As a mediator, Celeste is encouraged that people are more frequently deciding to resolve their conflicts through this constructive, nonadversarial approach.  Mediation is a much more civilized way of resolving issues than engaging in a bitter court fight, and all participants are overwhelmingly more likely to be satisfied with results that they help to design.  Celeste’s mediation practice includes family law, custody, business, health care issues, employment, elder law, and other legal topics. 

Her work as a children’s advocate fulfills Celeste’s passion for protecting the interests of children during legal proceedings. She appreciates the opportunity to serve as a consultant or outside expert on behalf of children's interests. Local attorneys who represent parents in contentious cases frequently ask the court to appoint Celeste to represent the children’s interests. In addition to serving the court on behalf of the best interests of children, Celeste is involved with children’s rights and representation at the state level. She served for eight years on Colorado’s Board of the Office of the Child’s Representative, which oversees payment, training, and standards for most children’s legal advocates in the state. Currently, Celeste is a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Family Issues.

Celeste graduated with an economics degree from Davidson College in North Carolina in 1979 and from the University of Kansas Law School in 1984.  She was an editor on the Kansas Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif.  She clerked for Judge Zita L. Weinshienk on the Federal District Court and has practiced law in Fort Collins since 1986.

In addition to her law and mediation practice, Celeste teaches Families in the Legal Environment at Colorado State University through the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.  She has been an adjunct faculty member since 1997.  Currently, she is developing a graduate course for the School of Social Work regarding Conflict Resolution and Mediation of Health Care Issues.

Celeste was awarded the 2010 Professionalism Award by the Larimer County Bar Association.  She is a recent member of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Eighth Judicial District and current member of the VALE Board (Victim’s Assistance and Law Enforcement Board) for this district.  She has chaired the Larimer County Bar Association’s pro bono program twice and is a former member of the Judicial Performance Commission.  Celeste is also a publicly-elected member and president of the Board of the Health District of Northern Larimer County.