Mariell’s journey to becoming a top criminal defense trial lawyer started in an unlikely way.

Before going to law school, she thought about becoming a prosecutor. Justice seemed cut-and-dry: convict the guilty and put the bad guys away.

That all quickly changed when she saw the realities of the system. She learned that from the time someone is accused, they are already ten steps behind. It only gets worse after an arrest is made. Seeing that cases easily go forward on the word of a person alone – with absolutely no other evidence, like DNA, eyewitnesses, medical evidence, or any other corroborative evidence – confirmed to Mariell how the system is stacked against the accused. And seeing exonerations of the wrongfully convicted solidified even more that she’s truly working for justice in her cases as a criminal defense lawyer.