Professional Practice

In addition to Vanessa's successes at trial, she has also negotiated millions of dollars in settlements for clients: from babies not yet born, to elderly residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Vanessa also has valuable legal experience from the defense perspective.

She clerked for Frost Brown Todd, LLC, the largest defense firm in the region, while in law school, and was offered a position upon graduation. However, Vanessa decided early in her career that she wanted to represent injured people rather than insurance companies or big corporations. That decision led her to decline that offer and others to join the most prestigious defense firms in the region as a practicing attorney. Today, she only represents individuals and families.

Legal Background

Vanessa earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, graduating with honors. While in law school, she was elected by the law school student body to serve as their President. She was a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association mock trial team and the National Moot Court Team and earned the highest grade in her class for Trial Practice. Vanessa also founded the nation's first Student Bar Foundation, which now serves as a model to other law schools nationwide.

Vanessa holds two Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees, one in Psychology and another in Sociology, from Bellarmine College where she graduated with honors. While at Bellarmine, Vanessa was a four-year member of the American Mock Trial Association program. She earned top attorney in the nation honors for two years from thousands of students, an honor that has not been achieved by any other competitor in over 30 years since the program's inception. Vanessa was also a member of the National Championship Team during her senior year. On the road to a national championship, her team bested many elite programs such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, and over 300 other schools.

She also represents select victims of employment discrimination and wrongful termination. Vanessa has been featured on the news many times over the last several years for her pro bono work representing victims of bullying in schools, and she is often called upon by local news outlets to provide legal analysis of current events and cases covered by the media.

Since 2011, Vanessa has developed a trial practice consisting of trying cases for other attorneys when settlement negotiations have failed. Vanessa has been described by her colleagues in legal blogs and trial skills seminars as "intrepid," "truly gifted in the courtroom," and as having an "unmatched ability to connect with people." She is often referred cases by judges in whose courts she has tried cases - something Vanessa considers the highest compliment.