Donna L. Lineberry is an associate attorney with Hughes & Hughes. Donna is also a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of California.
Ms. Lineberry grew up in North Carolina and received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She then went on to study accounting at Guilford College and became a Certified Public Accountant. She worked several years for a small accounting firm in North Carolina, conducting audits, compilations and completing tax returns for a variety of types of entities. Ms. Lineberry then accepted a position as a Senior Staff Auditor with an international firm, Coopers & Lybrand, LLC and moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Subsequently, she moved to Orange County, working as an Accounting Supervisor for an employee-owned textile distribution company in Irvine, California.
After exploring a variety of areas in accounting Ms. Lineberry decided to pursue her dream of becoming an attorney and obtained a Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law, receiving Cali Excellence Awards in Community Property, Property II, Taxation of Business Organizations, Toxic Torts and Civil Procedure II. Initially Ms. Lineberry’s goal was to pursue a career in family law; however, after studying Criminal Procedure she decided to seek a position defending the indigent in criminal proceedings.
Ms. Lineberry was a Deputy Public Defender in Orange County for approximately six years, obtaining extensive litigation and law and motion experience in the criminal defense of adults and juveniles in crimes ranging from municipal code violations, misdemeanors and felonies. This included domestic violence, violations of protective orders, drug possession, driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs, crimes for the benefit of a criminal street gang, vehicular manslaughter, attempted murder, lewd conduct, welfare fraud, robbery, grand theft, vandalism, child abuse, indecent exposure, statutory rape, assault, forgery and terrorist threats.
In order to diversify her legal skills, Ms. Lineberry then worked for more than two years in the field of administrative law defending insurance companies in Workers’ Compensation proceedings. She then came full circle by practicing family law, accomplishing her original career goal and combining her accounting and legal skills to provide truly unique services to her clients.
In her spare time, Ms. Lineberry enjoys cooking, entertaining and gardening.
Personal Note: “Before I became an attorney I went through a divorce and experienced firsthand the emotional and financial upheaval, the uncertainty, the questions and the vulnerability that it brings. I believe this difficult personal experience provides me with compassion, understanding and patience when working with my clients.”