I do all kinds of litigation in federal District Court in St. Thomas and the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. As well as working with administrative agencies such as the Virgin Islands Department of Labor or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Right now I have 26 active cases and they range from a landlord-tenant eviction to large commercial disputes between businesses. I take a case from its inception all the way to final judgment or settlement. It's seems a little obvious to say it this way, but we file the complaint and take the case as far as we can take it. If I'm representing a defendant, we try to get the case dismissed as soon as possible -- if we can't do that, we try to get an outstanding result for that client.

EDUCATION | Bachelors in History- UNC Chapel Hill and a JD from Georgetown University. I've passed the bar in Illinois and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and I am also a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

HOW TO GET STARTED | I think there's no substitute for doing. What's crazy is when you graduate from Law School, nothing you studied in school is on the bar exam. Then, when you start the practice of law, they say, "Forget everything you learned in law school and for the bar exam, now we are going to teach you the law." The first two or three years you are just really learning the ropes. As a law student, any school with good connections should give you opportunities to observe or participate in litigation settings. At Georgetown, the school is known for its clinics. During my last year, I participated in a civil rights law clinic. If you want to be a trial lawyer, seek out opportunities (clinic, Moot Court competition, etc.) that will put you in the courtroom or at least writing briefs. During law school you will also have an opportunity to be a part of Law Review, which is not all that fun, but it did teach me "Blue Booking," which I use every day in my practice so in retrospect it was beneficial. I moved to St. Thomas as a law clerk, which is unusual after practicing for two and a half years but I wanted to move here and I made that opportunity work for me. I assisted the judge in deciding cases. In my opinion, the smaller the legal community the better that is, meaning, every judge here knows me now, and although the judge would still evaluate the case on its merits, I think they would at least want to hear what I have to say. A clerkship in St. Thomas is probably the best way to get in to the legal community here in St. Thomas or St. Croix (30 miles away). They will most likely hire you if you already here because you have broken into the community and understand how things work here.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Analytical. Creativity. Change Gears quickly

how I got started | I did the traditional Georgetown thing, I interviewed with large law firms. They come to Georgetown to interview second year students, from that I received a summer associate position with a large firm; so initially it is great, you get wined and dined and at the end of the summer you get an offer to work for the firm if all goes well. It's great starting your third year knowing you have a job lined up, which is what happened with me. I worked at a large law firm in Chicago and then moved back to DC and worked as an attorney there. While in DC, an opportunity presented itself to clerk for a judge in St. Thomas. I then took the bar exam here and now I presently am an attorney in the Virgin Islands and I love it.

why this job?| I've always had an overdeveloped sense of fair play, and have hoped to put myself in a position where I would be able to help people. I am also a debater and argumentative person by nature, so this career path is a great fit. On a more serious note, my uncle was wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit; through that ordeal I realized how powerful a force knowledge of the law truly can be. I believe my uncle wouldn't have gone to jail if he had a better attorney.

why I love this job!| I love that it's a new challenge everyday. I love that this job tests my intellect and resources. And I love where I work; I live in paradise. I also love that sometimes I really get to help people.

my typical day| It's difficult to describe my typical day because I rarely have a typical day. For example, I'll get into the office and send some emails both to my boss and to my clients. I'll also discuss any upcoming depositions, whether we need to issue subpoenas, and stuff that's on the courts' docket. Later in the morning I may go over to the federal district court and meet with the judge for a status conference in his chambers. Maybe there is a discovery motion I have to get out to keep the case moving. Or if I have an actual hearing or trial coming up -- such as for this two-day employment discrimination hearing I did recently before an arbitrator, I have to prepare thoroughly, draft direct examination and cross-examination outlines, gather the necessary documents, and prepare our expert, if any, for her testimony. An exciting aspect of practice here in St. Thomas is that you will get appointed some criminal cases. So in addition to my civil litigation practice, I have handled juvenile criminal matters that would be heard by a judge in a bench trial, but so far all of my criminal cases have been ended with a plea bargain.

what they are | Everything is deadline driven, sometimes requiring long hours. Litigation is unpredictable and you need to be ready to deal with it in a quick and efficient manner that will work in favor of the client, and you need to be prepared to rush to put out fires. I think the lifestyle is better here than in a big city, though -- you can litigate and still manage to generally work only about 50 hours per week (other than when trials pop up from time to time). Put in a good day's billing, then go to the beach and have a pina colada. I do have a lot more cases than I used to, for example in Chicago I had only 4-5 cases, here I'll juggle as many as 26 cases!

all about growth | There is definitely room for growth, although it's not as clear cut, here all the firms on the island are small. But if you are willing to be more undefined you have more opportunity here. There might even be more room for advancement. A big fish in a smaller pond type of thing. Experience is the currency that everyone trades in regardless of where you work. I would like to own my firm one day. On the other hand, if I became a partner at another firm, I would follow that path as well. Or, one of my other ideas is to start a non-profit down here of which I would be the legal director, but I would need to find funding in order to make that happen. St. Thomas you can define into two categories, it's the Caribbean but it's also the United States. You can still have access to the mainland and any children you raise here are US citizens, people are still tied to the US. The practice of law here is very interesting. One reason is you get to do a lot of different things here; there is not as much specialization. There seems to be more room for rapid responsibility -- you can take on things more quickly. I finished my clerkship in July and have already taken 4 or 5 depositions. There's no substitute for experience and I think I'm becoming a better attorney. For example, in my employment law practice, I represent both employers and plaintiffs; I think that's pretty rare on the mainland. With all the different things you get to do here, I think it helps you as an attorney. It's fun. Right now, I have a first-degree assault case. I feel like it's a big deal, just because my client would lose his liberty if he gets convicted.

my website| www.vilaw.com