Ms. Bertín Rocha was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. She graduated from Indiana University, receiving a degree in Political Science. She completed the prestigious Indiana University Honors Geology Program as an undergraduate; however, she decided to pursue law rather than a PhD. in geology. She received her law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Iowa. After graduation, she clerked on the Iowa Supreme Court with the Honorable Justice Linda K. Neuman, Ret. She was admitted to practice law in Iowa in 2005 upon her return to Iowa after residing in Kotzebue and Anchorage, Alaska, where she worked as an Alaska Public Defender in Kotzebue and then entered private practice in Anchorage.
She focuses on family law related matters, including dissolutions, custody and child support modifications, adoptions; Indigenous law, particularly the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA); child-in-need of-assistance (CINAs) and termination of parental rights (TPRs) with representation of parents or as guardian ad litem for children; criminal law with an emphasis on family-affecting proceedings, such as: no contact orders, domestic abuse, child endangerment, OWIs, traffic offenses, public intoxication, and probation violations; and involuntary commitments for mental health and substance abuse, both juveniles and adults. She also represents new clients with appellate matters in the above areas. Over the years, she has been regularly invited to speak on ICWA matters in continuing legal education classes by the Iowa State Bar Association, the State Public Defender's Office, and other organizations.
Felicia tries to honor what she learned growing up in a subsistence lifestyle in a two-room house (with indoor plumbing in the second room!) on a lake with her grandparents. In her free time, she tent camps, explores neighborhood trails, hunts for geological “treasures” with the kiddos, travels near and far, relishes a good conversation with friends or strangers, is an admittedly beginner backpacker, and cherishes spending time with her large family inside and outside the borders of the USA.