Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers

I am a criminal defense lawyer with a nationwide practice focused on representing people with mental disabilities. My family settled in the Palouse Country of Washington Territory in 1872. I was born and raised in Spokane and I returned to the Inland Northwest in 2012.

My experience includes:

• Co-chairing the Criminal Justice Advisory Panel of The Arc's National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability.
• Editing of Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers, which is scheduled to be published by the American Bar Association in 2018.
• Serving on the Editorial Board of the ABA's Criminal Justice Section Magazine.
• Serving three terms on the board of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), chaired its Mental Health as well as Membership Committees and am a Life Member.
• Traveling to Liberia in 2009 and 2014 as part of a delegation sponsored by the U.N. Commission on Drugs and Crime and NACDL to train that country's criminal defense bar.
• Lecturing across the U.S. as well as abroad on representing people with mental disabilities and frequently provide commentary for radio and television.
• Serving as a Vice President of The Spokane Symphony and the board of The Arc of Spokane and have served on the board of the Museum of Arts and Culture (The MAC).
• Being appointed by the Spokane City Council to the Police Ombudsman Commission.
• Completing my 200 hour Yoga certification and currently working on my 500 hour certification through Semperviva Studio in Vancouver, BC.