I grew up on a Nebraska farm. I was the fifth of five children. My father only had an eighth grade education. All five of his children graduated from college. I have a degree in English Literature and received the Vreelands writing award for poetry. I attended graduate school in Economics and Law. All at the University of Nebraska.
I practiced as a public defender in Lincoln, Nebraska and Bethel, Alaska. Bethel is an Eskimo village on the Kuskoquim River in far west Alaska. I handled 14 homicide cases and hundreds of felony cases. I then worked for the Alaska Supreme Court as Court Rules Attorney before moving to civil litigation to try tort cases. My first law partner was Edmond Burke, the former Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.
I now work with Rick Friedman’s firm in Bremerton and Seattle, Washington. We handle tort trials all across the country.
I have also taught cognitive neuroscience to trial lawyers in 30 states. This is the science of how the physiology of the brain produces the phenomenology of consciousness. It is fundamentally related to human decision-making in the courtroom (and elsewhere). It is especially helpful for case framing around the concept of moral blameworthiness. It is also useful in identifying and selecting jurors who respond to particular types of evidence involving moral blame.
