For Random Profiles, we randomly pick one of our 80,000-plus attorneys, call them, and do a Q&A. We’ve found that every Texas lawyer has an interesting story. Will yours be next?

Best thing about being a lawyer: Being able to use intelligence, creativity, and compassion to help people solve problems.

Latest pursuit: Attempting to train the puppy my family got from a shelter last fall. He likes to chew everything from garden hoses to pencils and constantly manages to find new ways to escape from our backyard. 

Bet you didn’t know:  In sixth grade, I taught myself to write backwards in cursive, which served to entertain my friends and teachers. Sad to say, this skill has little practical application as a lawyer. 

Education: B.A. and J.D., both from University of Texas

Areas of practice: I focus mainly on contested probate, trust, and guardianship matters. However, like many lawyers in small towns, I also do estate planning, real estate, and small business transactions.

Culinary talent:   Though not a very inventive cook, I do a lot of baking and have become known among friends for specialties such as chocolate cheesecake, shortbread brownies, and cinnamon rolls. I also make a mean chocolate chip cookie, with oatmeal, coconut, and pecans. My tips for good baking are: use jumbo-sized eggs and lots of vanilla.

What kind of car do you drive? I usually drive a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, but it is currently being repaired after a recent collision with a truck that was stopped in the road just after I came over a hill. The rolling hills around Brenham are quite beautiful, especially during bluebonnet season, but they can also make for perilous driving!

Favorite TV program: It’s a toss-up: “The Closer” or “House.”

Favorite album:   It would be impossible to name only one, so I’ll settle for the following five: “Closing Time,” Tom Waits; “Jubilant,” Jubilant Sykes; “Hymns of the 49th Parallel,” k.d. lang; “A Room With a View” soundtrack; and “Nickel Creek,” Nickel Creek.

Favorite magazine: Vanity Fair.

The last movie I saw was: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” on DVD.

Memorable vacation: A couple of years ago, I flew with my kids to Philadelphia and went to Independence Hall and the Franklin Institute; took a train to Hershey, PA, where we visited the water park and chocolate factory; then rode the train to New York City, where we saw all the tourist sites and went to a Broadway musical. We rode in a plane, train, taxi cab, subway, ferry, bus, bike taxi, and horse carriage all in a week’s time – none of which we have at home!

My favorite weekend retreats are: my garden, Salado, and my mother’s house. For a long weekend, it would be Santa Fe, NM.

Secret for staying young:  Trying to keep up with my children and all of their activities helps me to stay young. I had my first child at age 37, and my son was born a week after I turned 40. So while many of my friends from high school are already grandparents, I am still reading bedtime stories, listening to knock-knock jokes, and going to little league games and on bicycle rides.  Having a pre-teen daughter helps me to keep current on younger trends in music (Hannah Montana is out, Taylor Swift is in), fashion (leggings are soooo last year) and slang (a 12-year-old who is “going out” with someone doesn’t really go anywhere; it means what “going steady” meant when I was 12). Also, most of the parents of my kids’ friends are several years younger than I am, which means that I end up hanging out a lot with a younger crowd. All of this makes me feel older, but probably helps me seem younger than I am.

 
Laura Upchurch works at Moorman Tate Moorman Urquhart Haley L.L.P.

You can also view Laura’s TexasBar.com profile. 

 
Prizes

It’s not every day that you’re randomly picked from among 80,000 peers. To commemorate, randomly-profiled attorneys receive a TexasBar.com t-shirt and a law firm link (a $50 value).

Update Your Online Profile

Have you updated your attorney profile lately? Go to MyBarPage on TexasBar.com, log in, and click "Update My Profile."

Once on your MyBarPage on TexasBar.com under the "Update My Profile" section, click "Edit" under "My Directory Options" to add your photo for free. While you’re there, consider adding a law firm link too. This is a hyperlink from your profile in our Find-a-Lawyer directory to your own law firm website. At only $50/yr, law firm links are a great way to drive traffic to your site.

Opinions and statements expressed in these profiles are those of their subjects – not the State Bar of Texas.