Practice Areas

As Senior Attorney, Jess currently focuses her practice on business succession planning, buying or selling a business, business dissolutions, high-net worth estate planning, complex real estate transactions, and nonprofit work. Jess is well versed in general business, real estate, land use, estate planning, and estate and trust administration, and continues to consult with her staff attorneys on complex client issues in these areas as they arise. Jessica’s family law practice is limited to collaborative and uncontested divorces where asset division and/or maintenance are the sole issues.

Background
Jess worked in law firms as an attorney, law clerk, and paralegal for 17 years in Maine and Vermont before relocating to Washington in 1995. She worked as the Contracts Administrator for the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services from 1996-2000 and as a Real Estate Services Manager for the State of Washington Department of Transportation from 2000-2003. She launched the firm in 2003.

Education
Jessica is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law (1992), University of Vermont (B.A. Economics 1989), and Woodbury College (Certificate in Paralegal Studies 1982). She is licensed to practice law in Washington and Maine. Jess was the lead instructor in the University of Washington’s postgraduate Contract Management certificate program from 2007 to 2019 and taught for seven years in the University of Washington’s post-graduate Paralegal Certificate program and for eight years in Central Washington University’s Undergraduate pre-law program. She is a frequent speaker at business, real estate, and legal seminars.

Community Service
Jessica serves on the Board of the Thurston County Economic Development Council and on the Thurston Regional Planning Council Transportation Policy Board, and is President of the West Olympia Business Association. She is Past Chair of the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce Board and Past President of the EDC Center for Business and Innovation. Jess is counsel for a variety of nonprofits with a special emphasis on those that provide land preservation, conservation, and housing alternatives.

Fun Facts
You’ll often find Jess singing or playing acoustic Celtic or Classic Rock music with her fiancé Mark and other music friends in one of the area’s farmer's markets, pubs or wine bars with her high-energy Celtic trio Curlew’s Call or Classic Rock trio Humor & Heart. She played for many years with one of the Northwest’s most beloved folk musicians, Hank Cramer. Jess performs regularly throughout the Northwest and at special events around the US and Canada and appears on several CDs. She loves hiking, camping, biking, and contra dancing.  She’s been an organic gardener since she was 19 and raised chickens and ducks for over 20 years. Jess has 2 stepsons and 4 grandkids in Vermont. She and Mark live in a rustic 1950 vertical log cabin in the Black Lake area.