‘A Series of Accidents’

John Courtney hung up the phone in the judge’s office and forgot about the conversation altogether. It was a typical call as part of his externship, with one exception: it was with Las Vegas legal legend John Peter Lee. While unremarkable to Courtney, something stuck out to Lee, who requested a call from the younger man after he completed law school.

Two years later, Courtney finished the Bar exam on a Thursday. At 10 a.m. Friday, his phone rang.
“‘Can you please hold? Mr. Lee would like to speak with you,’” Courtney recalls Lee’s assistant asking. “I have no idea who she’s talking about. And so she puts me on hold and then all of a sudden this old gentleman gets on the phone to ask me to come down for an interview.”

Years earlier, back in August 1990, when Courtney’s boots hit the Saudi Arabian ground, there were no thoughts of law school, job offers or legendary mentors. With Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait just days old, Courtney became the third soldier to arrive as part of the 82nd Airborne Division during the Gulf War. He remained through April 1991.

Jumping out of a plane for a living had a short shelf life for Courtney, who suffered multiple injuries during his time as a paratrooper. “Some spinal injuries,” Courtney says. “And by the time I was 27, I had two discectomies and two laminectomies and a couple other more minor procedures in my spine.” The trauma to his back and subsequent surgeries left him unable to get out of bed on his own for nine months. His bed was moved to the living room. The only walking he did was with assistance. Doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to pick up a gallon of milk ever again.

The doctors were wrong. He bought gallons of milk, he played basketball, he snowboarded. After five or six years, Courtney was back to his old self. Without such a dire diagnosis, however, Courtney isn’t sure he would have found the path to his current profession.

“So it’s just a series of accidents that led me here,” Courtney says.

It was his wife, Angela, who steered Courtney toward education. “I’m like, ‘We can’t afford that,’” Courtney remembers saying. “‘How are we gonna afford college? Are you crazy?’” Nevertheless, Angela researched schools, loans and grants and job markets. When it was all said and done, University of Nevada, Las Vegas was the destination of choice.

After earning his bachelor’s, Lee continued on to William S. Boyd School of Law. To secure his success, Courtney resolved to be on campus from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. most days, with a half day on Saturdays and a full break on Sundays. “I maintained that schedule for three years,” Courtney says. “And it was easy. I just treated it like a soldier.

“The way I approach everything is like a combat paratrooper. I mean, I was an Army brat growing up.”
Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the first place Courtney remembers living is Fairbanks, Alaska. His family went from Fairbanks to Tacoma, then to Louisville followed by Colorado Springs. A few places in Texas—Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco—led to Northwest Arkansas, Alabama and back to Fort Worth. Germany was next, around the age of 12, and by the time he was 17, Courtney had graduated high school and begun working as a roofer. He joined the Army himself at 19. After two years, he was promoted to sergeant.

When Lee came calling, the then-37-year-old Courtney answered. The two met that same day, sitting down for what Courtney assumed was his opportunity to negotiate for salary. He threw out the biggest number he could think of while keeping a straight face. “And Lee goes, ‘Wow, that’s quite a bit of money for someone just out of law school,’” Courtney says. “And I told him, ‘I’m not someone just out of law school. I’m a combat veteran that went to school later on in life that has a bunch of life experience. I’m not your typical law school grad. And so I’m going to require an atypical starting salary.’ I thought I was so smart.”

Lee told Courtney that was too steep for him, Courtney told Lee he wasn’t going to bid against himself. They shook hands and Courtney headed home. At 5 p.m. his phone rang. “I answer the phone and his assistant says, ‘Mr. Lee says he’ll accept your offer. We’ll see you at 8 o’clock Monday.’”
Courtney worked for Lee up until his mentor’s death in 2015. He then co-founded his current firm, LBC Law Group.

After a couple years of working for Lee, Courtney finally learned what made him stick out in that first phone call. “He said, ‘I wanted someone who had a lot of life experience, but who hadn’t developed bad habits by working at another law firm,’” Courtney says. “‘You were the ideal candidate.’”

Music at the Center

Throughout all the changes and careers of his life, one constant for Courtney has been music.

“Being an Army brat, there’s a music center on every single Army installation. And so I just kinda drowned myself in music,” Courtney says. “To this day I still play in a band.”

Courtney, the lead singer of Lost Vagrants, says the ’90s alternative cover band plays around 12 shows a year. “I like to play whatever the crowd likes,” he says.