WALKER: You ought to be a lawyer

Mr. Charlie Gray. He was "Grandbuddy" to me. He was much loved and respected by his family, including his children and grandchildren, so when he told me, his oldest grandchild, probably when I was in about the eighth grade, "you ought to be a lawyer, the way you like to talk and argue," it was done. I would be a lawyer.

In June 1965, five years after I graduated from Perry High School, I was back home, the only place I'd ever considered living, married, with a baby on the way, and starting my law practice. As someone could have said, and probably did, "you have small town wrote all over you." I probably did. I probably still do. Thanks for the compliment.

I started off in a little two-room office (not counting the restroom) behind Marty Myers' Dot Roughton Park in downtown Perry. I've been told that Tommy Long owns the little building today, but I've not checked the title to be sure. I guess he does. The first legal work I ever did was a title exam and property work for Dot Roughton. It's a narrow piece of land out on Sam Nunn Boulevard. It is just as vacant today as it was in 1965.

Next, I represented Emmette Cater, who at that time was in the furniture business, in a dispute he had with Graybar Electric Co., the owner of Zenith. As you might imagine, nothing much came of this. Emmette gave me a little wooden box in payment.

I became Perry's first Municipal Court judge (I was 23 years old) and later its city attorney. D.K. Roughton was on the Perry City Council. Emmette Cater and I managed a junior league baseball team, together. He was the manager, and I was his assistant.

I still have the thin, little property file I "set up" for D.K. Roughton and the thin, little general file I established for Emmette Cater. I handled both of their estates when they died years later. I have and had a deep affection for both of my "first" clients.

Sam Nunn, the other young lawyer in Perry, and I became good friends. He ran for the U.S. Senate and was elected in 1972. I ran for "his" state house seat and was elected in 1972. We are still good friends.

I served 32 years in the Georgia House of Representatives. My law practice changed. Generally speaking, I was no longer representing "those without a voice" and without someone to "stand up for them." There are now eight lawyers in our firm. We represent the city of Perry, Houston Healthcare, lots of big businesses, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, etc. The people in our area have been good to us. Still, I miss the kind of practice I had in the early days.

I represented a person, years ago, who was a female, black and old. None of these were advantages back then. She had borrowed money from a "small loan company" and despite payments for several years, she was "behind" and foreclosure was eminent. I figured out how to save her mobile home for her without her having to make any more payments, ever, and for as long as she lived. She looked at me like we used to look at Grandbuddy — like I was a god. I miss the kind of practice I had in the early days.

Last June, I completed 50 years of continuous law practice in Houston County. I am still going strong, and in lots of ways, I think I am more effective now than I have ever been. Still, it seems to me that I went from being one of the youngest lawyers in the county to being the longest serving almost overnight.

The practice of law has changed dramatically since 1965. This subject deserves a whole column, and I have written on this, in the past, for lawyer meetings and the like. But, I will say the technology changes are dramatic and profound. I have gone from manual typewriters with copy-sets and white-out with no copying machines to closing multi-million dollar deals on line where neither the seller nor the buyer/borrower ever come to the office.

Where does all of this go? Who knows? But, I do know this. I owe a huge debt of gratitude, and have deep gratitude for the support of my family and the people in this area. And, I'm thankful for Grandbuddy for recognizing that I "should be a lawyer." And, a small town lawyer at that!

Larry Walker is a practicing attorney in Perry. Email: lwalker@whgmlaw.com.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "WALKER: You ought to be a lawyer ."