Monica was born in Washington but spent the first few years of her life overseas living in Singapore with her family while her father taught physics at the Singapore American School. Her family eventually settled down in Forestville, along the Russian River in west Sonoma County. She spent her summers exploring the river, the redwoods, and tide pools along the Sonoma County coast from Jenner to Fort Ross. This curiosity and love of nature led to her interest in how land is held and understood legally.

Monica’s passionate interest in the law drove her ambition to earn a Master’s in Legal Studies and then her Doctorate in Jurisprudence, cum laude, from Empire College School of Law, taking classes at night while teaching legal classes to paralegal students during the day at Empire Business College. As an attorney, she is able to use the skills she has honed as a teacher to ably represent her clients in court and in alternative dispute resolution settings. Her defining characteristic is the calming effect she has in tense situations and her ability to hear the concerns of each client, to explain the law given the unique facts of her client’s case, and to help reach a resolution through skilled negotiation, in and out of a courtroom setting.

Monica continues to enjoy the abundant and beautiful natural settings of northern California, now with her husband, Jon, and their children, Theodore and Andromeda, as well as their standard poodle, Gabby.