[Howard Treesong]

I grew up in Malibu as part of a family of academics. Many of my friends and acquaintances were very wealthy; we were not poor, but not rich by any means. My father taught at UCLA; my stepmother, at Loyola Marymount. School wasn't too tough for me and I managed to get into MIT. I messed around my freshman year and did not do well, then fell hard for a hot smart chick and, after she decided she didn't want to be the future Mrs. Treesong, dropped out as a sophmore. Spending six months in the working world in a crap job teaching WordPerfect sent me back to school in a hurry with the realization that if I ever wanted to buy a house in Malibu, the only one that could make that happen was me.

I then started concentrating on school and graduated with a 3.2-equivalent and, with a strong LSAT, got into Duke for law school. I didn't go to class much but felt very comfortable going into exams and pretty much smoked my first year, which I capped off by writing on to the Law Review. As all small children know, that's a key for finding a good job in the law world.

After deciding that I needed to learn how to write and how to see cases from the other side, I took a clerkship for a federal judge and worked for him in Atlanta for a year. That job involved writing and editing every single day.

After that one-year gig was over, I took a job with a big law firm with an office in LA. I started off making $75K a year, and decided after two years that I was smart enough and liked the job well enough to try to make partner. My only significant bump in the road came when my secretary got fired for being an idiot and reacted by suing the firm and naming me, asserting various sexual harassment allegations. I shut my mouth and continued to work hard and well; and after that went away, I made one partner cut -- making approximately $350K. I found I liked the execution part of my job: writing, editing, taking depositions, appearing in court, and trying cases.

Shortly after that, I gambled and argued to the firm that we should take a case on contingency for a small client who had gotten screwed by Lockheed. The firm agreed. Two years later, a federal district judge granted summary judgment against us on all counts. Two years after that, largely based on my brief and my depositions, the 9th Circuit reversed and remanded for trial. Two of my partners and I tried the case; we won $64.5 million. Largely on the strength of that case, I made the second partnership cut, which was huge -- from $350K up to about $1MM/year.

I stayed in that job for five years. At that point, I recognized that I did not have my own client base. I believed that would ultimately become a career-limiting fact, and the struggle to generate clients was a horrific millstone around my neck every day. So I interviewed for a job managing litigation at a big company, and got the job virtually immediately, and took it.

It's a job that's much more suited to my personality. Its analytical and variable, but it doesn't depend on sales. It pays much less than my old job, but I left my partnership with $4MM in liquid assets, so salary isn't so crucial for me any more. It's much more important to me to be respected and liked, and to be back on an upward track.

I still work hard. I like it. I travel around the country and have significant autonomy. I've developed expertise in what I do and take good care to use good judgment. In sixteen years as a lawyer, I've lied to my opposition exactly twice. I've argued motions that had a billion dollars of client money riding on the line, and I won enough money for a four-owner company that the owners can retire for life -- and they entirely deserved it. I treat my colleagues fairly and well, and have established a reputation for good humor, intelligence, and honesty.

Oh, yeah: I bought a house in LA in '96. Sold it 18 months later for a 75% profit, then bought another and sold it too. Rinsed and repeated, making money on each transaction. We close on what will be our fifth house next Wednesday; this one is in Minneapolis, where I live now -- on the shores of a nice lake close to downtown.

I'm 43. I hope to be the general counsel of a fortune 500 company within ten years. I have a realistic shot of making it.

Cliffs notes: worked hard, found career that fits disposition and natural talent. Stayed with basics of discipline and honesty.