As Andrea noted in her last post, I recently joined the MSBA staff as the new Practice Development Director.  So it is probably high time that I say hello to our Practice Blawg readers and tell you a little about myself and my new job.

I grew up in Cincinnati, but spent most of my summers in northwest Wisconsin and northern Minnesota. After moving out east for college and then working in New York for three years, I figured out that I am a Midwesterner at heart. Canoe country beckoned, so I decided that after law school I would make my way to the Twin Cities to check out Minnesota. Seventeen years later, I almost feel like a native.

Following graduation from law school, I joined the real estate department of a large Minneapolis firm. I toiled in the trenches as an associate and then a shareholder, practicing primarily in the areas of real estate finance, real estate development, and energy M&A and development.

About five years ago, I began to feel that my practice and my life were out of alignment. I spoke with colleagues, friends, and coaches about charting a new path for my career. After several twists and turns, I finally decided to hang my own shingle and open my own practice. While starting a new business in 2009 may not have been the smartest idea I’ve ever had, the past two years have been exciting, challenging, and worth the effort. I recently reached a point where I felt my solo practice had finally taken hold and was moving forward.

So, if things were finally falling into place, what am I doing at the MSBA? The answer is fairly simple – I’m up for a new challenge and the opportunity seemed too good to pass up.  I’m the kind of person who loves to push buttons and twist dials. I enjoy trying to figure out how to do something better or faster. I love to read about the latest greatest web site and online tool. And I’m often the person who fields my friends’ questions about tech issues. Throw in a little experience in the law and in setting up a solo practice, and you’ve got many of the job qualifications for my position.

Over the next few months, I’ll be settling into my job and rediscovering all of the tools and resources that the MSBA offers to its members. As I do, I plan on posting about the resources and asking you, our readers, for your opinions about them. I also look forward to sharing some of the tools that I chose as I built my solo practice.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions about services and tools that the MSBA offers to its members. I look forward to hearing from you.