Writing about the law, especially immigration law, will be a snap for me. I do it every day. Writing about myself isn't so easy. So here it goes, a quick summary of who I am, as it relates to who people hire when they retain me as their lawyer.
A defense lawyer I once had many cases with would always ask my clients during depositions where they went to high school. One day after he had deposed my client, I asked him, "Mike, why do you waste time on high school stuff 20 years later?" He explained that when he tries a case in front of the jury, he wants to know the plaintiff as best he can. To make a long story short, he firmly believed that you are where you come from. Defense attorneys bill by the hour, so my pessimistic intuition told me that that held the real explanation. But I remember his explanation, so there must be some measure of truth to it. We are where we came from, or perhaps more to the point, what we've been taught.
I had the good fortune to go to an exceptional high school in Oak Park, Illinois. While Hemingway described Oak Park as a town of "wide lawns and narrow minds", the Oak Park I grew up in was anything but closed-minded. It is a town that is renowned for forward thinking and diversity. Like most open-minded places, it had fantastic schools. I was a fairly serious student until high school when I learned to do well without trying terribly hard; for any of you who learned that skill, you know it's much easier to learn how to do that than it is to unlearn it. I learned later that when the competition and opposition become brighter, working harder is the easiest way to success. I've since learned to work with equal intensity on all things, because that becomes a core of one's self-perception and definition.
I was slated to begin college at the University of Illinois in Champaign, and decided at the last minute to attend the University of Florida instead. That decision was based on few things, not the least of which was I felt that going to Illinois would be a continuation of high school in some ways. While I enjoyed those years, and didn't want to continue them for four additional years, and was always aware that the world is an awfully big place. I'm not sure why I was aware of that - I had never traveled up to that point in my life, but guess that I knew because of my fascination with world geography and history.
Going to school in Gainesville was an eye-opening experience. Culture shock for sure; it is a wild, raucous town, in an Old South part of the State of Florida, that is home to a huge, intense, high-quality University. The University of Florida is consistently ranked near the top of state universities, as well as a top value in higher education. My first two years there forced me to examine and reexamine who I was; I was so different from everyone there. I was a Yankee in General Lee's Court; an outsider, a heathen in some ways. I learned though, that those characteristics that made me stick out like a sore thumb (like my Midwest accent - friends called me "Rab" because of my short vowels), were purely superficial. People were pretty much people, and I seized that realization and became much more than an outsider, assuming leadership roles in student organizations and taking in the atmosphere with a zeal I hadn't had before. I had overcome being different and succeeded in a very different world.
I came back to Chicago after graduating from Florida with a BA in Marketing, and a host of credits within the College of Religion, which didn't offer a formal Minor until the year after I graduated. I still say I have a Minor in Religion, which I suppose could come back to haunt me if I ever apply for the Head Football Coach position at Notre Dame, ala George O'Leary. But I digress. I learned a wealth of lessons at the University of Florida - about racism, about people, about friends and loyalty, about hard work, about confidence, about knowing who you are vs. pretending to know who you are, and about a few other things that I wouldn't ever put in writing. But Florida wasn't where I wanted to be for reasons I couldn't fully understand back then. Now I know that Chicago called me back more than anything. I missed it.
If you've ever lived in Chicago, and the Midwest in general, you know what I mean. The people are uniquely honest and hard working and fun, all at the same time. Over and over again, I meet people who tell me that they've lived all over the world and still feel that Chicago is the best big city they've found. Midwesterners usually venture out and about, but eventually come home, and so it was with me.
I went to law school at DePaul University's College of Law in downtown Chicago. Coming back was therapeutic until......law school started. First year of law school is much like boot camp. They try to overwhelm you to leave behind any vestige of comfort, as an initiation of sorts, to a new life. The day I went downtown from Oak Park, I took the Blue Line of the CTA to DePaul. I bought my books and a huge duffel bag. I filled up the duffel bag and walked back to the subway. It wasn't easy to walk that block. I spent my last $1.50 for my fare home. And got on the wrong train. I ended up 10 miles from home, and having no money in my bank account, I walked with about 97 lbs of books home. I came home and collapsed, blistered hands, back and feet throbbing. I couldn't believe that I would have to read that much weight. In the end I did; I applied myself seriously in law school and did well, but it was not easy.
Lest you get a picture that my life has been easy because of this thumbnail sketch that highlights the idyllic, I'll say this: I have been very fortunate with my life. I have not had anything given to me though; I was not a silver spoon kid, and do not come from money. I also have not lived a vanilla, picturesque life. I've made mistakes, learned, taken many risks, and chosen a life in law that reflects my believes and my strengths: fighting for the underdog, using the constitutional values that I believe are most important for the longevity of our country. I've also had many adventures that seemed to border on the insane until the lens of time made the lessons clearer. Those included a short but colorful time in the U.S. Army at Ft. Knox, a hockey and boxing (sanctioned and unsanctioned) career that left me with expensive but imperfect dental work, and a host of other youthful experiments that all are worthy of remembering if not repeating.
Another side note of my past: I am extremely lucky to have an unbelievably great family. I'm not talking about them here only because they are my personal life, and I try to keep that separate from my professional life by design. I could blog a lifetime about their talents, empathy and my love for them, but I'll spare you all of those details here.
I started my own private practice in the living room of my apartment as a newlywed, with an IBM electric typewriter and nothing else. I know that sounds like a cliche story your grandpa would tell, but it's the truth. My eternally generous father-in-law sent that typewriter, and we still use it today. I knew nothing about immigration law whatsoever, because up to that time, I had done trial work for an insurance defense firm and a plaintiff's firm. I was a lawyer who knew juries, not visas, but I decided that if I could practice immigration law and make a difference in people's lives, on my own, I had to at least try. So I did and it has worked out. Again, not easily. I was smart enough to join the American Immigration Lawyers Association, find good mentors, and have become a leader in the field that does a good bit of mentoring myself. It feels good to be in the prime of my career and to have gotten it right. I know exactly what I need to do for clients and how to do it, how much energy to pour into a case, how much of my personal self to give to clients. All of those lessons are hard to learn - I'd say a fair few lawyers never learn them. I have before the half-way point of my career, and that is probably a bit unusual.
I could be a whole lot wealthier if I stayed with firms and tried cases. But I couldn't be any happier with the way in which I practice law, and that is what the folks at MasterCard would say is Priceless. Next, I'll tell you about my practice, and then get into the nuts and bolts of immigration law itself.
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