WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN

If I have a story worth sharing with you today, it will not be because I have achieved anything extraordinary as a lawyer. In the legal community in which I practice, I am inspired by the many attorneys from La Verne who have made exceptional achievements and valuable contributions to our community. The University of La Verne has always produced exceptional graduates and the College of Law is no exception. No, I am here to speak to you today perhaps because my own journey through graduate school and beyond has been on a road less traveled, a very long, sometimes strange, and often bumpy road. A road which has not been without its own rewards along the way.

Graduate Commencement speaker Michael D. Flippin '85, '89 J.D. shared "What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been" at the afternoon ceremonies.

I struggled with the words for my speech today. Although I did not intend to use this platform as a chance to tell the story of my life, I decided that in order for the thoughts I have chosen to share with you today to have meaning, it will be necessary to give at least a glimpse of the roads on which I have travelled.

My own journey to graduate school began on a Monday afternoon in January of 1976. To put it simply, on that day, I broke my neck doing a stunt on a trampoline and severed my spine at the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae. I begin here because the plain truth of the matter is, if I had not broken my neck and become a quadriplegic twenty years ago, I would not be here on this stage speaking to you today. It was my injury which ultimately lead me to graduate school.

As an indestructible twenty year-old, working as a salesman in a paint store, I had neither the desire nor the means to seriously pursue an education. Every job that I had held prior to my injury was physically demanding and involving arms and legs and fingers. After my accident, I was faced with no alternative but to apply my mind, one of the few things which still worked. Without that accident to motivate me, I am pretty sure that I would have continued on as I was, too comfortable with the path I was on to make the type of investment that a serious education requires.

After a "retirement" of three years sitting at home watching television, I entered a community college. At that time, I had no concrete goals and, as yet, no aspirations of becoming an attorney. It was not until 1982, when I transferred to the University of La Verne for completion of my undergraduate degree, that I realized that being an attorney was something I could do with my mind rather than my hands. It was also at this time that I came to believe that being an attorney might give me the opportunity to again become independent.

I graduated from the College of Law in 1989. After a slight glitch involving a missing tape on my bar exam, I was sworn in as an attorney at law in January of 1990. As an eager and idealistic new attorney, I began looking for my first new job in more than fifteen years. As I began the process of sending out resumes and scheduling interviews, I experienced for the first time in my life discrimination on account of my new "minority" status as an individual with a disability.

Sometimes the discrimination I encountered was subtle; sometimes it hit me like a brick. During one interview for a position as an associate attorney, I was told point blank by the senior partner of a local, mid-sized law firm that, although my resume looked impressive and I seemed fairly bright and articulate, their firm would not hire a lawyer in a wheelchair. I was told that the partners in the firm who made the hiring decisions did not believe that a disabled attorney could cut it in the real world.

My first position as an attorney in a law firm came after nearly a year of temporary and part-time work and a succession of frustrating interviews. In 1991, I began working for a small firm in the city of industry. That position was the result of an interview with an attorney who stated from the start that he was interested in what I could do for his firm as an attorney and not so much in the actual process by which I did my work. The philosophy of hiring within that firm was, given a choice between two, equally-qualified applicants, the job should be given to the individual who needed a break. This philosophy was based on the assumption that the person who needed the job most would work the hardest. In my case, I needed a break and I did work hard.

My career as an attorney to date has been greatly impacted by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. for those who may be unfamiliar with this relatively new body of law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (known as the A.D.A.) is federal civil rights legislation passed for the more than 43 million persons in the U.S. with disabilities.

The A.D.A. Is the most far-reaching and potentially the most powerful body of law ever passed for individuals with disabilities. The Act was signed into law by President Bush in 1990, the same year that I became an attorney. Title I of the A.D.A., the portion of the law which deals with discrimination in employment, first became effective in 1992. Coincidentally, this was the same year that I formed my first law partnership with a fellow college of law graduate and began working for myself.

I have heard it said that the hardest thing for an attorney to achieve is a good reputation. I have also heard it said that a good reputation is one of the easiest things to lose. It is my belief that each of us must give from our own lives according to that which has been given to us. Fortunately, I have found that hard work and long hours are more palatable when you believe in the work you do. As a disabled attorney advocating for the rights of others with disabilities, I get the opportunity to make a living while doing something which I believe to be worthwhile.

As I prepared these words and thought about my own graduation from law school, I asked myself the question "what was the very best day of my life?" Although the week of my graduation from law school was probably the most exciting time in my life, for me the very best day was a hot summer day back in August of 1976. In August, I was still a patient at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in the City of Downey. On that particular day, having just received my first electric wheelchair, I got a sunburn watching a wheelchair football game in the hospital parking lot.

Nothing really spectacular happened on that day and no celebration took place. What makes that day stand out for me above all others is simply the fact that it was on that day that I realized that it was good to be alive. Although I was still frightened as to the prospects for my future, on that day I began to really believe that with the love and support of my family and friends, I could and would still enjoy my life. I have never forgotten that football game or the feeling of the sun on my face after months in the shade. Hopefully, I will never quit believing that it is good to be alive.

My own experiences are not so unique. No one gets through graduate school without challenges of one sort or another. For each and every one of us here today, the road to this place has had its share of bumps and turns. When we leave here today, that trip will continue.

The education which we have acquired gives us the tools with which we may pave at least a few of the bumps we have yet to encounter. The education which we have acquired is also a gift which leaves us with the responsibility to find ways to give back to the community in which we live.

Whether it be friends or family or faith, none of us managed to get here alone.

Thank you.