“I don’t have a specific ‘a-ha’ moment or scenario that drove me to consumer law. I think it just seemed like a natural fit as I was going through college and law school — my family was big on learning the difference between right and wrong, and doing what’s right, and I wanted to help people who didn’t have the knowledge or resources to pursue justice on their own.
“Nowadays, my motivation for this work is twofold. I have two young daughters now and we constantly have conversations about doing the right thing and helping others when you can. My daughters occasionally ask me what I do and why, and it’s nice to be able to explain to them that I use the knowledge and skills I developed over my time as a lawyer to help make a difference in people’s lives.
Second, as much as I see the good work NCLC does, and the good work my firm and other firms do on behalf of consumers, you look at the news and there’s always someone looking to fleece somebody. It’s like those people who heard about the pandemic and immediately went out and bought thousands of bottles of Purell and Clorox so they could turn around and sell them for $20 apiece — they think they’re being opportunistic, but all they’re doing is taking advantage of people’s fear and panic about this. Unfortunately that’s the way the world works, and that’s why it’s necessary for NCLC and firms like ours to keep at it so that ordinary people don’t get taken advantage of by businesses who play on that fear and uncertainty.
“I’ve always said that consumer law isn’t glamorous, it’s a bit of a grind, but the reward makes it worth it. At the end of the day, getting relief for people who are struggling is one of the best feelings you can get out of doing this type of work.
A couple years ago, one of our firm’s big areas of work was force-placed insurance, and we were seeing severe impacts on a number of clients — people were seeing their mortgage payments double, triple, quadruple, and one of our clients was forced into foreclosure and was on the brink of losing her home over this — but ultimately we were able to prosecute their cases and get relief through class action settlements for our clients and a large number of consumers and help them stave off foreclosure. I just remember how grateful and happy they were after it was all over — some of these folks had been about to lose the house they raised their kids in — and the ability to avoid that and help them get back on track was really, really rewarding. Experiences like that help encourage me to keep doing this work.”