Justice and a Red Velvet Cupcake

My nickname is … BT. 

I can’t go a day without … a snack. 

My colleagues would be surprised to know that … I have a deep love of Western and Samurai movies. 13 Assassins and 47 Ronin are my all-time favorites. 

The quality I most like in a lawyer is … a healthy sense of perspective/compassion. 

The lawyer I most admire is … Richard C. Roberts III. He zealously advocates for his clients without losing sight of the bigger picture and without compromising his integrity. To me, he represents the nobility that was once more readily associated with the legal profession.

If I weren’t a lawyer, I’d be … a psychologist.

When I win a case, I celebrate by … sleeping through the night. I tend to focus more on the cases that I don’t win than the ones I do. The losses stay with me much longer than the victories ever have.

The SCOTUS justice I’d most like to have met is … the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

My courtroom walkup music would be … “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash and/or “I Will Go to War” by Tessa Thompson.

A different practice area that intrigues me is … constitutional law.

I can’t believe more people haven’t read … Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. 

I can do a pretty good impersonation of … my parents.

My fictional hero is … Atticus Finch.

My real-life hero is … Dolly Parton. That woman is a national treasure. 

My most bizarre talent is … thanks to my dad’s general unwillingness to pay more than $200 for any home renovations when I was younger, and his unfettered violation of child labor laws, I can sod a yard like a professional landscaper and put up a fence. I keep post-hole diggers in my garage to remind me of the childhood I overcame. 

My favorite meal is … my mom’s dressing and cranberry salad. 

On my best day I … take vitamins and go to the gym. 

On my worst day I … raid both my office’s and my children’s candy jars. 

The movie line I quote most often is … “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

Nothing cheers me up like … justice and a red velvet cupcake.