Meet Our Of Counsel

Alla Gulchina received her JD from Widener University School of Law, Harrisburg and her BA from Rutgers University. She is admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey, District of New Jersey, State of Pennsylvania, Eastern District of Pennsylvania and New York. Alla has spent her entire career advocating for consumer rights. In her spare time, Alla enjoys working out and spending time with her friends and family.

Kim Thompson graduated from Georgia State University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and went to work as an insurance adjuster for 15 years. After learning the insurance business from the inside, he went to law school and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1991 from Nashville School of Law. Kim chose to become a lawyer because it would allow him to fight for people’s rights. He puts his knowledge about the law and about insurance companies to work for his clients.  In addition to the work he does with JJS Law representing consumers, Mr. Thompson is an accomplished and sought out personal injury attorney in Nashville. 

Mr. Thompson is admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee, as well as several District Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeal 6th Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.  He is member of the Nashville and Tennessee Bar Associations, the American Association of Justice, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Crime Victim Bar Association. In 2014, Mr. Thompson was awarded the Top 100 Trial Lawyers recognition by the National Trial Law

Daniel Ruggiero is a graduate of Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. While at Babson, Mr. Ruggiero earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Magna Cum Laude with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Quantitative Methods. Dan holds a law degree from New England Law – Boston and  is a lawyer in good standing with the State Bars of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New York and Pennsylvania.  Mr. Ruggiero is licensed to practice law in the following Federal Districts: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York (Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Eastern and Middle). Dan’s work experience includes working as a lawyer as well as working as a businessman handling functions other than legal affairs.  A significant portion of Mr. Ruggiero’s professional experience has involved consumer financial matters, and he has also advised individuals purchasing, financing, settling or paying off loans of all types of credit products. 

Dawn McCraw is a consumer protection attorney representing consumers in litigation against companies who violate credit and debt collection laws. Her primary focus involves the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act, in addition to other consumer protection laws.

Dawn is licensed in the states of Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and North Carolina, but also supports federal cases across many U.S. District Courts. Passionate about consumer rights and the increasing need for consumers to fight inaccurate and damaging credit reporting, Dawn ardently litigates for plaintiffs. She also leverages powerful consumer laws to protect people who are facing debt collection abuses and incessant robocalls from collectors. Dawn’s experience in credit and debt goes back more than ten years when she co-owned a company which helped consumers with credit and debt issues. The injustices she witnessed compelled her to go to law school and become a consumer protection attorney.

Prior to her career in consumer law, Dawn spent almost twenty years as an engineer in the high-tech industry at companies such as Motorola, Intel, and Hughes Space and Communications in a diverse range of executive leadership roles, including business development, strategic marketing, intellectual property valuation and commercialization, contract law and negotiations, and wireless communications and satellite systems engineering.

Dawn is a certified expert witness for credit litigation, Fair Credit Reporting Act Certified, FICO Pro Certified, a certified Continuing Education Instructor for realtors, and proficient in credit reporting, credit scores, and debt collection issues. Dawn received her Juris Doctorate Magna Cum Lade from Arizona Summit Law School. She also has a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University Fresno.

Haley Simmoneau is a client-oriented attorney with experience in Bankruptcy, Business Law, Debt Defense, Corporate Negotiations, Employment Matters, Loan Modifications, and Real Estate. She is currently licensed in Oklahoma and Texas where she focuses on assisting her clients with all manners of debt work. 

Currently, she is Owner of Athena Legal Group, PLLC, where she practices with the fundamental belief that everyone deserves quality legal advice, whether it is for them personally or their business. Her experience includes being a Managing Partner with a small firm in the area of Debt Defense and working in a Corporate Setting handling everything from employee disputes to multi-million-dollar transactions. 

She received a Bachelor of Science from Austin Peay State University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma School of Law. While attending the University of Oklahoma she participated in the Oxford England Legal Program. She is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Western District of Oklahoma, Northern District of Oklahoma, and the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

J D was born in Warren, Minnesota near the North Dakota and Canadian borders. His father was a superintendent of schools and his mother was a librarian. Because his father became superintendent of a number of schools, JD and his family moved frequently, primarily in southwestern Minnesota. J D attended school in Bellingham, Round Lake, Chandler, and Verdi, Minnesota. He graduated from Henderson High School in Henderson, Minnesota after his parents retired.

He graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1982 and he graduated from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, two years later, in 1984.

Haas began his legal career by representing defendants and insurance companies in lawsuits. By 1991, he had tried a sufficient number of cases that he could take the examination tests necessary to be recognized as a “Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer” by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He passed those tests and he has held that prestigious honor continuously since 1991. Practicing trial law on behalf of defendants was somewhat frustrating for him because he could not build as strong a relationship with his clients as he wanted due to time constraints and the fact that most defendants and corporations sued would rather not be involved in the process. In 1996 JD started representing families who have financial problems and families who have had family members seriously injured or killed by the carelessness of others.

Since that time, he enjoys getting to know his clients well and helping them through difficult times—whether those times are caused by financial stress or the stress of having a loss to a family member. The law firm limits the number of cases that they take so that they can build a strong relationship with clients. At the firm, clients are valued members of the team, and they work hard on their own cases.

Volunteering in order to improve the world is very important to everyone at J D Haas and Associates, PLLC. We have volunteered through the following organizations: Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, VEAP, Volunteer Lawyers Network, Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County, Feed My Starving Children, Legal Assistance for Dakota County, Harriet Tubman Center, and Cornerstone.

J D has tried approximately 50 cases to juries all over the United States and he has negotiated settlements in thousands of other cases. He is licensed to practice law in federal and state courts in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

He has spoken at wrongful death seminars presented by the Iowa Association for Justice and the Minnesota Association for Justice. He was a finalist for the 2013 Torch Award for Ethics given by the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. He won the 2014 Torch Award for Ethics given by the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. He was the 2014 Housing Court Attorney of the Year given by the Volunteer Lawyers Network. He was the 2015 Attorney of the Year given by the Volunteer Lawyers Network. The firm has been a member of the Minnesota Keystone Program since 2012 (Donating 3 or 5% of pre-tax profit). J D has the highest possible rating (A-V) by Martindale-Hubbell Publishing attorney ranking, and he has the highest possible rating by the AVVO attorney rating service. Haas has been named a Trial Master since 2015 (35 trial minimum for membership), and he has been named a Top 100 Lawyer for 2015-2018 for the following states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. In 2017 he was named a lifetime Top 100 Lawyer for the state of Minnesota.

Since June of 2017 J D has been attending United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. He is studying for his Master’s Degree in Divinity.

Jenna received her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta in 2019. At Georgia State, Jenna worked as a student attorney in the Health Law Partnership Clinic and as a Graduate Research Assistant for the university. While Jenna was not studying, she also led yoga classes for her peers to promote mindfulness in the legal community.

Prior to attending law school, Jenna worked as an internal auditor for a financial institution in East Lansing, Michigan, where she ensured the bank remained compliant with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Jenna received her B.A. from Michigan State University in East Lansing, where she majored in Psychology and made the Dean’s list her last four semesters of attendance. While at Michigan State, Jenna worked as an advocate for troubled youth in the juvenile system as part of the Adolescent Diversion Program and served as a research assistant in the Child Emotions Lab. Jenna is licensed to practice law in Georgia.

In her spare time, Jenna enjoys teaching yoga, hiking, and baking.

John Rocray is an experienced litigation attorney who has successfully handled a wide variety of cases including personal injury, business litigation, insurance, bankruptcy, wills and estates, workers compensation, employment matters, product liability and many more.  John has argued before local and federal courts in several states.  John received his Juris Doctor degree in 1996 from Capital University Law and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar, the Ohio State Bar and the Capital Area Bar Association.  John is licensed as a lawyer in the states of Mississippi and Ohio. 

Monzer Mansour lives and works out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, where he went to college and practiced law for a year before moving to Northwest Arkansas in 1997.  Having learned Spanish as a child, Monzer was able to start his own bilingual practice in Northwest Arkansas shortly after he arrived there, and his client base had drawn predominantly from the large Hispanic community in the area. Monzer’s law practice began as a general one that had included civil, criminal and domestic relations work. In the more recent years, Monzer’s practice has become focused predominantly on civil matters with an emphasis on civil rights, contract disputes and debtor-creditor work. He is a graduate of Georgia State University School of Law, where he also earned an M.A. in philosophy. He has another M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Georgia. 

Murphy Pepper received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from Duke University in 1998.  Mr. Pepper is licensed to practice law in the State of Virginia.  In addition to his representation of consumers as defendants in lawsuits and bankruptcies, his other practice areas include real estate and estate work.  Murphy is Involved in his church and enjoys running, rowing, going to the gym, reading, puzzles and trivia.  Murphy is married with 5 children. 

Nick Nighswander received his law degree from Chase College of Law – Northern Kentucky University in 1983.  While there, Mr. Nighswander received the book award for federal estate and gift tax class.  Nick also holds a Bachelors and a Master Degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation.  Nick has maintained a solo practice since 1985 in  the areas of bankruptcy, domestic relations, and civil litigation. Mr. Nighswander is a former part-time public defender in the former Kenton, Gallatin, and Boone county system and a past criminal justice acting attorney for criminal defendants in the southern district of Ohio and the eastern district of Kentucky federal courts. Licensed to practice in the state courts of Ohio and Kentucky. Nick is also licensed to practice in federal courts for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Southern District of Ohio and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, the Kentucky Justice Association and a Master of the Salmon P. Chase Inn of Court.

Mr. Nighswander has co-authored articles for the legal publications of Trial Magazine and The Advocate and served on local arbitration panels to help parties and their counsel reach a decision in personal injury cases.

Rebeccah Murray is licensed to practice law in the State of Nevada. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law in 2006.  In addition to the consumer defense work she does with JJS Law, Ms. Murray’s practice areas are estate planning (wills, trusts, and powers of attorney for healthcare and finance and living wills), asset protection, probate, business formation and maintenance and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. In the planning aspects of her practice, Ms. Murray helps her clients with the protection they need now and going forward as their wealth and family size changes and necessitates changes in their planning needs. Ms. Murray finds it very rewarding to be able to help people protect their families, as well as assist their families in the future in their time of need.

Rosanna Fox is accredited by the New Hampshire Bar. Attorney Fox concentrates in the enforcement of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and protects clients from FDCPA violations. Attorney Fox also does a lot of pro bono work helping battered and abused women.

Ms. Bird was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah where she obtained her Bachelors of Science in
Biomedical Engineering  from the University of Utah and her Juris Doctorate from the S.J. Quinney
College of Law.  She is a trial attorney with experience in civil matters including family law, intellectual
property,  consumer and merchant debt collection, bankruptcy, and contract law.   Ms. Bird is licensed in
the States of Alaska and Utah.