Welcome!

Welcome to my little place on the web. I have been inspired to blog by reading the works of others, most notably some great law blogs (please do not call them "blawgs") like The Practice and Home Office Lawyer. Hopefully I will have something to say that can add to the content available in cyberspace, and not just be a waste of bandwidth.

My background: After spending thirteen years in banking as a technical project manager, I am looking to law as a second career. I didn't really intend to become a lawyer - and I'm still not sure how I ended up as one. I started back to get my MBA in the late 1990's and somehow took a wrong turn. Actually, the reason is I found out early in my first year that I hated B-school. The only class I enjoyed was Business Law. At the end of the course, the prof took me aside and asked what I was doing wasting my time in an MBA program when I should be pursuing my JD instead. Silly me, I took him up on it and started looking for a law school.

It didn't take me long to find a school. Since I couldn't afford to quit my day job (still can't, actually) my search was limited to schools with nighttime JD programs. I went to an open house at John F. Kennedy University's School of Law and found a good match. It is a great program, and I admit it didn't hurt that the campus was just a few blocks from my office. Although my interview with the dean (at the time, former L.A. deputy city attorney Michael Guarino, who once brought obscenity cases against the Dead Kennedys) didn't go well - OK, he threatened to punch me because my alma mater, Fresno State, beat USC in the 1992 Freedom Bowl - I somehow made it into the program.

I am pleased to say I passed the California Bar Exam on my first try, which I didn't realize was all that difficult until I checked the pass list and saw that some of my classmates who I was sure would pass, didn't.

Now I am trying to get some traction in my legal practice. I would love to stay with my current company, since it is a Fortune 500 corporation with a great reputation and an internationally-known brand. The company is so large that it would be a shame not to find something, somewhere that I could do with my degree. Plus, they paid for roughly half my education, and have treated me very well, so I'd love to stick around.

On the other hand, I feel I have an obligation to really do something with my life now that I have run the gauntlet of law school and passed one of the most difficult examinations in the country. I'm just not willing to sacrifice my family life for it, so I don't think I can ever be an associate for a Big Law firm where I will need to work 60-80 hours a week to survive. I am married with two kids, and my wife is currently over a week past due with our third, so a good work-life balance is important to me.

To pay the bills, I'm sticking with my day job for now and looking for some volunteer pro-bono work through non-profits or social service agencies. JFKU is starting an elder care clinic, which would be a great opportunity to get experience and feel like I'm making a difference at the same time.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to post any questions/comments - feedback is greatly appreciated.