Always the Law

Kenny is two years older than I am. He was in the same school class as my older brother it seems that I always knew him. I suspect that he knew I was Jeff's brother, but the age difference meant that we never ran in the same circles. Years later he was finishing his third year of law school when I was starting my first. Having that common interest, we have come to know each other quite well, and I suppose that I now know Kenny better than my brother. I know him well enough to call him Kenny, instead of the more professional Kent.

Kenny is the reason I am involved in my high school alumni association. He had the good sense and foresight to realize that a greater good could be accomplished by combining a little help from a lot of people. He recruited me to participate in the organizing meeting and I have been working with the group ever since. We participate in one traditional fundraiser every summer at our city's fair. We sell bottled water to the masses. We make some money and keep the participants hydrated. On this day, I enjoyed the surprise visit of Kenny's mom to our booth. Kenny wasn't there but we enjoyed some small talk about our families and kids, as we share the same number of children, two girls and two boys.

After a while she asked me what had caused me to want to be a lawyer. "I don't know," I said. "The only thing I can tell you is that when I was twelve years old, I had an assignment to write about what I would be doing in ten years. I wrote about being an attorney prosecuting a high-profile murder case." I went on to explain that I really don't remember what made me want to practice law in the beginning, I just know that it has been the profession I have sought, essentially my whole life long. But over time I can say that my reasons for legal practice have certainly changed.

As a graduating high schooler and during early college years, I sought expected prestige. When children came along, I hoped to maximize my income to allow for optimal opportunities for for me and my family. But soon I recognized that I enjoyed a law practice that provided a chance for flexibility to enhance the time that I could spend with my family. I have now worked for almost twenty years doing public service legal work. I have represented people desperate for help, many who didn't even know it. The past thirteen years I have represented children in very difficult life patterns.

These were not areas of practice that I dreamed about when imagining giant bank rolls. But I have been paid fairly and, truly, generously. While I couldn't tell Kenny's mom what got me into law in the first place, I was delighted to tell her that I'd do it all over again.