Jim Coon ’77

Federal court law clerks about to jump out into the world always went to see Sid Lezak, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon through five presidential administrations, for a word of advice. The word we got was “serendipity.” You can think you know where you’re headed, and maybe that’s where you’ll go, but chances are life will move in unexpected ways.

There’s nothing like a small, private sector law firm in a wide- open state like Oregon to make anything seem possible. The vision that propels me frames the next time I pick up the phone or somebody walks into my office with a hare-brained idea. When I was in law school, I hoped that, at least once in my career, I’d be involved in a case that gave me a chance to nudge the law a little. I’m striving to engage with the next of those chances.