Over the past twenty years, I have worked for a variety of legal entities and non-profits that purport to provide services in all of Washoe County, including Incline Village and Crystal Bay. While I have represented clients in Incline Village and Crytal Bay in all of my legal roles, our community knows all too well that the needs over the hill tend to overshadow the needs in our own community. I have done my best to bring services up to the lake over the course of my career, but I have never been in a position to really expand the services in our community. I welcome the opportunity to use the connections that I have made through my work in Washoe County and Northern Nevada by expanding court and legal resources and services to our community as follows:

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COMMUNITY EDUCATION: While serving as the Directing Attorney of the Senior Law Project for Washoe County, I traveled to Incline Village to provide free legal education to community members at the Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation in the areas of Landlord/Tenant Law, Trusts and Estates, and Employment Law. Since that time, I have worked as a legal educator at a national level, providing training to Judges, Attorneys, and other legal professionals across the country and in Canada. If elected, I will bring my extensive experience with legal training back to the community by (1) building upon the existing court website so that it provides legal information about our court system, laws and legal procedures; (2) enhancing the written materials available at the courthouse; and (3) inviting experts to speak on important legal issues directly pertaining to our community.

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COMMUNITY-BASED DISPUTE RESOLUTION: In addition to my legal training and experience, I am also formally trained as a mediator. Mediation is a form of dispute resolution whereby a neutral third party helps parties to a dispute reach their own resolution, rather than having a judge make the decision for them. While mediation is not appropriate in every type of legal case, it can offer an alternative to court where parties are required to maintain an ongoing relationship. This can be particularly helpful in cases involving neighbors, family members, or individuals co-existing in a small community like our own. If elected as Justice of the Peace, I will work directly with the Neighborhood Mediation Center (NMC) to bring mediation services to Incline Village and Crystal Bay for civil matters, landlord/tenant disputes and protection orders. NMC currently provides these services to the Reno and Sparks Justice Courts, and I look forward to a partnership to bring similar services to our own community.

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JUSTICE CENTER: Since law school, it has been my dream to develop a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency Justice Center where community members can find all of their legal resources in one place. Justice Centers that provide a co-located, one-stop approach to legal services and resources protect victims of crime and community members by improving access to support and resources; reducing the number of times that victims are required to tell their stories; and minimizing the number of places that community members must go to receive services. As Incline's next Judge, I will do my best to collaborate with other service providers in the Incline Village and Crystal Bay area to develop a comprehensive Justice Center for our community.​