I mostly want to hear your story, but I guess it’s only fair to share a bit of mine with you first.

I arrived in Texas when I transferred to Baylor University to finish my undergraduate work and then attend Baylor School of Law. A native Californian, who grew up in Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia and Missouri, I almost immediately felt like I’d found a home among the people of Texas. In 1983, with my new law license in hand, I settled in Fort Worth, accepting a job running the Fort Worth office of an Arlington law firm. I met and married a fifth-generation Fort Worth girl, Corinne, the love of my life and my wife of 35 years. Together we raised two boys who are now grown with families of their own. Our grandchild count is at 4, with another arriving in early 2025!

Early in my law practice I was searching for ways to use the law to positively impact the lives of my clients. I quickly ruled out a number of things. Litigation was a no. Family law, no. Criminal defense, no again. Then one afternoon, I received a call that changed everything. On the line was a nurse whose younger brother had been on his motorcycle that morning, headed to work, when a truck didn’t see him. The family wasn’t sure her brother would survive the night. To their great relief, he did live. But the injuries to his body and his brain would change his life forever.

“Sam” (not his real name) was twenty-five (25) and single. Until that day, he had not a care in the world. Even after the accident, there were blessings he could count. He had a family there willing to provide for his care. But the family faced an almost insurmountable and totally avoidable obstacle. No one had legal authority to make a single decision for Sam. He had not executed even a simple power of attorney, and now it was too late.

His parents and their young lawyer had only one option. To sue Sam in probate court, asking a judge to find him legally incapacitated and to appoint them his guardians. It worked, but only after they paid thousands to me and a court-appointed attorney to represent him. And then we learned another bitter truth. It was the judge - not Sam’s parents - who was in charge of Sam’s property. They only had the right to spend his SSI check on monthly bills. But if a medical bill exceeded the amount of income available, I had to file a motion asking permission from the probate judge, so they could pay that bill. For more than twelve years, the spending on Sam’s case never stopped. Endless court filings and annual accountings for the court to audit never stopped. And with them, the spending also continued.

The heartbreak of that case gave me a mission. A mission to reach as many people as possible and help them plan for the risks of life before it was too late. More than 35 years later, that’s still my mission. Sam’s story still motivates me.