The career path I followed was not a design or intentional series of steps I selected in advance. To a major extent, my decision in law school to become involved in the clinical law program opened doors for me. More specifically, Gonzaga University Law School’s creation of the Clinical Law Program, together with the hiring of Professor Mark Wilson, helped shape what I did as a lawyer. The Clinic began in 1975 as an office in Granger, Washington, where law students worked as interns representing indigent clients in various civil and criminal matters. The experience of going to court to represent people with real problems against professional adversaries was the formative step to becoming a trial lawyer. Each student intern was required to have a sponsor with sufficient legal experience to supervise the intern’s work. My sponsor was attorney Doug Peters, for whom I am forever grateful for his wisdom and encouragement.
After graduation and passing the Bar Exam, it was a matter of finding a job with a firm or office where I could continue growing and maturing as a trial lawyer. My career can be divided into 10 years of public service, followed by over 30 years of private practice.
