About

I spent the early part of my life in Africa (Rhodesia, South Africa, and Ghana) and obtained my primary and secondary education in Michigan. My last year of high school was in Toronto, Ontario before attending the University of Notre Dame, where I graduated with a degree in business (Management Information Systems) and a minor in English. During my summers I worked as a commercial fisherman on the East Coast (Cape May, New Jersey and New Bedford, Massachusetts). I also worked an opilio season aboard a crab boat in the Bering Sea.  I obtained my law degree in Portland, Oregon (Lewis and Clark Law School), spending a year at Notre Dame’s London Law program and working for a solicitor’s office in the City. After working for several years as a maritime attorney in Cleveland, Ohio representing vessel owners on the Great Lakes, I obtained my master’s degree in maritime law from Tulane University in New Orleans. I worked for several years in Seattle representing injured fishermen before moving to Guam and Saipan in the Western Pacific, which enabled me to travel throughout Asia representing clients from Japan, Korea, China (Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Republic) and the PI, as well as the Western Pacific (Palau, the Marshalls, and the FSM).  After spending a year at a D.C. law firm where I helped those injured by unsafe pharmaceuticals, I volunteered my time with International Cruise Victims to pass federal legislation making cruise ships safer (the biggest change to maritime law since the sinking of the Titanic), before moving to the beautiful town of Hood River, Oregon and practicing throughout the Pacific Northwest.I have published two windsurfing articles in American Windsurfer and American Mensa magazines. I have also been published by the Oregon Bar Bulletin several times.  I wrote and published the CNMI Bar Review, the only commercial bar preparation outline for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. I was the first to appeal a case directly from the CNMI Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court. I am a member of the CNMI and Guam bar associations, as well as the state bars of Ohio, Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia, in addition to various Federal and Appellate Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. I am a member of Mensa.I am very involved with my community.  I was a volunteer Master Gardener through the Oregon State University Extension before joining the National Botanic Garden in DC. I also represented GAIN5, a local group of angel investors that have invested over a million dollars in the Hood River community.  I formed the Celilo Writing Group to encourage local writers to get published.  I was also a three time board member of the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association.  I was an active board member of the Cemetery Association of Oregon, and have participated in drafting regulations for the Oregon Cemetery and Mortuary Board, and helped pass four industry related bills through the Oregon legislature.  In my free time I like to ride horses, mountain bike, windsurf, cross country ski and snowboard (golf is another matter).Currently, I am in Washington, D.C. working for a group of health care centers east of the Anacostia.   I volunteer at the National Shrine as a lector and garden at the National Botanic Garden. I am regularly on Capitol Hill meeting with representatives on behalf of the International Cruise Line Victims Association.

Practices Areas

Business

Litigation

Language

English

Contact

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