Born on the hottest day in 1958 in a hospital about a mile from my practice, son of a lawyer who was a lot like Atticus Finch, I have been appearing in court since I was a teenager. The people of my hometown are just plain folks who really dont understand how the outside world has made their lives complex. Thats where I have found work for I am schooled in the secret knowledge of lawyers. Enough about me, I now am told I should use this space to disclaim that anything I have said here or on any blog should be taken by the individual reader to constitute legal advice. Instead, if you think you have more than a passing interest in any topic I touch on, you should consult an attorney.
Recently, in my homey podcast studio, I was pleased to invite a remarkable local talent in to talk about his career, life and the best a man can offer, an individual guitar style that leaves the listener with the knowledge that it is all going to turn out OK. Like a music locomotive Ford … More Ford Giesbrecht – Guitarist
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn … More Sea Fever
My children grew up in Lynnwood, Washington. I am afraid it didn’t have the same epic warm feeling to it as Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It. Lynnwood is not Montana and there is no fly fishing there. By the time I heard lawyer Jeff Tolman of Poulsbo Washington tell us he had driven … More Lynnwood; Where My Children Were Raised: A Freeway Runs Through It
The 2016 holiday season gave me the opportunity to exercise paternal prerogative and slow for a moment the comet that is my daughter Rachel. I captured her thoughts and experiences about moving from Washington State to Washington D.C. but went well beyond the dichotomy that two places named the same could be so different. For … More The Rachel J. Patterson Interview
Instruction #85: Never encourage anyone to become a lawyer. … More Life’s Little Instruction Book
How about this! I have just started publication of Lawyers Road Review as a podcast and I have already unearthed a not all that great recording done on a hand held device made after returning home from the grocery store in the fall of 2015, once again, having been told by people in the checkout … More The Lost Tapes
Originally posted on On Wholesome Ground :
My sister and I sit on the Coca-Cola ice water chest in front of the Atlantic Richfield service station watching the cars emerge from the heat shimmers off the highway, then disappear into them again. It is about 100 degrees and really dry. Occasionally we have to get off…
My wife and I made our way into the downtown core of Seattle for a little holiday cheer Saturday night. We arrived behind the rest of Seattle, apparently. We approached our normal, comfortable, clean and heated garage to find it full, leaving us only one option: The Stalingrad Garage. The difference between the garages couldn’t … More The Stalingrad Garage
A brief poem by William Ernest Henley, 1849-1903, sums up a fundamental foundation of character; Be the man you can be, rise to the occassion, no matter what the time or the fashion. You will have your dignity. I do not know who he was writing about but history is full of remarkable people who … More I Am the Captain of My Soul
( About 9 minutes of Audio ) Doing the work of lawyers one finds that normally the head is down and the eyes are on whatever is in front of the advocate; a book, a client, the pavement. Yet this week after court, eyes fixed down and brow appropriately wrinkled, I somehow I noticed everyone … More It’s Been a Quiet Week in Everett, My Hometown
Lawyers Road Review 