The law firm of Watkins Calcara Chtd., announces Clarissa Ratzlaff has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Clarissa was born and raised in Scott City and she’s excited to have moved back closer to home. She is a proud alumna of Oklahoma State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness, with a  Pre-Law option in 2021. After graduating from Oklahoma State, she went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from Washburn University School of Law in 2024. 

Throughout her legal journey, Clarissa felt she gained invaluable experience working for a wide array of attorneys at the Scott County Attorney’s Office, Davidson Law Group in Fort Worth, Texas, Graber & Johnson in Manhattan, and the Kansas Farm Bureau. With a passion for agriculture, she also gained experience shadowing the attorneys at the Kansas Livestock Association. Clarissa cares about helping clients protect their assets and the legacy they’ve built throughout their life for generations to come. At Watkins Calcara, Clarissa is focusing primarily on estate planning but will work in the transactional realm as a whole doing work in succession planning, agricultural law, and business law. 

Clarissa starts her life here with her soon-to-be husband, Jack, who is also an attorney at the firm. She and Jack met while attending law school and are eager to start their family together in Great Bend. Clarissa is honored to be working at a firm with small town values and looks forward to serving the community in returning to Western Kansas. 

“We are very pleased Clarissa elected to join our firm” said Mark Calcara, President of Watkins Calcara. “She had plenty of opportunities to practice elsewhere but chose to return to her western Kansas roots.  Clarissa and her future husband will be a great asset to our firm and to the Great Bend community.”