JODY JERNIGAN

Jody Jernigan is the junior partner and co-founder of Golden and Jernigan P.C. She has only worked with Attorney Jonathan Golden since her admission to the Michigan Bar in 2000 and was hired in as an associate attorney. She graduated from Grand Rapids Junior College in 1990, and then transferred to the University of Michigan where she earned a B.A. in Spanish with distinction. She also attended classes through Cornell University and the University of Sevilla. After graduating, she taught college and high school courses on a Native American reservation in Northern Arizona.

Jody earned her law degree cum laude from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1999, achieving the Distinguished Student Award. As a student, she won places on the Moot Court team and Law Review, and practiced elder law for the Sixty Plus Clinic.

Today, Jody practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy law and family law (which includes divorce, custody, parenting time, property issues, spousal support, child support, paternity, and step-parent adoptions). However, she also works in estate planning/probate, corporate and tax work, land-lord/tenant law, and the purchase/sale of local area businesses (hotels, gas stations, liquor stores, etc.) She is an active member of the Western Michigan Debtor’s Bar, is licensed to practice in the Federal Court for the Western District of Michigan, and makes numerous court appearances in Kent, Ottawa, Allegan, Montcalm, Ionia, and Newaygo county circuit courts.

A Grand Rapids native, Jody graduated from West Catholic High School, and now lives in Rockford. As an active member of her community, Jody has participated in student exchange programs and has been a foster mother for the past several years. She speaks, reads and writes Spanish fluently.