• California (2008)

• University of San Francisco School of Law (J.D., 2008)
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles (B.A. cum laude, Political Science and Creative Writing, 2004)

My interest in the law developed early on, beginning with countless criminal and civil mock trial competitions at both the high school and college level. A founding member of the University of Southern California's national-award winning Mock Trial team, I became the first person ever honored by the American Mock Trial Association with two separate "Best Performance" awards at a single competition -- one for my performance as a plaintiffs' attorney in the civil mock trial and one for my performance as a witness in the criminal case. While serving as captain, my team advanced to the championship round at Yale University's Annual Invitational Mock Trial Tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. During my second year at the University of San Francisco School of Law, I was the runner-up in the school-wide Advocacy of the Year Competition dealing with insidious forms of racial discrimination. I also was honored to represent my school in the Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition in New York City by arguing against gender discrimination in the workplace.

Because I was taught to see the law as a tool for furthering justice, it has always been very important to me that I use my legal training for the greater good and accordingly have always been active in public interest work and organizations, such as the National Lawyer's Guild. In this way I was very fortunate to be offered a law clerk position at the Kazan firm in 2007 - where I remained until becoming an associate in 2008. I am both grateful and honored to now be in a position to help the underprivileged and under-represented in our society, and feel fortunate to work at a firm so dedicated to service on behalf of people who otherwise might have no voice.