Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Jenny was born and raised on the Iron Range in Hibbing, Minnesota where she graduated from Hibbing High School. She attended Moorhead State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Mass Communications. She then attended Law School at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, graduating with distinction. Immediately after law school, she clerked for the Honorable Mary Muehlen Maring at the Supreme Court of North Dakota in Bismarck, ND.
Jenny began working for the Clay County Attorney’s Office in 2002, as an Assistant County Attorney specializing in appellate practice. In 2006, Jenny began to work predominately in criminal prosecution, handling the county’s domestic assault and vulnerable adult cases. In 2008 with a rising number of Elder Abuse cases, Jenny worked with the Clay County Victim Advocacy Office to write a grant to the Department of Justice--Office on Violence Against Women. From that grant application, Clay County was awarded a 3-year, $295,000 grant in fiscal year 2009 to establish the End Violence Against and Abuse of Women Later in Life Program in Clay County. In this regard, Jenny helped form the Clay County Elder Abuse multi-disciplinary team comprised of law enforcement, prosecution, victim service advocacy, and social services. As a member of that team, Jenny received extensive national training on Abuse in Later Life, including a specialized Elder Abuse certification from the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Utilizing that training, Jenny conducted a number of specialized training sessions for law enforcement and social service agencies in Clay County and also performed community outreach projects to help educate the general public on Elder Abuse issues throughout the region. In 2012, Jenny became Chief Assistant of the Civil Division at the Clay County Attorney’s Office with a focus on vulnerable adult cases, guardianships/conservatorships, civil commitments, child protection work, and a host of other civil duties for the county.
Jenny joined the University of North Dakota School of Law faculty in 2018 as a Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching the first-year Lawyering Skills curriculum.