In 2012, the Missoula County Attorney’s Office, Missoula Police Department, and University of Montana were investigated by the Department of Justice for reported failures of the system in responding to sexual assault cases. Following a settlement, Suzy served as the first Lead Attorney of the newly-formed Special Victims Unit, produced a comprehensive sexual assault manual in conjunction with the Montana Attorney General’s Office, and authored a new definition of consent passed by the Montana Legislature in 2017. She was part of a large team of criminal justice professionals dedicated to improving the system and who succeeded in making Missoula a national model. She also served as the prosecutor representative on the Montana Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission from 2010 until 2023. 
 
Suzy grew up in Arlington, VA, graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA in 1991, and obtained her J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1996. She worked as a staff attorney at the National District Attorney's Association's National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse before joining the Missoula County Attorney's Office as a prosecutor in 1999.
 
Suzy’s path to her legal career was unexpected. Born into a family of lawyers, she did not know what she wanted to be when she grew up but she knew one thing she didn’t want to be – a lawyer. But after graduating from college she was hired at a nonprofit that assisted homeless families in obtaining housing and provided intensive supportive services. After seeing how many of those families became homeless due to domestic violence and how much legal advocacy could have prevented or mitigated much of that instability, Suzy signed up for advocacy training at a domestic violence shelter in the Los Angeles area and volunteered as a shelter and hotline volunteer for approximately a year and a half, which led to an unexpected desire to go to law school.
 
Suzy then moved to Montana for law school at the University of Montana, where her mother entered law school 30 years before and which was conveniently located an easy drive from the family cabin. Suzy volunteered with the Montana Legal Service Association during the summer after her first year of law school. She had a transformative experience helping a victim of domestic violence obtain an Order of Protection and realized quickly that advocating for victims in the courtroom was her calling – a surprise she still refers to as the second least likely outcome of her law school career but one of the best accidents of her life. She has centered justice and compassion for vulnerable members of our society for her entire legal career.
 
Now retired from the courtroom, she is passionate about her second act as a special deputy county attorney, consultant with the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative, and trainer and consultant helping criminal justice agencies institute trauma-informed, victim-centered practices in order to improve the experiences of both survivors and criminal justice professionals.