Maria previously served as Investigating Officer under the University Faculty Dispute Procedures and has been an adjunct lecturer for Trial Advocacy at the University of Iowa College of Law and a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Attorneys' Mid-America Regional Conference.  Before coming to Iowa City, she was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Marion County (Indianapolis) Prosecutor's Office Felonies Division; a commercial arbitrator in Chicago; and in private practice with two law firms in Chicago, where she focused on director and officer liability, professional errors and omissions, and litigation work.  Maria received her undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern University.  She also earned an MBA from the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie School of Management.