NM License # 152857

Ms. McAmis is a Franchise and Trusts Attorney with Shelton Law & Associates. Christina has also clerked for the prestigious and Honorable Consuelo Callahan of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Christina shouldered responsibility and embraced challenges as an elite level gymnast at a very young age. She tackled being a business owner before her eighteenth birthday and thrived in the face of a devastating diagnosis. Christina is a metastatic cancer warrior who has overcome adversity to practice law. Before and throughout law school Christina studied Alternative Dispute Resolution including earning a degree in ADR. She is a recipient of the Witkin Award for Mediation.  During law school she was also awarded a Soroptomist scholarship; recognized for her legal research and editing skills in the legal Text Book, Understanding Torts 9^th edition, and graduated with the elusive “Great Distinction” honors.  Christina enjoys “geeking out” in her free time by reading Fantasy and Science Fiction as well as by participating in mock trials and authoring articles for comic book events. She has defended the Winter Soldier and written about Captain America’s military benefits. Now Christina’s writing can be viewed on the BeTheBoss expert legal writers page and in the Franchise Connect Magazine on a fairly regularly basis.

Today Christina enjoys helping others achieve their dreams and overcome adversity. She speaks regularly at Franchise Business Expos and other events to help educate and inspire others.

I had an amazing “best friend” toy Pomeranian named Jobert for 17 years. He was the best dog and everyone loved him. After several years, my great aunt who helped raise and support me was very lonely after her husband died, so we decided to get her a Pomeranian, but couldn’t find any good ones in Kansas. We found one here in California when visiting, and tried to arrange to fly it to her to no avail. After two weeks of attempting arrangements, and falling in love with this adorable little girl Allie, my husband drove her to Kansas and delivered her to Aunt Carol in person.

After having been a caretaker for over two weeks, I realized after she was gone, how much I missed having a baby Pom in my life. I set a Craigslist search reminder for toy Pomeranians and kept watch and started praying. God please provide me with another parti-Pom (named because they are part white and part another color – in Jobert’s case peach), but Lord let it have the fox like longer nose, so it doesn’t look just like Jobert, and let it be tiny like he was, and let it be a boy, which I know Lord is the rarest type of Parti-Pom. Oh and Lord, can you wait and find it until I get back from South Africa trip for our non-profit Raising a Nation? I really don’t want to get a puppy right before I am gone for 3 weeks and have it bond and fall in love with my husband or Mom while they take care of him.

I had tons and tons of alerts come up on Craigslist, even while I was in South Africa, but each time none were Parti-Pom’s. I arrived back in the US late Friday night, and on Saturday morning, right after our 6am prayer call, a Craigslist posting popped up. An adorable white Parti-Pom, the last one and even the runt of the litter was posted. I quickly responded and made arrangements to go see him later that day.

Upon arrival, he was asleep in a Tupperware storage bin all by himself, so the owner took me outside to see the parents and the one little mate they had decided to keep. It about knocked me on my tukkous that little mate looked exactly like Jobert, the wider nose, white and peach parti-pom and even the very full double coat of hair. Wow, but it was a little girl. I was like uh oh, I bet the this sleeping puppy inside has that same look, the same wider nose, not the fox like nose that would make him different looking than Jobert had been.

Then I went inside, kind of holding my breath, and looked down in the tub and there he was looking straight up at me with those beautiful, bright, trusting eyes, and that adorable fox-like nose. He was different and so adorable!! And I whispered “thank you God for answered prayers” and so I named him Jacob, because he was chosen gift to me.

If you ever get a chance to come by the office, Jacob will gladly meet you with a ferocious bark, and then an adorable wagging tail, while he prances around your feet inviting you to fall in love with him too.

Guelta Laguerre is an administrative assistant with Shelton Law & Associates. She is responsible for file management and client relationship building and plays a vital role in the company’s growth.