My passion for the law started when I graduated from college with my bachelor’s degree and took a job as a paralegal at Metmor Financial. That role gave me my first real insight into the legal field. In 1997, I moved to Topeka, Kansas, and joined the Kansas State Appellate Defender Office as a paralegal. There, I was able to put my love of research and writing to use. During this time, I earned my degree in History and Political Science from Washburn University in 2000. A few years later, I met Mr. Ney and joined his law firm, Ney and Adams, as a paralegal. Working there allowed me to continue developing my research and writing skills while working on cases involving the Federal Death Penalty, which deepened my understanding of the complexities of capital defense and strengthened my passion for justice. My love for working in the legal field eventually led me to enroll in law school in 2012. I was accepted at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where I worked on the UMKC Law Review, participated in the Death Penalty Representation Clinic, and interned at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). During this time, I also had the chance to work with the Midwest Innocence Project. This organization is dedicated to representing people wrongly convicted of crimes in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, supporting these innocent people once they are freed, and working to change the system to prevent wrongful convictions in the first place. While I was working with the Midwest Innocence Project, I had one of the most meaningful experiences of my time in law school—and my life—when I had the privilege of representing and helping to exonerate an innocent man before the Missouri Court of Appeals.
