Owner’s Counsel of American (OCA) is a 501 (c)6 business association comprised of trial attorneys dedicated to assisting private property owners in eminent domain and takings cases nationwide. I have been involved with OCA since its formation in 2000, serving as a primary member from both Idaho and Washington before becoming an Emeritus Member. I am pleased to now serve the organization as its Executive Director.

The Council is established by statute as the advisory body for programs and services affecting victims of domestic violence and other crimes in Idaho, including sexual assault, human trafficking and child abuse. The Council administers VOCA (Victim of Crime Act) and FVPSA (Family Violence Prevention & Services Act) federal grant funds, as well as state dedicated funds for domestic violence projects, funding programs to assist victims throughout the State of Idaho. I worked to bring funded programs together to navigate significant federal funding declines while remaining focused on serving survivors, revise policies, administrative rules and procedures to increase transparency, and develop streamlined best practices that reduce burdens on funded programs. I also focused on reliable data for data driven decision making to ensure limited funds can be allocated where most needed. initiating collection of need and demand data and a collaboration with the Idaho Statistical Analysis Center to build and launch a Crime Victimization data dashboard. I engaged in extensive collaborations with a wide variety of stakeholders to improve the quality and accessibility of services for survivors across the state.

I represented property owners facing condemnation and assisted a variety of clients in other civil litigation matters in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. In addition I developed associates and provided training on litigation skills.

I represented property owners facing eminent domain issues, as well assisted clients with a variety of complex civil litigation issues, from initial client meeting though trial and, if necessary, appeal.

I handled misdemeanor and felony arraignments, and misdemeanor and infraction hearings, trials, sentencings and parole violations.