Forty Under 40: Christian Gunn-Schinker

As managing member of a law firm, executive director of a foundation, and a practicing attorney, Christian Gunn-Schinker wears a few hats. And all of them seem to fit.

In June, the Fayetteville native joined the Gunn Mason Kieklak Dennis law firm, where she manages day-to-day operations, and practices in her fields of expertise — family law, trademark law and estate planning. In January, she was named executive director of the Whitaker Family Foundation, which focuses on health care and education for children.

Grueling days. Good vibes.

“It’s taken me a long time to get to this point where I’m excited to get to work before 8 a.m.,” she said.

Gunn-Schinker cut her teeth out of law school at Keisling Pieper and Scott PLC, where she learned the ins and outs of trademarks and intellectual property.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

From 2010 to 2012, she worked as a producer for her mother’s televised drug court drama, “Last Shot with Judge Gunn.” The work was relentless and even terrifying. But her two-year tenure with the show paid off. In 2012, she won a daytime Emmy and accepted the award at the glitzy Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

After the TV show, she was of counsel with the Gunn Firm LLC for two years, primarily practicing family law, before emerging at her current position with Gunn Mason Kieklak Dennis.

“It’s been a wild ride, but I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” she said.