Meierbachtol charts her own career path

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Tradition, according to Gina Meierbachtol’s legal career, is overrated.

“I didn’t want to wait 10 years to build my own practice,” she said. “I just wasn’t willing to follow the path of a normal associate and just take assignments.”

So the insurance and medical malpractice defense attorney sought out a firm that would let her juggle her family life — Meierbachtol and her husband have children ages 4, 21 months and 7 months — with her desire to try cases, including two when she was nine-months pregnant.

It’s an aggressive approach rooted in Meierbachtol’s past. She once managed group homes, and she was selling cars when she applied to law school. She had her first child by the time she graduated.

“I’m very competitive,” Meierbachtol said. “I like litigating because you can have a clear win.”

Her caseload includes contested Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints, personal injuries, construction defects and property damages.

“At the office, I kind of feel like I’ve got it made,” Meierbachtol said. “Then I go home and have my husband and three kids. I’ve got the dream life.

“I have to remind myself that I might be a little busier than I want to be, but I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing.”

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