Arnold, Jennie G.

"When a KoonsFuller lawyer walks into a courtroom, everyone knows he or she is prepared to zealously advocate for the client. Reputation in this field means a lot."

Rebecca Armstrong sees her job as conflict management, from start to finish.

Depending on the goals of her client, she works to transition the relationship of the parties from marriage to a new place in their lives. If children are involved, Ms. Armstrong helps them become better co-parents. If children are not involved, she tries to use her interest in psychology and sociology to give her clients a more productive future.

As an associate in the Plano office of KoonsFuller, she helps people find these solutions every day in divorce, child custody actions, premarital agreements, modifications of prior orders and collaborative law cases.

Born in Houston, Texas, Ms. Armstrong graduated from Texas A&M University in 2004 with a bachelor of arts in communication, with a minor in business administration. During her time at Texas A&M, she earned membership in Lambda Pi Eta, the communication honor society, due to her academic achievements, and was also the recipient of the Distinguished Student Award.

Ms. Armstrong received her Juris Doctorate from SMU Dedman School of Law in 2007. During her law school career, she was a member of Phi Delta Phi, the international legal fraternity, based on her grade point average, and was also selected as a member of the SMU Mock Trial team based on her audition performance.

She practiced with another family law firm in Dallas for two years before joining KoonsFuller.

"The great thing about working at KoonsFuller is that it is a large firm with a small firm atmosphere," she says. "All of the attorneys here are committed to helping one another and they truly work as a team."

Ms. Armstrong's practice includes cases she works on in conjunction with firm partners and other associates as well as those she handles on her own.

In one case, she went up against a lawyer with more than 20 years of experience and convinced a Texas judge to take jurisdiction of a case involving a mom and child who live in Dallas and a father who lives in California. By understanding an extremely complex legal issue and arguing it passionately, Ms. Armstrong was able to save her client the difficulty of going to another state and the expense of hiring an attorney to maintain the possession schedule.

Ms. Armstrong does equally well in cases involving larges assets as well as children. "I am mindful of the economic ramifications of certain strategies and make sure the client understands the options and can make an educated and financially intelligent decision," she says.

She is a member of the board of directors of the Dallas Bar Association's Family Law Section and the Collin County Young Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Annette Stewart Inn of Court, State Bar of Texas; Dallas Association of Young Lawyers; Dallas Women Lawyers Association; American Bar Association; and the American Association for Justice.

She is also a volunteer with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, handling pro bono family law cases for the poor of this area.