In The News

There are photographs that explain things more honestly than words ever could.

In one, I am pregnant, young boys pressed close at my sides. In another, I am home from the office, three small children gathered on the couch, the day’s work waiting quietly until after bedtime. Life is full. Unedited. In motion.

These are not images of endurance alone.
They are images of intention.

Twenty-one years ago this week, I made a decision about my future—one that felt pretty darn scary at the time, but proved defining.

Seven years into the practice of law, I understood something with clarity: I knew the kind of trial lawyer I wanted to become. I also knew the kind of life I wanted to live alongside that work. And I knew that doing both well would require ownership of my time, my values, and my direction.

So in 2005, I opened my own practice with a rented office, a laptop, a phone, and a belief that has never wavered since: that excellence in advocacy and a full family life are not competing ambitions.

At the time, the profession offered few examples of what it looked like to hold both at once—to be fully committed to the work and fully present at home. I didn’t reject the profession that shaped me. I simply recognized that my season of life required something more intentional.

So I built it.

Building space—for work and for life

When I started the firm, I was pregnant with my third child and raising two young boys. I wanted to be in courtrooms—telling people’s stories, standing in the space where truth matters most. And I wanted to be home for bedtime, school mornings, and the quiet moments that don’t announce their importance until much later.

Founding my own firm wasn’t an escape.
It was authorship.

Over time, that practice became Petersen & Petersen. In 2010, my life partner, Todd Petersen, became my law partner. Our family grew to four children—two boys and two girls. The firm grew alongside us, shaped by the same principles that guided it from the beginning: rigorous preparation, integrity without compromise, and respect for the human stories behind every case file.

When time reveals what was always there

Anniversaries have a way of sharpening perspective.

With time, the work accumulates. The late nights. The courtroom hours. The responsibility of standing between a client and an uncertain outcome. Occasionally, that work is recognized by peers—by lawyers who understand what trial advocacy demands when no one is watching.

In recent years, that recognition has come from professional organizations and colleagues whose respect I value deeply. Not because of the honors themselves, but because they reflect something earned slowly: trust, consistency, and care for the craft.

That kind of recognition doesn’t arrive quickly. It arrives after years of showing up the same way—prepared, steady, and committed to doing the work right.

A firm defined by grace, grit, and staying power

Petersen & Petersen was built in service of something enduring: our clients, our family, and the conviction that you don’t have to edit yourself to do exceptional work.

Those early photographs don’t capture obstacles overcome. They capture values in their earliest form—values that continue to shape how we practice law, how we prepare cases, and how we treat the people who place their trust in us.

Twenty-one years later, the work continues with gratitude and resolve. Gratitude for a profession that deepens with time. For colleagues whose respect grows through shared experience. For clients who allow us into the most consequential moments of their lives.

And resolve to continue exactly as we began—thoughtfully, fearlessly, and with humanity.

Here’s to choosing growth—and to the long view that proves it was the right choice.