Paula graduated a year early from the University of Missouri at Kansas City with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with departmental honors as a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society. Paula has a juris doctorate degree from the University of Kansas where she graduated law school when she was 23 years old completing the fast track law degree program. Paula’s legal career began holding the prestigious role as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Judge of Division 18 of the Circuit Court of Jackson County Missouri. Paula negotiated and tried cases in the areas of criminal law both as a public defender and prosecutor, civil insurance defense, plaintiff medical practice, and family law including successfully representing family law clients in the court of appeals. Paula found her home in practicing family law practicing for over 30 years in Kansas and Missouri and in Texas since 2023. Paula is a member of various bar associations, a member of the Texas Bar College — a professional society of legal scholars, listed in the Global Directory of Who’s Who for Family Law, and a 2017 nationally ranked top family law lawyer by the National Academy of Family Law Attorneys.