An Accidental Lawyer

In 1963, my brother and I decided to create a rock band that could play at a skating rink on Friday night. Five years later, this band, The Rites of Spring, had a recording contract with Cameo-Parkway Records, a management contract with the Bill Lowery Talent Agency, and had appeared on the Dick Clark national TV show, 'Where the Action Is.' The Viet Nam war ended our musical journey, when several of the band musicians were drafted. Lead guitarist Ron Parr was trained to drive a tank, sent to the war, and six weeks later was killed in action. I joined the Air Force to avoid the draft, and spent four years in Washington, D.C. in the Intelligence Service, with a Top Secret Crypto clearance, gathering covert information. I was mustered out in December, 1972. My next job was a mechanic with the Firestone Tire Company for six months. From there hired by Johnson, Rast and Hayes as a surety and fidelity bond agent, and became a law school student in the evening, with no plan to become a lawyer. I just wanted to collect the G.I. Bill benefits of $385 a month. I soon left JR&H to become a Social Worker with the Alabama Department of Human Resources. After four years I graduated and decided to take the Bar Exam to see what it was like. I passed, and a lawyer, Leo Costello, called and offered me a job in his law firm. I said yes. So, two years in private practice, then Public Defender. Next, administrative assistant to Birmingham City Council, prosecutor, law school professor, and finally Principal Attorney in the city's law department. And much more..