of hunger and cancer, I can’t and won’t ever be able to say that.
I’m a normal person with children, a spouse, a career and struggles to balance those often competing interests. My bio likely will not impress my clients, but my clients likewise do not have to try to impress me, because I live a real life and I “get” it.
I grew up in a traditional family in the Puget Sound. My mom stayed home to raise my two brothers, sister, and me while my dad made a career at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS), in Bremerton. All three of my siblings have worked with my dad at PSNS or one of its sister naval bases, which jokingly referred to as the family business.
I was the outlier who went to law school. Attending a non-traditional law school allowed me to maintain a full-time job while earning my law degree. I mowed lawns and babysat, and worked retail and at a non-profit.
I didn’t choose to be a family law attorney – it chose me. I thought that upon the completion of law school, I’d make a career in criminal law – after all the best TV drama happened during criminal trials. However, after law school I took a job at a family law firm. When I had the chance to move into criminal law a few years later, I realized I was already doing what I wanted to do.