The view from her west Omaha office is much different from the one she knew growing up in York, Nebraska.

But for Roxanne Alhejaj, her vision is only slightly changed from what she at first set out to be. Graduating Magna Cum Laude with her B.A. from Creighton and earning her law degree with honors from the Creighton University School of Law, she always worked with numbers.

Now 16 years into the practice of law, Alhejaj is right where she wants to be.

Alhejaj practices extensively on the areas of bankruptcy law, estate planning and probate in Nebraska and Iowa – she’s been admitted to the federal and state courts in both states and member of the bar associations in both states. She has served as Secretary/Treasurer for the real estate, probate, and trust law section and as President for the bankruptcy section of the Nebraska State Bar Association.

Alhejaj has built a career on what she considered a typical experience of growing up in a small town. It was a two-parent household with a pair of brothers and a sister. She grew up swimming, was a member of the local swim team, and enjoyed riding her bike plus time on the family’s swing set.

Not surprisingly, she first thought about teaching as a career, but somewhere in middle school the idea of entering politics and law grabbed her attention.

“I think the legal field was just, to me, a way of being involved in politics,” Alhejaj recalled. “I really wanted to be a senator or president back then.”

Still, with a math teacher for a mother, she had taken all the math she needed by high school graduation and it was probably a shock when her interest in law surfaced.

“I also considered doing something in the medical field,” she said. “But I would get queasy around blood, so that was a ‘no.’”

One of her high school teachers, Greg Adams, also served as York’s city attorney and was a state senator. It was he who inspired her interest in the law. “I shadowed some attorneys that worked for the city and county, and I realized this was the career for me,” Alhejaj stated. “I truly love helping people and researching issues.”

With her career launched, she has lived in Omaha since moving to the city for college. Her mother passed more than a decade ago, but her father still lives in York. The mother of three is about to become an empty nester as her youngest daughter is a high school senior. An older son and daughter are college students.

An admitted coffee lover, she enjoys a good cup and conversation as well as family game nights with her kids and friends.

“More recently I have been involved in quilting with my sister and cousin,” she offered. “My mother quilted with her sister when she was still alive and my cousin, my sister, and I are now quilting in our mothers’ honor so to speak.”

Now a passion, Alhejaj routinely takes two or three mini-vacations to spend time quilting with her sister and cousin. “As my kids get older, I am looking forward to taking up traveling overseas and getting to see the world,” she stated. “I am hopeful to start traveling as soon as next year.”

Bankruptcy wasn’t initially planned as the focus of her practice.

An internship with an estate planning firm during her first year of law school provided Ahlejaj with an introduction to the profession. That was followed during her second year by work in the general practice firm of James Polack.

“He was an amazing mentor, and we are still friends today,” she recalled. “I learned everything about the practice of law not just the legal concepts that you learn in law school.”

That included the practical side of running a business, being a solo attorney, and even such basis as how to maintain files, keep track of hours, continuing education, and billing.

It may be surprising to learn that Alhejaj never took a law school class on debtor/creditor law or bankruptcy.  When she graduated in 2005 there was a complete overhaul of the bankruptcy code, and she viewed it as a pointless pursuit.  She’d also lost her interest in politics and wanted to pursue a career as a private practitioner in wills, estate planning, trusts, and probate. Those were the areas she pursued in her studies.

Beginning as a solo practitioner, Alhejaj later contracted for an attorney who did estate planning. That lasted until 2008 when the recession made for less of that work, but Pollak & Hicks, a firm that handled bankruptcies, was in the same building. She had a connection.

A friend who was a paralegal for the firm asked if she would be interested in talking about a job opening as 2008 came to a close. She felt her passion for match went well with estate planning and a transition to bankruptcy could be interesting.

“Everyone was predicting that bankruptcy was going to be a busy area of practice…and boy were they right!” Alhejaj stated. Pollak & Hicks hired her in early 2009 and she quickly made an impression.  That evolved into her being asked to partner at the firm and then purchasing the firm when her partners retired.

She now owns the practice, Alhejaj + Associates. It’s a calling for her.

While people are likely not enjoying the best time of their life, Alhejaj doesn’t feel bankruptcy is an unpleasant area of the law, and unlike divorce law, it’s easy to focus on a positive outcome, often after considering some alternatives.

“Bankruptcy to me is like helping people who have hit hard times,” she offered. “Most of bankruptcy practice is compassion, listening, and giving practical advice.”

One challenge comes from the urgency in which her clients find themselves. Many need advice the day she’s contacted or something the next day. “Open communication is key,” Alhejaj stressed, adding there is a difficulty in disclosing so much personal information.

“My job is to ensure the clients feel the trust and confidence in me to tell me everything.”

Alhejaj said initial consultations often focus on financial literacy and providing the compassion the client needs. Another challenge is in explaining all the details involved, and letting clients know it’s not a simple filing or a matter of filling out forms. Too many have delayed taking the action, and those delays could sometimes have helped them avoid a bankruptcy.

“Bankruptcy is a complicated area of practice and is filed in Federal Court with intersections of state law and other federal laws,” she stated.  Many cases are simple cases, but even the simplest cases can turn out to be complicated once you dive in deeper.”

Other challenges come from often representing low-income individuals with the resulting lower fees. Plus, cases do not always come in at a consistent rate. Those factors can make it a challenge to keep a firm up and running. Her biggest fear, being a sole practitioner, is that if something happens to her, that in turn impacts her business and her clients. Keeping a proper life and work balance is essential, she said.

Despite those challenges, Alhejaj believes she’s right where she belongs.

“I truly love this area of practice.  It’s unbelievable to even me that I found my true passion just by happenstance, but I can’t imagine not practicing bankruptcy law.”