Jill graduated from Willamette University College of Law in 2002. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in German from Pacific University, where she graduate cum laude in 1996.
After dabbling in civil litigation during her first few years following law school, Jill found a use for her political science and law degrees by working for a firm that specialized in municipal and local government law. She was able to hone her knowledge of municipal law over the next twelve years, becoming fully versed in the intricacies of public contracting and purchasing, public records act compliance, open meetings compliance, employee rights and discipline issues, as well as the finer points of Idaho’s land use laws.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, in 2015 Jill welcomed the opportunity to expand her practice to include representing Idaho public schools and charter schools. In taking on those clients, Jill enthusiastically jumped into learning the nuances of special education law, the various types of teacher contracts in Idaho, due process procedures, FERPA, student discipline, and virtually every other aspect of school law out there. She has now successfully helped her school clients through all types of issues, including personnel investigations, discipline and termination proceedings, litigation related to student discipline and special education, and responding to complaints from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), just to name a few.
In addition to her responsibilities to her clients, for the last three years Jill has planned and presented a conference for Idaho special educators, Special Student Populations and the Law. In 2018, Jill became a certified trainer through the Idaho State Board of Education in the areas of administrator evaluations, ethics and governance, and has provided training in those areas to Idaho public schools. Jill maintains an active presence in the Idaho State Bar and various state and national associations, including Idaho Municipal Attorneys (IMA), the Council of School Attorneys (COSA) through the National School Boards Association, and the Society of Human Resource Professionals (SHRM). In March 2017, Jill was appointed by Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter as a member of the Idaho Code Commission. Jill is also a member of the 2020-2021 class of the Idaho Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (IALL). She is admitted to practice in Idaho.
Jill has been married to her husband Erik for 21 years. They have two children, Morgan and Jackson, both of whom get their quick wit from their dad. Jill enjoys traveling (anywhere, anytime), puzzles (they must be at least 1000 pieces), shopping (again, anywhere, anytime), cheering on the Boise State Broncos (Go Big Blue!), and wine tasting with Erik and friends (preferably reds, but whites and bubbles will do).
