I ensure our government actors uphold their oaths to safeguard the U.S. and Nevada constitutions by zealously defending those who are accused of committing crimes in Carson City. I aim to level the playing field between the government and an individual by taking such actors to task when they fail to live up to their duty to protect civil rights, while they keep our city the safe, family-focused, thriving community it always has been and continues to be. I review the evidence against the accused, research legal and factual issues that apply to their cases, advise them on their rights and options, and counsel them regarding both legal and practical matters. I negotiate with prosecutors on my clients' behalf and spend a lot of time in court, as well as draft motions, appeals, writs, and other documents essential for effective litigation. I also serve as a defense attorney for our specialty courts (in a backup capacity for now) and champion participants in an effort to encourage compliance, recovery, and developing life skills that will hopefully lead to successes within the programs and beyond. In this role, I counsel participants regarding what to expect in specialty courts, how to succeed, and how to navigate challenges both within the programs and in life in general. I am their voice during staffing meetings with the specialty court teams and I defend their interests, including advocating for them when they face potential termination from the programs. As a practitioner, I endeavor to lead by example and be the attorney that peers, clients, and even the bench consider the gold standard of legal practice. And I am exceedingly proud to be a founding member of the Carson City Public Defender's Office.

In one of my most favorite roles ever, I represented indigent individuals accused of committing misdemeanors and low-level felonies. I loved this job because I was going to bat for my clients in court nearly every day. I'm proud of how quickly I earned the respect of defense-side colleagues as well as the prosecutors. I was also the defense attorney assigned to the mental health specialty court, which is an intensive program designed to help people with convictions or pending charges who have mental illnesses so they can learn the skills necessary to live in our busy and demanding society. The MHC team uses many tools to this end, including psychotherapy, group counseling, one-on-one counseling, substance abuse counseling, medication management, anger management, and conflict de-escalation. MHC also helps folks with money management, parenting skills, securing housing and employment, achieving educational goals, and many other essential functions to thrive in society.

I represented the State and employees of the Nevada Department of Corrections when sued by inmates for alleged civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983. Cases brought under Section 1983 are almost exclusively brought in federal courts. Most of my litigation experience had been in federal courts, and I was quite familiar with the rules and formality expected by the federal bench. My opponents, however, were nearly always pro se and had no formal legal training. And, unfortunately, many such lawsuits are "brought for the purpose of harassment or recreation." See H.R. Rep. No. 104-21, at 22 (1996). Thus, the plaintiffs frequently did not respect the forum or approach litigation as one would expect from a member of the bar. While sometimes litigating against pro se inmate-plaintiffs seemed like an unfair fight, it also created unique challenges for our litigation defense team. In this role, I negotiated creative resolutions with inmates, and when that failed, I drafted motions, served and responded to discovery, and appeared at mediation and settlement conferences.I ended up leaving this role when I was recruited by the Nevada Public Defender's Office and couldn't pass up the opportunity to be back in court all the time.

I joined the exceptional team at Taggart & Taggart and closed my own office in the summer of 2017. It was a great gig and I learned a lot—mostly about preferring litigation over contract review. I jest. That sentence is actually designed just to be obnoxious to Paul's grammatical preferences. The Taggarts are great attorneys and have been great mentors to me (and many others).My practice at TNT involved litigation, contract and transaction analysis, administrative proceedings, estate planning, business formation, and water rights research.

After I moved back to Nevada, I passed my second bar exam and opened an office in Reno. I continued to primarily handle federal cases, but started accepting state litigation cases, including divorce, order enforcement, and breach of contract.

Upshaw PLLC is an IP litigation boutique located in the heart of Dallas. Above all else, these attorneys pursue excellence in their practices and represent their clients with the zealousness and conscientiousness to which all attorneys should aspire. I practiced patent litigation as an associate-level attorney. We represented both plaintiffs and defendants and routinely worked with attorneys from AmLaw 100 firms as co-counsel or opposing counsel. My role involved day-to-day case management of various patent lawsuits all over the country, but primarily in the Eastern District of Texas and Northern District of California. I worked on all aspects of litigation as a junior and then mid-level attorney, including written discovery, document review, briefing, depositions, and crushing the other side whoever that may be.

I began representing my own clients almost immediately after passing the bar through the local volunteer attorney program. My early matters with DAYL included divorces, probate, and a name change. I built my initial practice on custody disputes, criminal defense, and traffic tickets. So many traffic tickets.The complexity of my cases grew and eventually my case load moved from municipal courts to state courts and then to federal court practice.

During my first year on Law Review, I researched and reviewed articles for publication in two law journals: The International Lawyer and the Law and Business Review of the Americas. During my second year, I reviewed first-year editors' reviews of articles. I also wrote an article that was accepted for publication in 2011.I was honored with the Outstanding Article Editor Award in 2011.

This was my first face-to-face exposure to litigation. I shadowed then-Dallas County Assistant Public Defender Larry Roberts two mornings a week. During these mornings, I discussed cases with accused defendants and my supervising public defender and helped clients navigate their decision paths on whether to plead to charges or try the cases. I observed and participated in plea negotiations with the prosecutors. When clients opted to plead to the accusations, I would help them complete the necessary forms to resolve their cases. On occasion, Larry would task me with researching a legal issue for a client's case.

Working for HDFS was my first adult job. I began working as an underwriter for consumer loans. I processed applications and made new Harley owners' dreams come true all over the country. After about three and a half years, I transitioned to the Collections division and then made people pay for those dreams. My Assistant Director in Collections let me practice collections techniques for about six months before she promoted me to be a front-line team leader with my own team of collectors. Eventually, I began to eye the Legal Department and joined them as a Compliance Analyst. In this role, I audited business units for regulatory compliance and oversaw the consumer complaint program. I attended the ABA National Compliance School in April 2006. I ultimately left this role during my first semester of law school.