Title: Lawyer

Company: Lee & Hayes

Location: Spokane, Wash.

Having practiced within the legal field for nearly 12 years, Geana Van Dessel continues as a lawyer at Lee & Hayes PLLC. For the past three years, she has drawn upon her expertise in commercial and civil litigation, intellectual property and federal class action lawsuits to help the firm’s clients and her own peers. Ms. Van Dessel’s professional goals are to continue to work as a highly regarded trail attorney within trademark and business law and to be recognized as an asset by judges.

The biggest challenge for Ms. Van Dessel was being a female attorney in Spokane Washington where the legal profession was very male dominated. Her greatest accomplishment to date is having the ability to build a team from the ground up with a healthy work environment, lead and manage a team who are all respected, valued and encouraged and work well together. Ms. Van Dessel chose this career because, as a young girl, she always wanted to work in advocacy and so becoming an attorney was a very natural progression for her.

Ms. Van Dessel prepared for this career by obtaining her Juris Doctorate from the Gonzaga University School of Law and my Bachelors degree in Sociology from Gonzaga University. She grew up on a farm and knew that hard work paid off and how to take care of myself. She also enjoys people, being optimistic and seeing that impact it can have on others to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. Ms. Van Dessel supports and volunteers her time with Women & Children’s Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen and is a board member. There, she helps provide home cooked meals for women and children in need that are nutritional and are served in a restaurant atmosphere.