From Drug Addict to Defense Attorney

VIDEO – LAW OF ATTRACTION, NOT PROMOTION –

Aug. 10, 2023 – Fortunately, Gad’s case caught the attention of attorney Kathleen Zellner, who is well-known for her work on wrongful conviction cases. She found Gad’s story to be touching so she offered her help and a position assisting at the law firm. Gad desperately needed this chance and accepted it. Gad worked at Zellner’s firm on the case of Mario Casciaro, a man whose murder conviction was overturned after a witness recanted their testimony.

Even though she still had her own legal issues, it was a case that inspired her to want to go to law school. Gad was admitted to the University of Chicago Law School, which she was able to pay for thanks to a Cook County settlement, but she still had to appear before a judge. She faced a mandatory minimum sentence as a repeat drug offender. She was perceived to be incapable of rehabilitation in front of the law but the presiding judge decided to give her a chance. Zellner always knew Gad had it in her to make something out of life. She’s a practicing lawyer who just won her first murder case. She now works in the same courtroom she once walked into as a criminal. Gad uses her personal experience with addiction and the criminal justice system to make a difference after graduating in 2020 and receiving her license to practice in 2022. She now runs her own practice in Minneapolis, focusing on criminal defense, civil rights violations and immigration law.