Just Jac

Jac's a Lawyer
Home | Family Calendar of Special Days | Photos from the 20s, 30s, and 40s | Photos from the 1950s | Photos from the 1960s | Photos from the 1970s | Photos from the 1980s | Photos from the 1990s | Photos from 2000 -- 2003 | Photos -- 2004 - 2007 | Chicks Tea Parties | Kendra and Christopher's Wedding Rehearsal and Reception | James and Jac | Foster Kidlets | Northern Ireland | Kendra's Bridal Shower | Brennan Family History | Houston Texans | Family Trivia | Jac's Poetry | Eulogies | Family Stories | This and That | Politics | Smart Mouth Goddess Society | Jac's a Lawyer | Queens and Goddesses | For my daughters and granddaughters | For my sons and grandsons
Jacquie graduates from law school
grad.jpg
1998

Read about The Happiest Lawyer in Houston -- from the Texas Lawyer, 1999

I wrote this on the day that I was sworn in as an attorney -- May 24, 2998: I Did It! As I sit here today, I am so proud to be able to say that I am an attorney. And I can say that I am not in this position by accident and neither am I in it by design. I am in it because of the people who have brought me to it, starting from years and years ago. I am here because of my mother, who was always a giving teacher and a great creator. When I needed help with any kind of school project while I was growing up, she was always there with ideas and ways to help those ideas take form. Whenever the subject of school comes up in our family, it inevitably leads to the time my mother made a model of the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb from Ivory snowflakes. She made C I mean, of course, helped us make C all kinds of projects during our growing up years. And even now, the moment I tell her about a problem, its half-solved. I am here because of my father, who gifted me with his eye for the absurd and his off-the-wall sense of humor. My dad believed in me. I have a little sign in my office that says, AAnyone who ever gave you confidence: You owe them a lot.@ My Dad gave me confidence. I am here because Mrs. Allen, in preschool, told me that I was the most stubborn and persistent child she ever met. And she said it with such admiration, after I had hula-hooped longer than anyone else without letting the hoop drop, that I thought it was a good thing to be. I am here because of Miss Henze, my fourth grade teacher, who wrote in my autograph book that I should AHold tight to that imaginative mind of yours and you can do anything.@ I never thought I had an imaginative mind before she wrote those words, but, because of her, I've thought so ever since. I am here because of Miss Nelson who, in seventh grade, said that I should try out for the Ready Writers. It was a group of students who went to contests to write extemporaneously on a given topic. I tried out, I made it, and for the first time, I could see that there was a power in being able to write so that people wanted to read. I am here because of Miss McLean, who taught me how to diagram sentences. They don't teach that anymore, and its a shame really, because I still diagram sentences in my head when I am uncertain of the grammatical structure and it still helps me. I am here because of Mrs. Getty, who was the strictest high school teacher I ever had, and who gave me such a good foundation in English that I got an A in Freshman English in my first year of college and immediately went back to my high school to show her. She looked through my paper carefully, and chastised me for misspelling a word, and told me I should get back to school. I am here because of Lonnie, who taught me to think about politics and the law in ways that I would never have seen without his insight. I am here because of Danny, who taught me how to become a mother. We learned a lot together. He still comes to me for help with his college work, but I know he only does that to make me feel like he still needs me. He has a great gift of spirit. I am here because of Kendra, my Little Bit, who has been a great a support to me as I have pursued my dream as I have tried to be to her and to her dreams. We are each other's greatest fans. Kendra taught me that when you have a brilliant child, the most, the best you can do is to just polish her and let her shine. I am here because of Colin, who has made me appreciate the true fact that Abeing smart@ is not just one thing. It's many things. And I see Colin's quick wit, his common sense, his loving nature, and his sensitivity as far more important than being able to do algebra or remember the capitals of all the states. Colin makes my soul sing. I am here because of Sean, who is so much like me that it scares me, and delights me. I guess, in my egotistical way, I have always wanted a friend just like me, and I know I'll always have one in Sean. Sean and I touch spirits every time we look at each other. I am here because of Kelsey. Even though I see Kelsey less often now that I like, I see the many gifts that she brought into my life every single day. I am here because of Paul, who started our family down the road to adoption of babies with disabilities. I could never have foreseen this, but Paul was the first. And he still wants to be first in every single thing he does. Paul teaches me things every day C about the importance of retaining a child's sense of wonder and joy, no matter how old your body gets. I am here because of Megan, my Princess, who has helped me to understand so many lessons about how, sometimes, the attitudes of others are the real disability. Megan has helped me to understand my own mind better, as I search for answers in hers. Megan gives me limitless love. I am here because of Brigid, my little buttercup, who has shown me the utter uselessness of stereotypes. She has made me giggle on days when I didn't think I could. And even on days that she made me wanna pull my hair out, she showed me that laughing when you're angry is sometimes the best solution. I am here because of Tyler, who taught me more in two months, but most especially in two minutes, than I had learned in my whole life up to that point. Tyler's life and Tyler's death gave me the strength of spirit to know that there was nothing to fear because I had faced the worst and survived. Tyler let me know that whatever comes, I can outlast it. I am here because of all my children, because they took me down roads I did not want to travel and showed me the beauty there. They gave me excellent coping skills and they helped me to realize the importance of picking battles. They enabled me to hone mediation skills long before I ever heard the words Aalternative dispute resolution.@ They gave me a thorough understanding of what unconditional love is and of how I can both give it and receive it. I am here because of Jane Joseph, who let me see that it was possible to change paths at any point in life. I am here because of Michael Ryan, the very first professor I had when I went back to finish my degree. He taught Feature Writing. I was so afraid about starting back to school after 20 plus years. He taught me so many things about writing that I use now, every single time I write anything. I finished all my assignments for the whole year before spring break and he told me I didn't have to come back to class anymore because I had an A. He also tried to talk me out of law and into journalism. He was a great help to my ego when I needed that and an even greater help to my writing skills. I am here because of my brothers, Pat and Dan, who encouraged me and never let me forget that I could do it. I am here because of Section B. They accepted me as a peer and I know in my heart that it wasn't just because I baked for them every week. I am here because of Lance Eversole, who taught me the worst jokes of my life that I will never, I fear, be able to forget. He also taught me that even a Republican can be a good friend and partner. And he taught me the importance of quiver. I am here because of Marc Waters, who taught me that there is someone in the world who is even more self-centered than I am, and that getting to know that person was one of the luckiest breaks ever for me. Marc shimmers. He also showed me that getting kicked out of class can be way more fun than sitting through it. I am here because of Heather Peterson, who helped make my first year more fun than it could possibly have been without her, and without whom, the fashion faux paux list would never have been a reality. I am here because of Kevin Johnson, whom I love very much. Kevin was my friend in law school. He never missed a function at my house, even when it wasn't convenient. He knows nearly all my secrets. And he keeps my secrets really well. Kevin was my office partner for a year at Williams Bailey and during the summer, I spent more time with him every day than anybody else in the world. I get Kevin. And he gets me. And that kind of connection is a rare gift C the kind that makes you shiver at the taking of it. I am here because of Joe Leibovich, who showed me an ethical side of lawyering that is too often obscured. There is no one with whom I would rather discuss the law. Joe took me to the heart of what's truly important in any given situation so many times that, even now, I can hear the hard questions he would put to me, and I can be honest with my answers, even when he is not around. I am here because of Deb and Susan and Laurie, who helped me to remember that I had a life before law school and that they were the three friends who were there through it all. I am here because of Jim Soto and the confidence he placed in me by giving me my very first legal job. He has been a good friend. He gave me a chance to shine. I am here because of Jody Woodson and the support he's given me as I learned from him how the law works in the real world. We made a perfect pair because I like to organize things and he likes things organized. I am here because of Joe Sanders, a law professor from whom I have taken a class every semester that he and I were both at the Law Center. He was my very favorite teacher and has become a trusted friend. I love the way he forces me to think in ways I would never have envisioned if not for his guidance. I am here because of Laura Rothstein, the best dressed teacher I ever had. Laura believed in me enough to let me be her research assistant. That work, and participating in her class on the law and disabilities, really narrowed the focus as to the kind of law I knew would be of most interest to me. Laura is one of the few real instructors, teachers, educators, that I encountered in law school. She always had time for me. Next to love, time is the most sacred gift a person, especially a very busy person, can give. I am here because of my Craft, because being a Witch is at the core of what I am, and because no matter what else is happening in my life, I always have that source of calm and courage and wisdom and strength and knowledge. I always have a sense that the world speaks to me in rhythms. And I know that learning and fun are the two most important things in the Universe. I am here because of the circle of friends who help me in my rituals. The Circle is ever changing, but I know their names and I know their hearts. And when my journey knows success, all those who've helped me, Goddess bless. I am here because of Ron Butler. He believes in me and in our ability to make this law partnership work. I am so fortunate to have his strength as the core of my professional life. I trust him. I am here because of James May. Without him, I would not have gotten through the bar exam. He supported me in every possible way during that horrible time. He was my anchor and he was my sail. He taught me how to look through problems to solutions. He taught me about never giving up. He never gets frustrated when things don=t go according to plan. He just figures out how to make things work out. I haven=t quite learned that lesson completely yet, but his example, like his smile, is a beacon of light to me. I am here because of Tom, without whom I would not be here at all. At every step I've taken in any direction for the last 18 years, he has been there to make sure I didn't fall. He supported me, yes. But that word does not begin to encompass the gifts he has given to me. He completely cleared the way, without complaint (well, almost without complaint) for me to go to law school 12 hours a day every day that first year. Even when my school schedule was easier, I was working so much that he still pretty much had to run the household. There were things he did that he never wanted to do, like all the wash, helping with kids homework, taking kids to the doctor, dental and therapist appointments. He did all that and he wanted to know about my school life enough that he had my group of friends from school over to our house to eat every month during that first year. He became good friends with many of them. Our relationship has changed during law school as we have both changed, but we have a love that endures. He taught me that the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. I have learned, in these last three years, how to live with intention, how to walk to the edge, how to listen hard and play with abandon, how to choose with no regret, how to continue to learn, how to appreciate my friends, how to do what I love, and how to live as if this is all there is. I am here because of all the people in my life and because of all the experiences. People have often asked if I was sorry I hadn't pursued this career earlier. I'm not. I would not have been who I am if I had not lived my life. If I had become a lawyer 20 years ago, I would not have had the children I have now. I would not have the same friends. I would not be the same person. No, for me, I have lived a life with no regrets. I am happy to be where I am at this moment. Life tastes so good. My heart is full of gratitude to all the people, all the events, all the magick that brought me to this point, to this position to be Jacquie Brennan, Attorney At Law.

Thoughts on the firm year by year

 

May 1, 1999

 

One year ago, I found out that I passed the bar. I became a lawyer. One year ago. In some ways, it seems more like yesterday than an entire year. In other ways, it seems like I’ve been a lawyer forever. I know that time has a way of water-coloring memories so I want to write down my memories of my first year of lawyering while they’re still relatively fresh.

 

To say that I was nervous as I waited for bar results is – well, it doesn’t begin to convey my frame of mind. Oh, I was nervous. I was scared. I couldn’t sleep. I remember that Jody Woodson told me once that nervousness about taking the bar was nothing next to the nervousness of waiting for results. Of course, Jody had failed once. I cannot imagine what that would be like. In fact, I told myself that, if I failed, I would not take it again. I couldn’t really imagine ever going through that stress again, especially knowing that it would be ten times worse the second time around. And I couldn’t imagine that I would ever know more than I had crammed into my head in February, 1998. I had an additional stress. Ron Butler and I had committed to our law partnership and had leased office space. If I failed, we would have a year long lease on an incredibly beautiful office that we couldn’t use.

 

The State Bar puts the bar results on the internet and, ever since they started doing that, results had come out early and were posted before the published date. So all week, leading up to May 1, I thought for sure that the results would be up any time. I checked every hour, even getting up in the middle of the night to check. Common sense may have told me that no one was up in Austin posting bar results at 2 in the morning, but common sense did not prevail during that week. There was a counter on the site, and I started keeping track of how many hits were occurring every hour. It increased as Friday drew nearer. Still no results. Friday morning at 8 was the absolute deadline. At least, they’d be up then. But no. No results. They weren’t answering the phone. It was horrible. I couldn’t even access the site because so many people were trying. Finally, I had to get away from the computer. I got into my car and started driving. I kinda thought I’d want to spend a little time by myself, whatever the news from Austin. I had James and Marc both checking the web site to let me know immediately when the results were posted. I kept calling the Bar on my cell phone, but just got the recording. Finally, at nearly noon, a person answered. I said, “Do you have results?” She said, “Yes, what’s your last name?” I didn’t know whether to hang up or throw up, so I didn’t do either one. I just said it. And then she asked for my first name. And then she told me I passed. I didn’t drive off the road or anything. I just started calling people to share my news. I called James and Tom and Ron and Marc. I called everybody I could think of. Then I congratulated myself. I knew I’d never be exactly the same person I had been before that news.

      The next few weeks were a blur of activity. I had to get ready for commencement. I had officially graduated in December, but they have commencement only once a year. It turned out to be a pretty boring and anti-climactic event. Ron and I formalized our partnership agreement and started getting the office ready. I sent out announcements about the practice. We planned an Open House for our office. I asked Judge Mary Bacon to swear me in at the Open House. That turned out to be a good decision because she’s become a mentor to me. It was also really nice to be sworn in in front of my family and friends. Also, at the end of the oath where I have to say “so help me God,” I added, “and Goddess.”

      I thought the law partnership of Bulter & Brennan would last forever. I loved my office. It was far more space than I could ever use, but it was so beautiful and open. I loved the energy from the first time I walked in. Had it not been for Ron Butler, I would never have had the ovaries to have gone out on my own to start a firm. Plus he fronted all the money for it. His presence in my life was a great gift. I have to remind myself of that sometimes now, when I really dislike him so much. But I really never forget that I would not be here without him. Ron had an idea that we could make megabucks by doing compliance audits for small rural hospitals. He was wrong. He was wrong about a lot of things. He broke his promises. And he didn’t wait long to do it. We formally financially separated our offices on September 1, although we continued the partnership in name. I had no idea how I was going to pay bills, let alone pay off the debt we incurred from starting the firm. Sometimes help comes from the least likely sources.

 

Pam Mackie, whom I met in 1973 when I started teaching piano lessons to her and her brother, came in to see me to draft her will. She wanted to leave me some money. I told her that she could not name me as a beneficiary in the will if I was the one who drafted it. So she took me out of it. She started coming into the office as a volunteer to answer phones. They were ringing a little more by August and I couldn’t be there every minute. One day, I got up my nerve to ask her if I could borrow some money to make this firm my own. I needed equipment to replace what Ron bought and other things to make this a law firm that could grow. She said no. Then she really surprised me by saying that she decided she’d like to give me the money she had wanted to leave me in her will. This firm could not have started without Ron Butler, but it could not have survived without Pam. Ron and I both agreed that we had not planned carefully enough for this partnership and it was an amicable parting at that time.

 

I need to back up a little here because I’ve left out some really important things. The very first client who came in the office was a woman named Mary. She had written a will with a will kit and just wanted me to look over it. We made some changes, executed it, and I charged her $50. I decided never to do that again. I would never just look at a kit document and try to make it a viable legal document. Live and learn. My first really big case was involved a client who was a doctor doing her residency in a program here in Houston. We sued the hospital for disability discrimination. We reached a settlement minutes before the hearing and she got most of what she wanted and I got attorney fees and I felt like a kickass lawyer for the first time. My first time to actually appear in court before a judge was with a client on a Judgment to Determine Heirship in Judge Austin’s probate court. Jim Soto went with me. Such a great friend.

 

I was getting lots of calls to do cases I didn’t know how to do. I had a big office space in the back that was going to waste. Put those two things together and you have the foundation for my next big step as a lawyer. I decided to hire associates.

 

James helped me so much through all this that I can never say enough good things about him. Not only did he save me tons of money, but I really needed his advice and his shoulder more times than I can count. He figured out a way that we could divide the back office into two offices and put two associates back there. I couldn’t afford to pay them a salary, so I came up with a percentage deal that I thought might be attractive to the right kind of person. One of my closest friends from law school, Kevin Johnson, had graduated in May and taken the July bar. He didn’t have results yet, but there was no doubt that he’d be licensed in November. Kevin has everything. He has a great looks and a dazzling personality He was on Journal, had clerked in different kinds of settings, and had his undergrad degree from Rice, where he played both football and baseball . I contacted him several times about coming by to see the office and he finally took me up on it. After that, I wrote him a letter offering him a job here if he wanted it. I knew there were major drawbacks financially, but I really felt that, if he could make it for awhile, it would really pay off. Kevin and I had shared an office together for a year at Williams Bailey and I knew we’d get along great. We “get” each other. He started at the end of August as a law clerk.

 

Kevin was the best decision I ever made. I think that Kevin and I will eventually turn this firm into a partnership for the two of us. Having Kevin here had made every aspect of this firm better than it would ever have been without him. He is now the “Senior Associate” and I trust him with every part of this firm’s operations.

 

We hired Lisa VanAuken to do family law. She had graduated with Kevin, but we hadn’t really known her during school. I feel privileged to have really watched Lisa become a lawyer. She has a great confidence which makes her both trustworthy and formidable. At this point, we have Kevin, Lisa, and three other associates.

 

I feel like I keep leaving out whole parts of the story. Support staff. That’s Kendra. Actually, when I first opened the office, I wanted to hire someone to work just part time and Kendra was perfect! She learned quickly and I love being around her so much. She has worked part time here this whole last year. She plans to continue. This summer, she and Heather are going to share the job. A couple of months ago, we hired two law clerks. That’s been really nice. Its great to have someone who can do legal research and it just feels right to be able to have clerks in the office. I also hired a bookkeeper in January. I needed someone to help me with everything and Lesa Curry is wonderful.

 

Another subject: technology. When we moved in, we had a very antiquated phone system with phones that were a pain. We had a fax line and two phone lines, as well as a computer line. Only one of us could be on the internet at a time. Kendra had a computer and so did I. We each had a printer. And we had a copier. That was it. Now, one year later, we have much more. We have a new Lucent phone system with voice mail. There are eight phones, with four rollover voice lines. We will soon add two more lines and four more phones when we move upstairs. We got an ISDN line so that we can all be on the internet at the same time, plus its much faster. We have Westlaw Texas Pro Plan Plus. We have Time Matters. We have ProDoc. We have our own web page for the firm, with individual ones for each attorney. We have our own domain name – LawBrennan.com. We have five computers and five printers. We have the copier, a shredder, and a zip drive. Our computers are all networked.

 

We have malpractice insurance, of course, and a 401(k) plan, as well as health and life insurance plans. We have a set of written policies and procedures in an employee manual. We belong to two legal plans and two lawyer referral services, as well as an increasing presence on the internet.

 

As I have brought more people into the firm, I have been able to focus my practice more and more on just disability law issues. That naturally encompasses more areas, but nearly everything I do connects to disability law. Beth Sufian has been a tremendous help to me by sending me clients and by helping me understand how this law works in the real world. I am really tired of typing so I’m not going to go into my individual cases, but I have had some really fun ones, some really lucrative ones, and some heartbreaking ones. I lost my first case the other day. The client is Lynda Condon and it was a SSDI case. I was devastated, but I knew it had to happen at some point.

 

I guess that’s a pretty good summary of my first year. I can’t believe how far I’ve come. The other day I walked into the back room to tell Kevin something and all the phone lines were in use and each lawyer was talking to a client or opposing counsel. When I saw Kevin, he held up his hand and said, “Listen.” Of course, I’d been thinking the same thing. This firm is going to make it, and in the most non-traditional way. Which is pretty much the way I’ve made it this far, too. I am so proud of what I’ve built. And I know I didn’t do it alone. James. Tom. Ron. Pam. Kevin. Isis. Astarte. Diana. Maat. Norns. Hestia. Selene. KaliMa. Cerridwen….

Jacquie and Kevin
Kev_Skye.jpg
Just starting out -- 1998



SECOND YEAR


 


May 2, 2000 – Yesterday was my two year anniversary of getting licensed. Two years seems like such a short time. But just look what I did! I guess, in one way or another, I’ve been saying “Look what I did!” all my life. But come on – this is really SOMETHING! I know that I wrote a “First Year” update this time last year and I hope to do this every year, because I have always managed to cram a lot into each year of my life.


 


I can’t remember for sure how many lawyers I had working here this time last year, but it must have been five or six. We now have 14 lawyers with the firm. It has fluctuated over the last year. Last summer we were full in the back area – the “bullpen.” Then Kevin and I got a couple of calls from people we had gone to school with who had gone to big firms and were burned out already. They heard about us and wanted to come here. We ended up hiring one of them, even though we didn’t even have a desk for him. He sat at the table in the back and brought his own computer with him. It was really crowded. Earlier in the summer, the three story loft that’s adjacent to the back of our building had become available and we had briefly discussed leasing it and expanding the office. But we decided the time just wasn’t right. It would be an expensive undertaking and we were just starting to be able to build up a little cushion. So we passed. And someone else leased it. At about the same time, Kevin had an idea about the internal structure we should start setting up for when we did expand. It involved setting up different sections and have heads of sections to sort of supervise the cases of the section. It got me really excited about expanding again and I was wishing we had gone ahead and gotten the space. That morning as I was driving back to the office, I saw that the lease sign was out again. The lease had fallen through. We decided to go ahead and take the leap. The space gave us room for 8 more lawyers. We had to buy more computers and lots of office furniture. The space gave us a beautiful reception area and a nice conference room where we could meet with clients because, by that time, I was getting booted from my office a lot for client meetings. James did SO much work. And the firm would be a very different place without James’s efforts. James literally drilled a hole through the phone closet in the Commonwealth Office and it came out in the garage of the Fairview Office. Then he pushed through phone wires and computer wires and sent them into a closet in that office on the first floor. Then he fished all the wires through the walls and brought them out into all the various offices so that our phone systems and our computer network would all be linked. I am still amazed by the amount of work he did and by the results. Kevin and I started a hiring frenzy to try to fill that space. We took possession of the space in September, but it took over a month to get everything connected between the two buildings and get desks and furniture and everything so that we could move in.

 

Another big step for the firm last year was that we hired an Office Manager – Terri Richison. That turned out to be maybe the best thing we ever did. She is marvelous at her job and has taken SO much pressure off me. If SHE ever quits, it will be worse than any lawyer quitting.

 

This year has been filled with money stress, especially with the expansion, but things are much better now or, at least, I now have a financial serenity I never had before.

 

Kevin and I did form the partnership officially and the firm is now called Brennan Johnson Law Firm, LLP.  We are going to film a television commercial soon and are really excited about that. We have decided to keep the Fairview space, but not to plan any further expansion for a long long time. We are very pleased with the way things are right now and just want to build on this.

 

THIRD YEAR


 


May 7, 2001


 


Just celebrated my third anniversary of becoming an attorney last week and I remembered about writing these yearly updates just last night. Again, a LOT has happened in the last year – both personally and professionally. We’ll stick to the professional stuff here, but suffice it to say that this has been one extremely stressful year. And glorious!


 


A year ago, we were still trying to grow the firm in terms of attorneys; we were talking about making a television .We have struggled financially this year and decided, in January, to give up the loft space next door. We never have had it full and it was a real financial drain for us. We had to fire two attorneys. The firm has a much better feel to it now. I like it that we’re all back together again in one building. It just feels right.


 


We did make a television commercial and we were really pleased with the way it turned out. It did not bring us one single client, though. We’re still learning about marketing stuff. As I sit here right now, I’m waiting for a woman who is coming to talk to us about billboards.


Danny started working here part time. He’s also working as a reporter part time at 610. Sometimes, I don’t have too much for him to do here, but I love having him around and everybody seems to like him, too. Except for the fact that he found four times as much money in the Easter Egg Hunt as anybody else did.


 


We thought we hired a guy named John Needham. He came here one day. Then he came here in the middle of the night one night about three weeks later. We never heard from him again. He has now become part of the firm folklore.


 


Terri is still with us and still worth every penny she’s paid. I don’t know how we’ll ever get along without her if we have to face that. She has voluntarily cut her hours. There really is less work for her now, especially since we have fewer lawyers and one of them is not Howard Glass.


 


We had one amazing month in 2000 when Paula settled that case for 90k and Cary settled a case for 100k. Before we moved out of the loft, with our budget, we had to bring in 45k in attorney fees each month in order to break even. We did that a total of two months in 2000. Some months, our attorney fees totaled 8k. I borrowed a lot from relatives.


 


Another very exciting thing that happened earlier this year is that my picture was on the cover of the ABA Journal (March 2001 issue). I was called for a quote several months ago. I was told the article would be about advice that I had gotten before I started school or as a new lawyer. I was also told that the reporter was writing the story in the hope of selling it to the Journal. She didn’t know if they’d buy it or if I’d be in it. So that was that. Then suddenly I got a call asking if I would consent to have my photo taken. Then the photographer said it was for a possible cover. James and I were in Mississippi when it came out and I went to a lawyer’s office there and asked if they had a copy, which they did. It was really exciting!


 


It seems like so much has happened in the last year and I know I’ve only skimmed the surface here. I still love what I’m doing here and I’m still grateful every single day that I took this road. I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring!

 

FOURTH YEAR


May 2, 2002


I’ve been a lawyer now for four years. It’s gone by fast and yeah, it has seemed like forever. Like so many things in life, it has been at both extremes and everything in between. I think every year I’ve written this, I’ve talked about how many changes in the firm have happened. Maybe its always going to be like that. We’ve tried lots of things, learned from our mistakes, and now we’re ready to stay this course for awhile. I don’t remember how many people we had working here this time last year, but I know for sure it was more than we have now. I think we still had the other side of the office at that time – the loft. We moved out in February and had to fire two attorneys.


The firm kinda limped through the summer – financially speaking. Summer is always a little slow and this one was no exception. Things had just started to pick up when September 11 happened. It literally stopped our business for about a month. No one filed for divorce. No one wanted to sue anyone. No one filed against a school district. It was just so strange. Things picked up by November, but then December came, which is always bad. We are still recovering from those months of almost no income.


We made Lisa a partner this year and we have decided that we really like having a very small firm where the only lawyers are partners. We trust each other so we know that we’re not going to screw up cases or leave clients unhappy or take worthless cases. We’re all competent in our areas and we don’t delve into other areas of law about which we know nothing.


We might take one more partner at some point. There are some areas of the law that we really need to cover if we’re going to keep referring to ourselves as a full service firm. But we have learned from past mistakes and we will be very careful if we extend a partnership offer to anyone.


I still love lawyering and I still love having the firm. I am strongly committed to the firm’s future, but the financial struggle is very tough. I believe that things are starting to get better right now as we are seeing signs of increasing revenues. And that one big case could walk in the door at any moment. I’ve always said that it’s the best and the worst part of having this firm. There’s the hope that something big could come in at any time and then there’s the knowledge that everything could stop coming in altogether. So keeping the fear from overpowering the hope is what keeps us going. I am already looking forward to what I’ll be able to write here next year.


*****


Fifth Anniversary


 


A couple of weeks ago, I celebrated my fifth anniversary of being a lawyer. Well, OK, “celebrate” isn’t really an accurate word. The day came and went without my remembering that it was, in fact, my anniversary. Still, every year I’ve written about the previous year of lawyering and so I’ll write about this one, too. Every year since the first, there have been tons of changes within the firm and every year, I think that NEXT year, I won’t have nearly so much to write about because things will have settled down. OK, I guess I can still have hope that NEXT year will be a year of settling. This one sure wasn’t.


 


I can barely remember what things were like last May. I think we had just made Lisa a partner in April and we had decided that the firm would be just the three of us. We were happy with that decision because we all get along and we trust each other and there’s comfort in that after being through so many lawyers that turned out to be unworthy of that trust. There is always the financial uncertainty, of course, but the firm felt solid and somewhat settled. We would never again have employees so there would be no more attorneys hired. Terri and Danny were splitting the clerical duties and both were happy with that arrangement. Well, at least THAT part stayed the same.


 


In May, Monica Vaughan called us with the news that she had passed the bar exam on her first try. It was really an impressive accomplishment since she had completed law school ten years earlier and had not taken the bar exam at that time. Monica had volunteered as a clerk for us while she was studying for the bar exam. Now that she had passed, she was sending out resumes, looking for a job. She asked about working for us. We did not want to get started again with all of the employee headaches, so I offered to let her buy into the partnership. The infusion of cash would be helpful for us, of course, but we all also believed she was going to be a really good attorney, had good contacts that could make some rain, and she was willing to practice in areas that we didn’t have covered already. It seemed like a very good fit and she agreed. In June, we signed a new partnership agreement.


 


Things were going along like always. Great months. Awful months. In-between months. Holding our own. Good things in the pipeline. Marketing. Highs. Lows. The usual.


 


In November, I got a call I never expected. Mary Faithfull, my friend who had become the Executive Director of Advocacy, Inc., called me on a Friday afternoon. I was surprised, but happy to hear from her. I asked her how things were going and she said that she had Stephen Yelonowsky, AI’s Legal Director, in the office with her and wanted to put me on the speakerphone. I had no idea what was coming. I should probably stick in a little history here. A couple of years ago, the Managing Attorney position came open at AI. I applied and never thought for a minute that I wouldn’t get the position. I was shocked when Stephen called to say that they selected someone else. But once he told me that the person they chose was Martha Holland, I understood completely. I knew Martha. She had much more experience than I did, much more experience with disability law, especially special education law. On paper, there was really no contest. I told Mary that I was worried that it wouldn’t be a good fit, but really, I didn’t know Martha all that well and there were people in the AI Houston office who I didn’t know at all. I never really thought about it much after that – until that call in November. Stephen said that Martha was no longer with AI and they wanted to know if I would be interested in the position. To be honest, I wasn’t all that interested. At that moment, things were going pretty well at the firm. I told them that I would be interested only if I could still maintain the firm and play at active role in running the firm. Stephen said that sort of arrangement would be outside the box. I told him my whole life was pretty much outside the box so that didn’t bother me. He said that they anticipated that I would say no, so they had a backup plan. He asked if I would be willing to do the job as a contract position until they either hired someone else or worked out a deal with me once they found out about the feasibility of my maintaining a connection with the firm while working for AI. I agreed that I could do that if we could come to an agreement about salary. So we worked on that, came to an agreement, and I became the “acting” managing attorney on December 9, 2002. Officially, I was working about 30 hours a week, but it was seldom under 40. I also was still working at the firm. My schedule was basically that I would get to the firm at about 6:30 in the morning and work there until about 9:30. I got to AI at 10 and stayed til 7. Then I went back by the firm to take care of anything that needed to be taken care of there. One day on the weekend, I worked at the firm all day. It was a killer schedule. During the holidays, AI was closed, but I still worked there, trying to get more organized there after getting to know the job a little bit, and catching up on the reading I needed to do to be able to do my job there knowing the policies better.


 


I loved the job from the start. I liked the people I worked with. I liked the co-management arrangement because I always liked Monica Navy, who had become the Regional Manager. It was the best situation for me, following Martha in the job because there had been major problems in the office with Martha so pretty much every thing I did seemed amazing by comparison. I felt appreciated and essential, which are the two main things I need like air and water to exist. Of course, I knew it was a honeymoon period. Still, there was no reason not to enjoy it. I didn’t know whether I would be able to stay after the 90 day contract period, but I really did love every part of the job. I especially loved being able to represent clients without worrying about their ability to pay.


 


We went right down to the wire on whether I would be able to take the “Acting” from the front of my title at the end of the contract period. In fact, we had agreed to extend my contract while they looked for someone else so that the office would not be without a managing attorney if we could not agree on a salary. Both AI and I wanted me to stay in the position, but I had a very definite bottom-line figure and I knew I would not take a dollar less than that. AI had not made any kind of offer so I had no idea if we were even close. Finally, the offer came and it was not what I wanted, but it was not very far off. I declined the offer, but reiterated that I would stay under the contract until they found someone else. Two days later, we came to an agreement for me to stay. I was thrilled. I remain thrilled today.


 


At the firm, the fact that I was not a full-time employee at AI didn’t really make any substantial difference because I had basically been doing that for the prior three months. But for Monica, it made a big difference. She believed that a conflict existed in her taking special education cases. She had not really wanted to take those kinds of cases anyway because she wanted to focus on criminal, juvenile, and probate cases. She seemed to view it as some kind of betrayal when I took the job. She quit. And even though we had thought all along that we could trust her completely, even she planned her exit without a word to the partners. To say that Kevin, Lisa, and I were sad when she left would be to – well, lie. In fact, only the week before, I had sighed out loud that I wished she would leave the firm. Six days later, she did. I wished that I had sighed out loud a wish for a million dollars instead. In fact, just in case I was on some kind of a cosmic roll, I did just that. But six days have come and gone and no check for a million dollars has shown up yet.


 


So the firm is, in some ways, back to the place it was this time last year. The big difference is that I am working at AI, as well as at the firm. That is sometimes tough logistically, and tiring. I am for sure under more stress, but I cannot reasonably choose to do only one of the jobs. My soul is in that firm. My heart is at AI. I would not be happy or content with just one at this point. I have no idea, in spite of my crystal ball held up by three ladies of justice, what the future holds. But today, I have a lot of hope, and a lot of gratitude.


 


 

January 2005

In looking over justjac.com, I realize that I have not updated this page in about a year and a half. There have been some important changes in both the firm and at AI. At the firm, shortly after I last wrote, we decided that we would move from our space on Commonwealth, rent a small apartment in the area in order to keep our phone numbers, but the three attorneys would basically telecommute. We set up Lisa at home with everything she would need. Kevin was doing contract document review and enjoying that. I was at AI all the time. It seemed like a good solution. We rented conference room space very cheaply so Lisa could meet with clients. Our rent at Commowealth was so high and we did not need so much space. It was emotionally hard to move because I loved that space so much. It was the only place the firm had ever been. But we really needed to cut costs and rent was our biggest financial drain. Not long after we left the space, Lisa decided that she just could not work from home. She started coming into the office at the apartment, which was at 1407 Missouri, the apartment I had lived in while studying for the bar and then beyond. Not long after we moved, Shafik Rifaat, our landlord on Commonwealth began calling us about moving back in. He had gotten a tenant, another architecture firm, to rent the back half of our space -- the part we had called the bullpen. He wanted us to rent the front part. We came to an agreement about the rent and started seeing clients there again. We still kept the apartment because it seemed impossible to get all of our stuff back to Commonwealth in our new smaller space. Just this last week, though, we did exactly that. We gave up the apartment. It feels good to be back in our birthplace.


At AI, the big change has been that Monica resigned. Things had been getting difficult for her. It was sad for her to leave. David Truran is now the Regional Manager and he seems very interested in the work of the agency. When I take days off, I miss being there. The cases I have are interesting and exciting. I hope that life continues to taste this good.


May 2005 -- 7 years!


I've been a lawyer seven years. That is just amazing to me -- both in the sense that it seems like I've been a lawyer forever and in the sense that I still often feel like a new lawyer. Even though I updated this a few months ago, as always, big changes have taken place.


After nearly 7 years with the firm, Lisa Van Auken decided to start her own firm. It's sad for her to leave, but at the same time, I'm really happy that she's come to this place in her professional life. I know she'll be successful. Lisa's departure necessitated some big decisions because she has been the main source of income for the firm since Kevin started his contract work and I am at AI more than fulltime. Since AI is about to move its offices to 1500 McGowen, I feel that maybe the time is right to just close the firm for good. Another day, another change. It's all about transformation. 


Change is the nature of life. It happens to us all.

Transformation is more deliberate. More intentional. It calls for thought and planning.  That's me -- thought and planning.

June 2006
Eight Years
Eight years as a lawyer. Wow. And one of these anniversaries, I am going to write something here that will not begin with how much change has happened in the last year. That anniversary, however, is not this one. This time last year, I was in a job I loved with people I loved. The person I considered my mentor at AI, Elaine Roberts, had just become the Legal Director, making her my boss. We had just moved into our new offices in midtown, which I adored. Money was extremely tight for me because I could not take any clients through the firm, which we were strongly considering closing anyway. Pressure was high, but, you know, no pressure,no diamonds, so I was all right. From the time I became the managing attorney at AI, I never thought I would work anywhere else. I thought I would happily retire from there in my 70s. So much for that particular crystal ball. I lost my job at AI on August 1, 2005, a day that will live in infamy. Well, you know, in my world, anyway. Probably that whole Pearl Harbor thing will live in MORE infamy, but I digress. To this day, I do not know why I lost my job. No reason was ever given to me. Never had anything but excellent reviews. Always before, when they wanted to get rid of someone, they gave ultimatums or a management consultant or at least, a warning. But not on August 1, 2005. Elaine Roberts (this is me spitting on the ground after having her name in my mouth) is, in my opinion, (and I want to make it clear that this is simply my opinion, just like everything else on this website, but I must make it clear because there are some lawyers who are ignorantly frivilously litigious,) a self-righteous, mean-spirited individual. Even her betrayal, however, could not match the betrayal I felt from Mary Faithfull, a woman with whom I had been close friends for 9 years, and a woman who has not said one word to me, in spite of my attempts to communicate with her, since July, 2005. I suppose she is ashamed of the way she treated me, and she should be. I never pegged her for a coward, but she is the worst kind of coward because she not only turns away from difficult situations, she turns away from people she claims to love. No discussion of this day would be complete without mention of David Truran, who also managed his own brand of spineless betrayal. He, again in my opinion, lacks any trace of integrity whatsoever. On my last day at AI, I thought my world was ending. I had only recently closed the firm's office so I really had no job. I had declined an offer to write a textbook because there was no time to do such a thing with the hours I was working. I had eschewed professional opportunities because I loved AI and I suddenly faced an uncertain future. My greatest comfort during those dark days was the love and the concern of the non-management staff at AI. Chanita Chantaplin, Jack Callahan, Cecelia Hedges, Jannina Meneses, Debbie Koopmann, Walter Rowe, Lucia Ostrom, Karen Stanfill, Kathy Overdiep, Mary Hathaway Evans, Christine Smith and all my interns (the interns all made my last day their last day) all supported me during those first weeks in unbelievable ways that let me know I was seen and appreciated and missed. They continue to be good friends to me. Last August, I was devastated, knowing that it is always darkest just before it goes pitch black.
I could not possibly have envisioned how a few months could completely change my life in so many positive ways. I spent August at home and it was glorious. I never put together more than three days off since I became a lawyer and I really needed a break. I was worried, of course, about what would come next, but I began to trade worry for excitement. I had some private cases that were bringing in money without being very stressful and that was helpful. I did not want to start the firm up again. I applied for jobs in other states, even though the thought of moving made me queasy. I had a couple of offers that I declined. My salary requirements were fairly high because I could not make less than I had made at AI because money was still tight. I contacted a friend of mine, Wendy Wilkinson, who was the Project Director for the Disability Law Resource Project, which was housed at ILRU at TIRR. Wendy and I had done joint presentations a few times and I really wanted to continue working in the area of disability law so I was hoping maybe there would be a place for me at DLRP. There was! It started out as a part time contract thing, which was perfect for me. I was helping hurricane victims who had disabilities at first and, although I can't say it was love at first sight between ILRU and me, we definitely bonded over the weeks. Eventually, in January, I became a full time employee and I was ecstatic. The salary was roughly what I had been making, but the big advantage at DLRP was that I could continue to practice law on my own. My responsibilities are nowhere close to my responsibilities at AI so there is low stress. Best of all, these people are simply the finest group of people with whom I have ever worked. They are wickedly funny and fiercely loyal and I can say unequivocally that I would put my life on the line for any one of them. I've never worked in such a supportive environment with such great personal rewards. On my own, I am taking a limited number of cases, which is more lucrative than I imagined since I am virtually without overhead. I am still a hearing examiner at the City, which I enjoy. I have also become the Director of the Paralegal Program at the University of Houston and I love doing that. It keeps me very busy, but I am doing important work there and I am doing it well. Professionally, I have never felt this happy and fulfilled. Financially, I have never been this well off. I am easily making double, often triple or more, what I was making this time last year at AI, between all my sources of income now. Personally, my life is on a more even keel, with less stress, than at any time since I've been an adult. What a difference a few months can make. Lots of changes, yes, and all of them for the better. I am blessed and I am a blessing. And I am having the time of my life! *****************************
June 2007 -- Nine Years!
I believe this might be the year of the least change professionally of any year. And I couldn't be happier. I love my job at The Southwest ADA Center at ILRU and I love my job teaching at UH. Things have just never tasted quite this good. Contentment.

Partners
partners.jpg
Kevin and Jac - 2002
Jac is a cover girl!
abacover.jpg
ABA Journal 2001

FIRM TRIVIA

  1. On what date did the firm open its doors?
  2. Who were the original partners?
  3. What was the primary focus of the firm in the beginning?
  4. Who was the first to be brought in as Of Counsel?
  5. Who was the first associate fired?
  6. What was the first group activity in the courtyard?
  7. Who won the first group activity in the courtyard?
  8. Who was the first associate to be Associate of the Month three months in a row?
  9. Who was in the first photo of Brennan & Associates?
  10. What was the model of our first fax machine?
  11. What was the URL of our first web page?
  12. Name our first two law clerks.
  13. Who was our first law clerk who was always late and made a lot of mistakes?
  14. Give the full name of our landlord.
  15. Who was the first associate who graduated from an out of state law school?
  16. Who makes our tiles?
  17. Who did we call "mouse?"
  18. When can you count on Jacquie being out of the office?
  19. Who was the first associate to have an LL.M.?
  20. For which occasion did every associate get an individual bottle of wine?
  21. Name our bookkeeper.
  22. Name the title of the book on the top bookshelf in Jacquie’s office.
  23. Name the person who supposedly made the quote that’s over the a/c control in the reception area.
  24. Who was our first receptionist?
  25. Who was our second receptionist?
  26. When did we move in to the Fairview office?
  27. Who was the first woman associate?
  28. Who was the first Hispanic associate?
  29. Who was the first African American associate?
  30. Who was the first Arab associate?
  31. Who was the first married associate?
  32. Who was the first associate with children?
  33. What was the name of the gym where we had a corporate membership?
  34. Who was the first husband/wife team hired by the firm?
  35. Who was our first real office manager?
  36. What was the title of the article about the firm in the Texas Lawyer?
  37. What were we afraid would be in the article?
  38. Who was quoted in the article about Jacquie’s maternal instinct?
  39. Who was the first female African American associate?
  40. Which law clerk quit because of Damon?
  41. What was the first last name that we "repeated" among associates?
  42. What associate was dubbed "beautiful boy" during the interview process?
  43. What was the color of the first sofa we had in the fairview reception area?
  44. Who was the second Rice graduate we hired?
  45. Who was the first associate to get chicken pox?
  46. What was the first and last name of our first foreign intern?
  47. When did we move out of the Fairview office?
  48. Who had to be fired for that?
  49. Who had clothes that Cary called "delicious?"
  50. Who was the first attorney to have a baby?
  51. What did the firm want her to name him?
  52. What office assistant was also a radio sports talk show host?

56.Who was the second person to clerk here that eventually became a partner?

She sings. She dances. She takes. She gives. She loves. She creates. She dissents. She enlivens. She sees. She grows. She changes. She learns. She laughs. She sheds her skin. She bleeds on the pages of her life. She walks through walls. She lives with intention.