I am a Child Welfare Law Specialist certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children. I began my legal career representing the Department of Family and Children Services and then spent almost a decade advocating for parents and children involved in the child welfare system. I now serve a Judge Pro Tempore in the Juvenile Court of DeKalb County. Outside of the courtroom, I strive to improve the child welfare system through my work on boards and committees including the Supreme Court’s Committee on Justice for Children, the Foster Care Cold Case Project, the National Parent Representation Project Steering Committee, the Parent Attorney Advocacy Committee, and the Georgia Association of Counsel for Children. I have been trained as a Trial Skills Teacher by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and I teach other child welfare attorneys in Georgia and across the United States on a variety of topics including trial skills, examining expert witnesses, understanding drug tests, effective case planning, and due diligence in medically-complicated cases. Before practicing law, I earned a Master's Degree in Biochemistry from Clemson University and I worked as an analytical chemist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.