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Admitted to practice in 1991 Kristen became an associate at Gardener, Sawyer, Gates & Sloan where she gained experienced in many types of civil matters including contract, real property, corporate and probate.  She has appeared before the probate, district, superior and supreme courts of the state and the federal district court as well as before state administrative agencies, municipal courts and boards. She served as co-counsel in a property case before the US Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC and is a member of the Bar of the US Supreme Court. In 2013, she pursued mediation training through the Center for Mediation and Collaboration RI and began mediating in the RI District Courts. She has been an active member of CMCRI's board since 2014 and serves as an instructor for its basic mediation training program. In 2017, she started her own law practice in Jamestown, RI expanding her work to include non-profit and municipal matters. She is an independent mediator for the RI Department of Education mediating matters between school districts and families. She handles private mediations in all types of civil matters. In 2019, she added education, small business and employment work as she began to serve Of Counsel to Marinello Law. In addition, she is an adjunct professor of law at the Roger Williams University School of Law. She is a member of the American Bar Association, its section of Dispute Resolution and its Women in Dispute Resolution (WIDR) committee. She is an active member of the RI Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Committee and of the RI Women’s’ Bar Association.