Russell Moker:  

After graduating from Pacifica I attended Long Beach State graduating with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Legal Studies. Although I initially intended to be a high school civics teacher, I soon realized that many of my student colleagues were heading off to law school, so . . . Having been previously collared by Mr. Vincent at the close of his Business Law class one day, he asked me if I ever thought about becoming a lawyer. Who me? I was going to be a rock star! I guess that question stuck with me, so I applied to law school and ended up at Western State University where I graduated 3 years later.. I passed the California Bar on my first attempt in 1977 and worked for a couple of law firms on Wilshire Blvd. in downtown LA before hanging out my own shingle in Long Beach where I remained until the early 80's. I married in 1979 and my daughter was born 2 years later. I took a six month sabbatical around 1984 and started up a catering/personal chef business. I eventually returned to practice law but this time as an independent contractor for a well known law firm in Santa Ana. A couple of years later, I decided to move my family to Sedona, Arizona so my daughter could grow up in a small town. After moving to Sedona in 1987, I commuted between my new home and Santa Ana for nearly a year before deciding to sit for the Arizona Bar exam in 1988 which I also passed on my first attempt. I set up my own private practice in Sedona which I maintained until early 2000 when I left the legal profession in favor of my sanity and health. I went through a pretty messy divorce in the early 90's. I remained a very involved father to my daught...Expand for more