Finding My Purpose: From Prosecutor to Defender

With so many interests it was hard when I was younger figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. When I was kid, I wanted to be a baseball player. However, by the time I was playing baseball at Newnan High School, I realized that was not going to work out for me. As someone who excelled in math (I earned a 5 (top score) on the AP Calculus BC exam), I could have gone the engineering route, but after an internship I did not think I would enjoy it. In college I discovered I had a strong interest in computers and technology and enjoyed learning simple coding and how to build websites. On the other hand, my college roommate got me to briefly participate in a theater group on campus, which led me to discover it was kind of fun being on stage. To complicate things further, I also got into drawing and painting and discovered I had a creative side to me. With such varied interests, I simply did not know how they could all fit together or what I wanted to do with my life.

My mother, an attorney herself, recommended I consider going to law school, so I decided to go for it. In law school I found criminal law classes to be the only classes that truly interested me. They involved cases about real people going through things that really struck me at a personal level in a way contracts, torts, and other areas of law simply did not. While some others in law school had goals of working in a big firm, I knew I wanted to do something that would be more interesting, engaging, and personally rewarding than just doing something for money. 

Upon graduating from law school and before settling in on the responsibilities of a career or starting a family, I took quite the detour. I moved to Beijing, China, where I taught English to 1st and 2nd graders for two years. During that time I developed a lower-intermediate ability to speak Mandarin Chinese. It was an amazing eye-opening experience for me living abroad in such a different country, and I came to appreciate even more what we have here in the U.S. From that teaching experience I learned I have a very patient personality and am good at breaking things down in a way that difficult things become understandable.

When I came back from living abroad, I began a local internship at the Coweta County District Attorney's Office. This got my foot in the door and ultimately led to me being hired in 2013 as an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting felonies locally. In that role I developed a passion for seeking justice and helping others. In the 11 years that followed, through hard work, consistent excellence in performance, and by demonstrating my ability to handle the most serious of cases, I moved up to the role Office Manager and then to the role of Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney for the entire then five-county Coweta Judicial Circuit. However, I knew I eventually wanted to build something of my own while still helping others and doing something meaningful.

Being a criminal defense attorney and trying cases checks all of the boxes for me. Studying the law and developing technical legal arguments allows me to use the logical side of my brain to solve problems, which I find quite satisfying. Creating a PowerPoint presentation for closing argument allows me to utilize both my creative and technical sides. I love integrating technology with my practice of law. At trial, breaking down the evidence and law in the case for a jury allows me to use my teaching skills. The work is challenging and each case is unique, which I like. I don't want a boring or easy job.

Seeking justice isn't just for prosecutors. As a criminal defense attorney, I still fight for justice and help many people who are either wrongfully charged, overcharged, or offered an excessive sentence for a plea recommendation. This fulfills my need to do something rewarding and meaningful, because it allows me to help my clients through a stressful situation and make a positive impact on their and their family's lives. My clients are not just a case file to me. I care for my clients and treat them the same way I would want to be treated if I were ever in their shoes. I consider it a privilege to fight for my clients and build the strongest possible defense I can for them.

This is what I was meant to do with my life.