I come from a family of entrepreneurs.
I have watched these businesses flourish as planned. I have seen businesses where the owners have adapted to recover. And, sadly, I have seen some fail and go through the painful process of liquidation. I am here to make any of those processes easier.
My greatest pride is the work I did to create The Texas Honey Ham Company.
With my partners Trent Hunt and Robert Siller, we created a thriving fast-paced restaurant out of a plan to sell primarily holiday hams. When the ham business was not enough, we opened three hours earlier and started serving standard coffee-shop style breakfast fare. Then came tacos. Now there is a menu that includes creative delicious concoctions such as frigas (migas with Fritos), ham salad, pulled pork sandwiches and some of the best salsa in town.
Changing from our original business plan resulted in a business that is widely hailed not only as a great restaurant with great food; it is an invigorating “happy place” where members of the community gather to visit with friends.
Fifteen years later, Texas Honey Ham employs over two dozen people with a culture that creates negligible turnover. That “little” restaurant pumps a lot of wages into the local economy and injects a great deal of happiness into the world.
My path to the law was atypical.
I went to college fully expecting to pursue a degree in accounting, as had my father. But then I got an opportunity to work in the national office of a George H.W. Bush Presidential campaign in 1988. When we won I caught the political bug. But was 19 years old and had not finished college. I needed to go get my degree. I returned to Texas to focus on political science, history and Spanish, I returned and worked in the reelection campaign. But there was no re-election. Finding myself with a political science degree and a defeated candidate, I chose to become a lawyer.
Upon finishing law school, the family entrepreneurial streak reared its head. After clerking for my father in his Austin-based office, I “hung out a shingle” and opened my own law office. I spent seven years primarily as a litigator handling disputes ranging from divorces and custody matters, to personal injury and property line disputes. I also drafted and edited countless contracts, wills, partnership, and LLC agreements. I even did an adoption.
While it was often quite rewarding to represent people in times of personal strife, it was also overly taxing. Thus, I took a step back from the law and tried my hand at the restaurant business. It proved to be a generally fun and profitable venture. Now, I use my law degree in an effort to help others create businesses, particularly small businesses. I would be honored to help you.
(And, if you find yourself in a situation in which you need a family lawyer, trial lawyer, or criminal lawyer, though I may not handle them myself anymore, I have developed friends in the Austin Bar whom I can lead you to.)