01/18/2016
2016 marks a milestone for me. This is the 20TH YEAR since I graduated Baylor University School of Law and first became licensed to practice law. Those kinds of mile-markers bring out my reflective nature, so I intend to post a few things this year about what I've learned and observed in the last 20 years and what the future may hold. First, though, and really first, last, middle and everything else combined: let me express my gratitude to those who have made my career possible.
My parents expected nothing less than greatness from me. Then they had and have the decency to believe that everything I did or will do is great (or at least believe that someday it will be).
My past employers: Randy Addison, Matthew Martin and Tim Clow of Addison Law Firm, in Dallas, Texas, hired what may have been the greenest new attorney who ever lived, gave her work to do, and then let her do it. They laughed at me a lot and I cringe sometimes at the memories of everything I did not know about practicing law, running a business, or life in general, but they gave me a start, a paycheck, and a few raises before I left Dallas to move home. Mostly, they gave me the confidence to believe that I was actually an attorney. That's something no diploma handing on my wall could do.
My mentors: Troy Henry, Judge Barbara Halsey, and Judge Cindy Thyer: The five plus years I spent practicing law with Henry, Halsey & Thyer and Henry Law Firm I liken to the same foundation I received during my elementary and secondary years in school. You opened the doors to your firm and heart to me and taught me everything I know about practicing law. You taught me how to represent people. How to take responsibility for their problems and how best to find solutions to them. How to try a case. How to settle a case. How to work with other attorneys. How to zealously represent my clients within the bounds of ethical requirements. How to do more than I ever thought or believed I could do.
My best friends in law: Judge Melissa Richardson and Carla Nadzam. You make practicing law fun. You listen. You guide. You pull me back from the edge when I'm standing too close. You laugh with me and at me and I know that I would not still be a practicing attorney today but for you. Lunch is truly cheaper than therapy!
My clients: You have been my greatest teachers. I sit behind my desk and you tell me your problems and your stories. You trust me with some of the most important decisions you will make in your life. You provide for my family. You remind me that there's no difference between us except a piece of paper hanging on my wall and a set of circumstances and experiences that came your way in life instead of mine. You need wisdom, courage, confidence, trust, patience, clarity, and closure, so I learn how to be wise, courageous, confident, trustworthy, patient, clear, and result-oriented because you expect it. May we continue to learn from each other for many years to come.
From the bottom of my heart: thank you all.
