Terry Leahy

The official profile can be found here. But here is why I do this work.

A desire to unite others in pursuit of something worthwhile has always been what drives me. First, I watched masters at work, witnessing a coach guide runners to a championship, a Congressman rally lawmakers to keep supertankers out of Puget Sound, a consultant inspire weary lawyers to recommit to their calling, a founder form a fun-place-to-work law firm, and a developer transform buyers from many nations into neighbors whose loyalties ran to one another, and to the community they had united to form.

Then I tried my own hand at this work, reviving a dying bar association, founding my own fun-place-to-work law firm, and helping a developer strengthen bonds between diverse stakeholders who share the dream of creating a one-of-a-kind beach town.

I became a lawyer because this work of uniting others in pursuit of something worthwhile is what lawyers do best. Our one-of-a-kind nation is, after all, the product of lawyers putting pen to paper.  Thomas Jefferson – a lawyer – penned that eloquent “Dear John” letter to England that announced the birth of our nation:  The Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton – a lawyer – penned most of “The Federalists Papers,” boldly proposing that thirteen fiercely independent colonies unite in a polygamous political marriage, which eventually led to the marriage contract that made it official: The United States Constitution. Four score and seven or so years later, our nation fractured in two, and Abe Lincoln – a lawyer – penned a eulogy that challenged mourners to resuscitate a dying nation which the soldiers being honored on that solemn occassion had sacrificed their lives to save: The Gettysberg Address.  

Our nation is once again fractured. And I watch in dismay as its dysfunction trickles down, infecting the communities I serve, dividing the neighbors I love. Which is why I devote this Third Act of my legal career to helping neighbors create small pockets of greatness, in the hopeful belief that some larger good may one day come of it.