I was born and raised on a dairy farm near Elk River, Minnesota. I enlisted in the United States Army after high school where I was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division from 1981 to 1984. I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was deployed overseas in numerous areas around the world. The opportunity to live on a farm and serve in the United States Army provided invaluable experiences that shaped who and what I am.

Upon Honorable Discharge in 1986, I worked for the United States Department of Agriculture with the Agriculture Stabilization Conservation Service for six years while I completed my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and my law degree at William Mitchell College of Law. I interned with the United States Attorney’s Office for two years after which I began working at Rinke Noonan in 1994. I have litigated hundreds of civil and criminal cases in both State and Federal Court in Minnesota, the Midwest and throughout the United States.