Episode 180 - Next Lawyer Up with Ron Sykstus featuring Chris Weston

Attorney Luke Carlson is the managing partner of LS Carlson Law, PC with offices located in California and Florida.  Luke's firm handles business law, real estate matters, and estate planning. In addition to these practice areas , Luke and his firm are subject matter experts in the field of HOA law.  In fact, you can find Luke's book, "Bad HOA – The Homeowners Guide to Going to War and Reclaiming your Power" here. I enjoyed getting to know Luke and hearing his story on this episode of the podcast.   

Attorney Chris Weston is the managing partner of the long-established and well-respected law firm of Johnston, Moore and Weston in Huntsville, Alabama.  As you'll hear on this episode of the podcast, Chris was a nomad of sorts growing up, moving every three years or so.  Finally settled in North Alabama, Chris took another detour to attend Albany Law School in New York, before returning back to Huntsville.  As we discuss, Chris entered law school in 2008, just as the economy was starting to bottom out from the housing crisis.  Chris is an example of how a strong work ethic, combined with talent, can have a great  end result. I enjoyed getting to know his story on this episode of the podcast.    

Rico has been a very close friend of mine who I have known since we were young U.S. Army JAG First Lieutenants at Fort Bliss, Texas.  Beyond that, Rico introduced me to my wife of 36 years, Patty, as we all lived in the same apartment complex on the west side of El Paso.  As I always describe to people, Rico is the closest individual to being a "Renaissance man" that I have ever met.  Everything that he does, he does great!  His reputation at Fort Bliss was that of a fantastic lawyer whom everyone respected.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk about the arc of his career.  Here are two facts that I have always really enjoyed about him –Rico's burning desire to attend the University of Notre Dame since he was very young, as seen here,  and also his knowledge that he would be involved in immigration law for the long term of his career, as seen here in the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, Volume 1, Number 1 as editor in chief.  Rico is a great guy, widely admired, and a friend and mentor to many.  I enjoyed catching up with him on this episode of the podcast.  

Judge Karen Hall was the longest-serving judge in Madison County, Alabama history, when combined with her time on the bench as a District Court Judge followed by her long tenure as a Circuit Court judge, until her recent retirement. And when I say retired, I mean just retired as in this podcast was done on her first day off after working for a lifetime!  Judge Hall was instrumental in starting and then continuing the long tradition of judges in Madison County who are smart, compassionate, and considerate of both lawyers and litigants in their courtrooms, which is just the type of judge anyone wants deciding his or her case. Judge Hall is originally from Florida, who then made her way to Alabama for law school after fun filled years as an excellent student, Chi Omega sorority member, and leader at the University of Florida.  She subsequently met her husband, well-known North Alabama attorney Bill Hall, when both were clerking for Alabama appellate judges in Montgomery after law school. As she discusses on the podcast, Bill is from the Huntsville area, so they made their way here after their clerkships.  Two out of three of their children have followed in their footsteps and are licensed lawyers in Alabama as well. One of the most remarkable things about Judge Hall's career is how she continued to do work in the community, even while serving as a busy full-time judge.  She devoted a lot of her free time to making Huntsville and the Madison County area a better place for all of us. Franky, her involvement, and the work she did for so many organizations, locally and statewide, is too numerous to list here in what I am trying to keep to a brief blog post! I enjoyed getting to know Judge Hall's history on this episode of the podcast and I think you will like it as well!

Heath Brooks is a highly respected personal injury attorney with the Huntsville law firm of Timberlake, League and Brooks. You can also listen to previous podcast episodes with Heath's law partners Michael Timberlake here, Will League here and William Messervy here. In addition, this law firm sponsors the popular LawCall show on WAAY/ABC 31 on Sunday nights at 10:30pm.   As you'll hear, Heath has been working at this same law firm for almost two decades, following  a fortuitous concert featuring the Drive By Truckers. As a long-time musician, Heath and I also discussed Muscle Shoals and its place in American musical history.  As an aside, here is a podcast with attorney Rick Hall whose father founded the Fame Music Studio in the Shoals.  In addition to his interest in music, Heath also has a background in anthropology and archaeology, so much so that he got his degree in it and worked in the field for several years before going to law school.  He also received a Master's degree in Environmental Management at the same time he studied for his law degree.  Heath is as he appears on LawCall – affable, approachable, funny and smart.  It is no wonder that he has a lot of prospective clients seeking his representation! I enjoyed getting to know Heath's history on this episode of the podcast. 

Attorney Jack Duncan is an exceptional creditors rights lawyer who is highly respected throughout the state of Alabama.  Jack is a partner at the large regional firm of McCalla Raymer.  As an aside, here is a previous podcast I did with another McCalla partner, Mike McComick.  Jack started his education with an eye toward engineering, but with three impressive semesters of calculus under his belt he then veered to finance. Jack took full advantage of all of the educational opportunities that the University of Alabama had to offer, to include an undergraduate degree in finance, a master's degree in finance and then followed by a law degree.  I have known Jack for a long time, and I enjoyed getting to know his back story on this episode of the podcast.   

Affectionately known as Bill Harvey or William Harvey, I have known Bill since we met as law school classmates at the age of 22.  In fact, we became roommates for our 2L and 3L years.  As you'll hear, I like to take credit for introducing Bill to the most important person in his life, his long-time spouse Kathy, but Bill is somewhat reticent to give me credit!  Bill stayed in the Chicago area after we graduated and has worked in the insurance field for the entirety of his career. As long as I have known Bill, nothing is more important to him than Kathy and his three kids.  Also of note, this long-time hockey player moved a number of years ago to North Carolina to escape the tough Chicago winters.  I enjoyed catching up with him on the episode of the podcast as I don't ever recall digging into his back story which I was able to do so here.  

As I learned on this episode of the podcast, Attorney Tim Semelroth is an Iowa boy through and through!   We talked a lot about wrestling because, if you grow up in Iowa, wrestling is pretty much in your blood.  Tim has an interesting career arc and an impressive pedigree. He runs one of the largest personal injury practices in the state of Iowa.  Also, Tim and his wife grew up in Iowa. His wife had a thoughtful observation when Tim was deciding on where to practice law. She told him that if they did not live in Iowa, then they would spend all of their vacation time traveling back there to visit family. That struck me as a very sage piece of advice, especially when young lawyers are looking at where they want to practice law.  Tim has been with the same law firm for twenty plus years and the history of his firm is interesting, as is how he got there. I enjoyed getting to know Tim's story on this episode of the podcast.

Ralph Hornsby, Jr., is a highly respected attorney who has been practicing law in North Alabama for a long time.  He comes from great stock and he has an impressive pedigree!  Ralph learned his craft, in large part, from his father, Ralph Hornsby and former Madison County Circuit Court Judge S.A. "Bud" Watson.  All of Ralph's law firm information for Hornsby, Watson and Associates is located here. Ralph focuses his law practice, as he has been doing since the beginning, on personal injury law. I enjoyed getting to know Ralph on this episode of the podcast.   

Attorney Brian White is a highly respected attorney located in Decatur, Alabama where he has been practicing law for many years. I have known Brian by reputation, but this is my first opportunity to get to speak with him. He works throughout North Alabama and concentrates his practice especially in the counties of Morgan, Lawrence, Limestone and Cullman. Brian focuses the majority of his law practice on the defense of major criminal offense allegations to include capital murder cases.  His firm, White and Iverson, also practices in the areas of family law and estate planning. I enjoyed getting to know Brian on this episode of the podcast.