I attended college in Minnesota and graduated with a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, Moorhead in 1980.  I clerked for two Clay County, Minnesota judges the summer before law school.  I went to William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota and worked in a law firm during the day and attended law school at night.  I graduated cum laude in three and a half years.

I took and passed the Minnesota and Wisconsin bar exams in 1984.  I joined a law firm in Hudson, Wisconsin and made partner in two years.  I continued to work and build this law firm for 16 years before starting my own firm.

In 2002 I moved to Arizona and passed the Arizona bar exam.  I worked for the former firm of Bell O’Connor and Campbell in Phoenix handling defense of injury and employment discrimination cases.  In late 2004 I became a partner in The Goldwater Law Firm and later, Robert Goldwater & Associates.  I represented plaintiffs in personal injury, medical malpractice, and nursing home cases.

After many years of planning, I decided to pursue my goal of a full-time alternative dispute resolution business and in 2008, I created Trial Alternatives, Inc.