When I came into his office, it was crowded with books and newspaper articles he wrote. He was on the phone with a judge and his assistant apologized for the delay and I actually had time to read a few of his articles. One of them was right on with my situation. I expected a nerd to come out because ...the articles sounded like they were written by a college professor. Curt came out in an aloha shirt and cargo shorts and we hit it off immediately. I felt like I was sharing my stuff with a close friend and not someone with his academic credentials. It ended up getting tried, despite the fact that I offered reasonable settlement terms. Every single objection against us was overruled and every objection Curt made was sustained. One of the articles I read was on trial evidence. Clearly, he knows his stuff. Got what I needed to get.

Curt handled my divorce and custody case about a year ago. I remember arriving about a half hour early for my first appointment with him, and he was in with another client, so I took a seat in the reception area and chatted with his practice manager. There was a table heaped with newspapers and magaz...ines, all containing pieces written by or about him. I read a few and decided that he must be some sort of intellectual. I notice a book an child custody he had written on one of the bookshelves. As I picked it up, he came out to greet me. To my surprise, he turned out to be a regular, down-to-earth guy, with a great sense of humor. I asked him all sorts of questions, and he had immediate pointed answers, including case names, the judge who wrote the opinion and statutory references, like a well-oiled machine. At one point he said that I probably wasn't all that interested in the case names, etc., but that he references his opinions reflexively "to stay sharp." He wasn't kidding. At our first session in court, he came across like Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. He never once had to rethink his position on an issue, and always provided authority to support his arguments. My ex's lawyer was just loud. The proof was in the pudding. It was great working with him.