It was an honor to recently sit down with the ABA Senior Lawyers Division’s Experience magazine to discuss my career path, the evolution of legal practice, and the invaluable role of mentorship.  The best part was the opportunity to acknowledge some of the many people who have mentored or influenced me, including key early teachers Big Creek High School teacher Frieda Riley, who taught me the importance of clear thinking and accurate analysis. Concord College teacher J.B. Shrewsbury, who taught me to write, and University of Kentucky Law School teacher Bobby Gene Lawson, who taught me how to analyze legal issues. 

Other key lawyer influencers and mentors included Burgess Allison, the most influential voice in the early lawyer adoption of the Internet,  Richard Granat, winner of the ABA Legal Rebel Award for his work in improving access to justice; Greg Siskind, a top immigration lawyer also known for his leadership in lawyer marketing and innovative use of technology; Kevin O’Keefe, the uber lawyer/blogger and Dennis Kennedy, longtime author of the ABA Journal IT column, now a podcaster and law school professor.

A non-paywalled version of the full interview is now available on LLRX.com.

Excerpt:

Sometimes, I think it’s a wonder that I became a lawyer at all. I grew up in the West Virginia coal fields. As the New York Times said of my home, “McDowell County, the poorest in West Virginia, has been emblematic of entrenched American poverty for more than a half-century.” An academic study concluded that of 3,142 counties in the United States, McDowell County ranked last in life expectancy.

Coal mining is not a lucrative line of work, and the cyclical nature of the business meant that whenever my father was laid off, we survived on welfare and food stamps. We did not have an indoor bathtub or toilet until I was 14 years old. I don’t remember seeing a dentist until I left the coal fields and got a job.  

McDowell County is not the most promising launching pad for a professional career, but I was blessed to have an extraordinary high school teacher, Freida Riley. One of her students, Homer Hickam, became a NASA engineer and wrote about her in his memoir Rocket Boys. It was later made into the 1999 movie October Sky, with Laura Dern playing this inspirational teacher. The National Museum of Education’s Freida J. Riley Teacher Award annually recognizes “an American teacher who overcomes adversity or makes an enormous sacrifice in order to positively impact students.”

She certainly positively impacted me. I may never have attended college, let alone become a lawyer, without her influence.