About Kathryn Nelson

I have spent over 32 years in the courtroom and have turned this experience into practicing exclusively family law for both professional and personal reasons. As a Colorado native, I attended Heritage High School in Littleton and Colorado State University in Ft. Collins on a Colorado Scholars Award and President’s Scholarship. In 1986, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Honors Program with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Spanish. I knew that law school was my calling, but also wanted to experience life outside of Colorado.

I moved to San Diego, California and worked as a legal secretary for a year. That experience taught me that I wanted to use the law to help people in difficult situations. I attended the University of San Diego Law School and received my juris doctor degree in 1990. I studied abroad for a period of time during law school in Salzburg, Austria. This was a fascinating experience where I was instructed by United States Supreme Court Justice Kennedy, a law professor from Edinburgh, Scotland, and other accomplished scholars from around the globe. This instruction opened my eyes to the use of the legal system in other cultures.

I began my legal career as a deputy district attorney in Orange County, California where I remained as a prosecutor for eight years. In this capacity, I tried over 100 cases to a jury and had the unique opportunity to deal with numerous victims of serious crimes. I specialized in domestic violence cases for a period of time, where I heard victims’ stories and sympathized with what they had been through, trying my best to find ways to help them out of their cycle and put their lives back in order. I learned that I could make a positive impact. I felt that I could connect with people and show them how the law could be used to make a difference in their lives and help them in extremely difficult and extraordinary times.