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.