Early Life & Career

Janine was born and raised in San Diego, California, before eventually moving to North Texas, where she graduated from McKinney Boyd High School. After high school, Janine attended Texas A&M University-Commerce with the intent of pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism. There, she was encouraged by a professor to pursue a legal education, and quickly transferred to the University of Texas at Dallas where she switched her major to criminology with a focus in pre-law. At UTD, she became a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. While she completed her undergraduate degree, Janine volunteered with Legal Aid of Northwest Texas to provide pro bono legal services to underprivileged litigants in Collin County.

Legal Training

Janine attended Ventura College of Law, graduating second in her class in 2022. During her second year of law school, Janine became a certified law student, worked with Education Beyond Borders to provide strategies to the United Nations for combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and worked alongside El Pozo de Vida, a nonprofit organization fighting to eradicate human trafficking. There, she helped develop strategies to protect vulnerable indigenous peoples in Mexico and Central America from trafficking. The following year, Janine became a certified mediator and began mediating civil disputes in Orange County, CA and Dallas County, TX. Throughout law school, Janine served as Vice President and Legal Advocate for Cultivé, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing high school juniors with college scholarships and the opportunity to study abroad in sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout her time in law school, Janine received multiple academic excellence awards, achieving the highest scores in her cohort in Professional Responsibility, Torts II, Intellectual Property, Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Bar Studies, and Capstone, which placed her on the Dean’s List.

Career at Smith Clinesmith

Janine began her career at Smith Clinesmith in 2014 as a paralegal, which solidified her passion for the law and nursing home abuse cases specifically. Janine is excited to return to Smith Clinesmith as an associate to advocate for victims of nursing home abuse and negligence.