
Q: What brought you to law school?
A: I went to college not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life. And the luckiest thing that happened to me – one of the required courses for my finance degree was business law. I cracked open the textbook for business law, and I realized that for the first time in three years I actually enjoyed reading a textbook. After that, I started looking into what I needed to do to apply to law school.
Q: What brought you to South Texas?
A: While I was applying to school and taking the LSAT, I started thinking about where the best place would be to live. And for me, being a California native and going to college in Connecticut, I learned being in Connecticut that cold weather is not my thing! So I looked into options in Texas, and South Texas College of Law Houston looked like a very pragmatic school where a lot of successful lawyers and judges had gone. And I guess you could say the rest is history.
Q: What was your most memorable time at South Texas?
A: Absolutely, undoubtedly moot court. I was in several tournaments and was lucky enough to win a national championship in the National Criminal Law Tournament in San Diego. Some of my best friends to this day were in moot court with me, and I think probably the most valuable skill that I apply to this day as a lawyer is what I learned during moot court, especially when it comes to seeing both sides of an issue.
Q: What's special about South Texas?
A: South Texas to me is a very practical school that has a focus on skills that will help you become a better lawyer. It certainly has great professors, nice facilities, great location, but the focus is always on what's it going to take to put this student in a position to succeed in a legal career. What kind of skills do we want to provide to these these students so they can become better lawyers? You know, I can only attest to my experience in South Texas, but having conversations with people that went to different law schools, you know, oftentimes it's kind of a theoretical approach. You know, this is why laws exist and this is just kind of up and, you know, a bigger picture view, but without really understanding what then how do you take that approach and put it in a brief and convince the judge that your side is right? You know, that's the kind of thing the South Texas emphasizes.
Q: Do you feel a special camaraderie with other South Texas graduates?
A: Absolutely, especially if I was in school with them. Law school is a grind. I don't know any other way to describe it. You create a bond with your classmates that you really can't replicate in any other experience, especially your first year when you're new to it and you're kind of getting your feet wet in terms of what it takes to succeed. But even for South Texas lawyers who I wasn't in school with, there’s obviously a bond there.
Q: Why is it important to stay connected with South Texas?
A: One, South Texas helped me to get to where I am today. It’s just paying back for what the school helped me achieve. Two, I have a passion for helping people. And so if I have the opportunity to help a current student or an incoming student with their law school career and their legal career, I want to take it and I want to help them achieve their full potential.
Q: Did any South Texas experience change your life?
A: The experience in law school that changed my life was when I was auditioning for the varsity moot court team in the trophy room with Dean Treece, and he said “Oh Dave, you know, you're real good, and I got a spot for you on the team. And just make sure, you know, don't tell anybody, because I'm not releasing publicly yet. But, you know, you got a spot on the team.” And I remember leaving the room and just glowing. I was... I felt like I was bouncing as I as I left the trophy room. I just remember this feeling of confidence that he put in me. I had no idea that I was good enough to be on the varsity moot court team. But that that day when Treece told me that I was changed my life.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: I spend a lot of my spare time with my wife and our three-year-old chocolate lab named Cow. As boring as it sounds, one of my favorite things is just to lay on the couch with them and watch a movie or watch a show. But aside from that, I love to travel, and my wife and I try to travel as much as we can in different places around the world.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to apply to law school?
A: I would ask him or her “Why do you want to apply to law school?” That would be my first question. And if the answer tells me they're serious about it and they have an real interest in it, I would say go for it. But I would make sure that they understand that you can't go into law school half committed. If you want to get the most out of law school, you need to fully commit to trying as hard as you can in all your courses. You want to expose yourself to as many extracurriculars and different kinds of courses as you can.
Q: What do you want to do in the future?
A: I want to be someone who people consider a reasonable person, a fair adversary, a good teammate, and someone who practices law the right way.
Click Here to Watch the Interview