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Attorney Tom OlsenWhy I became a Lawyer
Attorney Tom Olsen
As attorneys, we ask people for their full faith and trust. I believe that sharing our reasons for becoming a lawyer will help us earn our client's trust. That is why I ask each new lawyer in my firm to tell me, and you, his or her reasons for becoming a lawyer. Many of you already know my reasons for becoming a lawyer. I invite you to read my reasons again but, if not, please read what the other lawyers have written. I really am quite proud of what they have to say.
The person most responsible for my being a lawyer today is my father, Robert Olsen. Dad began his legal practice in Orlando back in the 1950's. He had a successful general practice -- tackling a little bit of everything -- until achieving his present happily retired state in 1986. However, despite his love of law, Dad didn't try to push his four children in that direction. His style has always been to teach his children through example rather than telling us what to do.
As a kid, I remember sitting at the dinner table while Dad explained to us all about the court case he had won that day. Those conversations had a strong impression on me. Not only did it build up my image of my father, it also gave me the sense that, through his efforts, justice was being served on a daily basis. I will never forget an incident that occurred when I was about 11. It was a Saturday and I was pulling weeds behind some bushes at my father's office on Rosalind Avenue in downtown Orlando. Two boys rode by on their bicycles. I overheard one boy say to the other, "That's the office of Mr. Olsen, my Dad's attorney. Dad says he's a great lawyer." Looking back, that was probably when I decided to follow in my father's footsteps.
I knew I had some big shoes to fill. When I first began practicing with Dad in 1981, I often just sat in his office and listened to him give legal advice to clients. I often asked myself, "How will I ever know as much as he knows?" However, early in my career, I learned an important lesson. When a client asks a question, a perfectly acceptable response can be "I don't know, but I will find the answer." I have always found that my clients appreciated my honesty rather than my trying to dance around their question. As much as my father has taught me, there is one thing he has said to me many times that has, more than anything, governed the way I practice law. My father said "People aren't stupid and people know the value of a dollar." Those words might sound simple, but nevertheless they have continuously been a guiding beacon and foundation for me in my law practice.
About why I continue to practice law . . . As my knowledge of the law grew, so grew my conviction of the fundamental importance of our legal system. Lawyers are the brunt of many good-natured jokes today. Yet, few people stop to ask themselves where our society would be without them.
One of my spare-time activities is being a Little League umpire. Through umpiring, I have come to see the striking (no pun intended) similarities in the roles of attorney and umpire. An umpire's job is to enforce and interpret all the rules of baseball. This allows the players to simply play ball and have fun (imagine a baseball game without umpires). The legal system also provides the framework for resolving disputes among people. We, as lawyers, help bring order to the disorder in society. Without us, people would have to go out there with a bat (or worse yet, a gun) and resolve matters themselves.
That's why, as I look back over my years in the business, I am more proud than ever to be an attorney. I have no doubt that we offer society, and I offer my clients, a valuable and important service.
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