1. What made you become a lawyer?
I had watched the TV Show, ‘Owen Marshall, Councelor at Law’ and had really loved it. Also, both my father and grandfather pushed me to be a professional of some kind. The medical profession was out as I don’t even like to give blood (even today!). That left me with two options: accounting and the law. Although I am decent with the numbers, I coulnd’t see myself running them all day. Hence, the law.
2. What will be the biggest challenge for the generation behind you?
Finding a niche, developing a practice and establishing personal relationships with potential clients since many prefer to communicate electronically today.
3. What is the most interesting case you’ve ever had?
That’s a tough one. Certainly one of the more fun cases I had was a legal dispute between two professors at Galludet. They were in a dispute over a dog. It was not a dog from a breeder, either. Just a mixed-up mutt. It was really a divorce case disguised as a property dispute. The other lawyer and I still bark at each other when we pass at the courthouse, some 25 years later.
4. How do you measure success?
Divorce and Family Law can be tough work. I try to do it with integrity and honesty. I am always trying to ensure my clients can see all sides, consequences and potentialities of any particular approach.
5. What do you look forward to when you go to work every day?
Hoping that at the end of each work day, at least one client feels better after speaking with me than he/she did before. That’s a higher bar than most may think.
