Age: 27
Family: One older brother.
Pets: I live with a Weimaraner, Nemo, and grew up with an English Pointer, Duke.
Education: Wabash College, 2008, Florida Coastal School of Law, 2011.
Admitted to the Bar: 2011
Employed by: Dawson Orr
Field of practice: Civil litigation with a focus on commercial litigation and insurance defense. I also perform some in-house counsel work for businesses throughout the state and country and several owners' associations throughout Northeast Florida.
Professional organizations: I am a member of the American Bar Association, The Florida Bar and The Jacksonville Bar Association.
Community involvement: I am a volunteer teacher at Learn to Read and serve as co-commissioner of sports for the Young Lawyers Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association.
How did you become involved?
I became involved with the JBA and YLS through work and by participating in the YLS sports leagues. I started with Learn to Read as an office manager during law school. The staff at Learn to Read was very appreciative of my work and encouraged me to visit the classroom to teach a weekly class, which I started in 2009. I teach a one-hour class each week to students from ages 20-50 who read below a second-grade level.
How can someone else become involved?
Learn to Read is constantly in need of dedicated tutors to work one-on-one with students as well as teachers for small classes. To learn more about the organization and how you can help, visit learntoreadinc.org.
What have you learned/achieved through the experience?
Patience. For many reasons, traditional schooling did not work for my students and I am fascinated by the diverse coping mechanisms they use to deal with the challenges of being illiterate. Teaching literacy to adults with developed minds is much different than teaching young children. It requires a great deal of persistence, repetition and positive reinforcement. I also believe teaching complements my skills as a litigator.
What was the last book you read or are reading?
I try to keep several books going. I just finished Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Kennedy." I am working on Jeff Shaara's "Gods & Generals" and "The Civil War Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant."