Attorney Sam Givhan is very well known in Huntsville and, really, throughout the state of Alabama. A highly respected attorney, Sam is currently a law partner at Lanier Ford which is based in Huntsville.
By the way, you can listen to my podcasts with other Lanier Ford partners Andy Sieja, Laura Harper, and former law partner and now full time author, Robert Bailey.
Sam also serves our area and the state as an elected Alabama State Senator. Sam, as you’ll hear, comes from deep farming roots down in south Alabama. He has an engaging personality, and it is evident that he has never met a stranger! It is no wonder that Sam has a large constituency, along with his legal clients, that are grateful for his help and service.
As an aside, Sam also does a good bit of charitable work in our community. I haven’t talked to Sam for many years, really since he was doing creditor’s work in bankruptcy court a long time ago. It was good to catch up with him on this episode of the podcast.
This 150th episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast is quite personal to me.
As I readily tell people, I was an 18-year-old first generation (and somewhat aimless!) college student who ventured from Chicago to the University of Arizona. There, very quickly, I fell in with Sigma Chi fraternity and pledged immediately.
Philip "Flip" May was our pledge class trainer, called Magister in the Sigma Chi world. He was off-the-charts impressive, having already been a student body senator and then student body president. On top of that, he was selected to the senior honorary, Bobcats, limited to the top13 most outstanding seniors at the university.
He is, as he should be, a member of the Sigma Chi – Beta Phi Chapter Hall of Honor and you can read about his information here. I learned a great deal from Flip and the rest of the Sigma Chi upperclassmen who were his friends, and they really ended up having a major impact on my own life and career.
It is no surprise that Flip went on to co-found the highly respected law firm of May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C., where he currently serves as the managing partner.
I have not talked to Flip since probably 1982 or so and it was great to catch up with him on this 150th episode.
Colonel (R) Greg Gunter is a 30-year Army veteran and we were both commissioned as U.S. Army Second Lieutenants on the same day in May 1984 from the University of Arizona. My Sigma Chi fraternity brothers liked Greg so much that we offered him a bid late in his college career. Greg went through pledgeship in the spring of his junior year so that we could be fraternity brothers and have an uproarious senior year. As it turned out, Greg's father was a Sigma Chi, Beta Phi Chapter, at the University of Arizona and his mother was the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. I was in New Orleans for a legal conference some years back and I did a couple of Next Lawyer Up podcasts, and while there, I also did one with Greg so that we could commemorate a little bit of our history for posterity's sake. Greg lives in New Orleans after retiring from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is a great guy and I hope you like this little bit of personal history!
Luke Homen is a bankruptcy attorney and Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee who practices throughout the state of Oklahoma. He runs the law firm of Convenient Bankruptcy.
Luke is a colleague of mine with the American Consumer Bankruptcy College. As you’ll hear, originally from California, Luke made his way to Cleveland, Ohio and, finally, he ended up in Oklahoma where he’ll be for good!
Luke has an engaging personality, and it is no wonder he is covered up with clients throughout Oklahoma! I enjoyed getting to know Luke on this episode of the podcast.