I was born and raised in Albuquerque. I graduated from Del Norte High School in 1980 then took off to the deep South to attend college. It was always my intention to return to New Mexico, however I got my doctorate in law, passed the bar, fell in love and accidentally got stuck far away from home. For 20+ years I desperately yearned to return to Albuquerque, yet I felt so ensconced in my life in the South that I did not know how to break away. Fortunately, a series of devastating life crises struck that redirected my path, allowing me to return to the Southwest. The process was painful, yet wholly within my destiny. So now I’m home.
I tremendously enjoyed my law practice in the South. I never made much money because of my relentless altruism—I put helping others so far above my own needs that I nearly allowed my practice to crush me. In nearly twenty years in the legal field (some as an attorney and some as part of a legal support team), I handled many hundreds of divorces, adoptions, custody battles, criminal defense matters, personal injury claims, small business disputes and many civil rights violations. The whole time I was frustrated by the process—being a member of the bar seemed to focus me on the adversarial process—forcing conflict to forge ahead, and even benefitting the attorneys financially when the war escalated (which I believe is a conflict of interest inherent in the system). I longed to be a peacemaker rather than an advocate.
Moving back to New Mexico gave me an opportunity to begin again: to take all that I’d learned in twenty years in the legal field, my experience as an ordained minister, and a wide diversity of other interests and experiences and rechannel it into my truest destiny, being a mediator/Peace Maker. When I passed the bar back in 1993 dozens of people told me that they envisioned that my gifts in discernment and compassion would make me a great judge. In my heart I knew that was true. Yet, I also knew that entering judgments does not resolve conflict, it only enforces the existing law, leaving in its wake winners and losers and bitterness. That was not me. I’m a “win-win” kind of guy. I believe people, with guidance, can engage in a process which facilitates open communication that leads to peaceful resolution. I believe there is a calling that is one step above being a judge, and that is being a Peace Maker or perhaps, better referred to as a Peace Facilitator. That calling/process is mediation. That’s who I am. That’s what I do.
