Ms. Cotter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2014, where earned her undergraduate degree in English and minored in German. Upon commissioning as a Surface Warfare Officer, she first served in Yokosuka, Japan on USS Blue Ridge and then as the navigator on USS McFaul in Norfolk, Virginia.
Subsequently, Ms. Cotter taught at the Navy’s navigation course in Newport, RI, where she instructed over 570 sailors to navigate ships at sea. Ms. Cotter’s instructional videos on nautical rules of the road are still used to train the next generation of U.S. Navy navigators. Following the two fatal ship collisions in the Pacific in 2017, Ms. Cotter was hand-selected to conduct over 150 competency examinations throughout the U.S. Navy to test the education and abilities of Officers of the Deck.
Ms. Cotter is a dual-citizen of Ireland, where, upon completion her naval service, she moved to study Irish Literature at University College Dublin and earn her Master’s in 2022. After her year abroad, she attended law school at the College of William & Mary Law School.
During law school, Ms. Cotter worked on a variety of environmental law issues, including for the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental & Natural Resources Division and at the Southern Environmental Law Center. During her second year of law school, Ms. Cotter became the Assistant Articles Editor of the Environmental Law and Policy Review Law. In her third year, Ms. Cotter worked in the Immigration Clinic, providing free legal assistance to immigrant families seeking humanitarian assistance. She also worked in the Special Education Advocacy Clinic to help children with special needs receive appropriately tailored education and safe learning environments. Ms. Cotter was awarded the Clinical Legal Association Education Award for her outstanding legal service to clients.
Prior to joining Kagan Stern, Ms. Cotter worked as the Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Thompson of the Circuit Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County. Ms. Cotter serves on the board of directors for Path to Hope, an immigration non-profit that provides reduced legal services to immigrants in the coastal community.
Ms. Cotter is a native Virginian, who loves spending time with her family and friends, running, traveling abroad, hiking with her dog, and reading with her two kitties.