Lawyers in Love
| Publication year | 2016 |
| Pages | 20 |
| Citation | Vol. 85 No. 9 Pg. 20 |
By Calvin Karlin
What do our current KBA President, a U.S. Senator, the current and prior Governors, the current and prior Attorneys General, a U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, a U.S. District Court Judge, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge, a Kansas Supreme Court Justice, and multiple Kansas district court judges have in common? They are among the approximately 200 married couples with two licensed Kansas attorneys.[2]
Retired Lawrence Municipal Judge Randy McGrath once told me that, "when a woman goes to law school it is the beginning of the end."[3] As you will read below, it is frequently the beginning of a life together.[4]
Paul Ailslieger and Suzanne Dwyer graduated together from law school in 1992, attended each other's wedding to their first spouses in 1992, and then did not see or talk to each other until 2005. They reconnected while Paul was serving in Iraq and were married December 28, 2005. They are "very big Parrotheads (i.e. Jimmy Buffett fans)."
Jennifer and Karin Amyx met at Washburn Law School in 2006. After studying and passing the Kansas Bar together, they moved to Wichita where Jennifer prosecutes criminal cases for the gang and violent crime unit in the Sedgwick County D.A.'s office and Karin is with the Wichita Chapter 13 Trustee's office. Karin and Jennifer were married in Wichita in October 2012 and obtained their marriage certification in New York in August 2013.
Cristy and Brent Anderson do yoga together often. Although she still practices law, she and a partner started a hot yoga studio in Wichita. According to Brent, the photo of them is "symbolic" of their "lawyerly relationship".
Katie and Mike Andrusak were married by Sedgwick County Judge Terry Pullman and honeymooned by taking a safari in South Africa.
Kate Baird's identical twin sister married her husband Ted's best man. Her sister was a practicing attorney and the best man is a judge in the state due east of us. Kate's brother is a Kansas judge who is also married to an attorney. Each of the three marriages has one KU law grad and one Washburn law grad. Two nieces of Kate and Ted are also married to attorneys. Holiday discussions must be lively.
Andrew Bauch and Skyler O'Hara met in 2000 as first year law students. They married six years later.
Dave and Susan Berson met in Washington, D.C. when he worked on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and she worked for the Tax Division of the U.S. Justice Department. After marrying in 1996, they became partners in life and in the law by forming Berson Law Group LLP to work together helping their clients.
Robert and Stacy Bowman met in law school at the University of Iowa. In 2008 they graduated, started at Husch Blackwell LLP and were married. They are still together at the same firm.
Aaron Breitenbach and Joni Franklin met in the Wichita Young Lawyers Association. Their first kiss was on the "annual and infamous trolley trek" put on by the Young Lawyers. They were married on Valentines Day 2004.
Sarah Briley and Christopher Omlid met at KU Law School and are engaged to be married in November 2016.
Kari Burks and Ryan Meyer met in the summer of 2008 at an intern orientation at the Wichita Bar Association building. He was interning at Fleeson Gooing and she at the DA's office, where they both still are. When Ryan proposed in 2010 he took Kari back to the Wichita Bar Association building under the guise of needing a book from the law library for a law journal article he was editing. He proposed at the exact spot where they first introduced themselves.
Dan Calderon and Katie Gates Calderon met at KU Law School in 2005 and were married four years later.
James Clark and Shelley Hickman Clark thought of marrying on New Year's Eve but realized they would both lose their head of household tax status.
Bill Cummings and Nika Jerkovich Cummings both graduated from law school in 1991 (he from Washburn and she from KU). They met at a Wichita Young Lawyers meeting. They are criminal defense attorneys with four children. Bill
tells of a trial judge who introduced Nika by stating "I'm sure glad she got married because I couldn't pronounce her last name before she got married. She must have married that guy with that last name so I could pronounce her last name." This was after a glowing introduction of the opposing prosecutor and her team. These comments (along with other statements by the judge) resulted in a reversal of her client's conviction by the Kansas Court of Appeals.[5]
I chided Stan Davis and Kathy Perkins for having a "draft circulating" as something only a lawyer couple would do. They responded with their "Top 10 Indicators Kathy and Stan are Both Lawyers."[6]
Greg Drumright and Cameron Michaud-Drumright began dating in high school. Greg pitched for the Wichita State University baseball team. During one of their several summers of baseball for Greg and work for Cameron, she was at Bollettieri Sports Academy and they decided they wanted to be professional sports agents with Greg handling the legal side and Cameron taking care of marketing for the players. That night they went to the bookstore and Greg began studying for the LSAT. Having interned in the legal department of the Kansas Insurance Commissioner and hearing horrific Bar Exam stories from the law clerks, Cameron was going to pursue a Master's degree in Sports Administration. She did not want Greg left alone in Topeka so faced her fears and attended Washburn Law School with him. After taking a Sports Law Class they realized they wanted to live in Wichita and not sacrifice themselves in a cut-throat business on the East or West Coast. Coaching their three boys provides them enough "sports management" while they work at different firms in Wichita.
Michael Fessinger and Christina Hansen met while clerking for the Kansas Court of Appeals (he for Judge Anthony Powell and she for Chief Judge Thomas Malone). Though they graduated from Washburn Law School one year apart they never crossed paths there. They practice in Wichita (he in the D.A.'s office and she for Stinson Leonard Street LLP) and have set a wedding date in June 2017.
Gloria Farha Flentje and Jack Focht were married on Leap Day 1996 so celebrated the fifth anniversary of their marriage this year. Both had long tenures as the Wichita Bar Show Stage Manager with Gloria following Jack.
In 2014, Splurge magazine had a cover story entitled "The Laws of Love" about Nola and Steve Foulston. It described
how Nola successfully prosecuted a child molester defended by Steve. They opposed each other on another criminal case before he asked her out after Nola prevailed in court again. Their life got even more interesting when Nola became Sedgwick County District Attorney and had to go to crime scenes at all hours of the night. In first grade, their son Andrew wrote, "My daddy sues people and my mommy puts people in jail."
Carl Gallagher and Nancy Ulrich were both Assistant Attorneys General assigned to the Litigation Division when Bob Stephan was Kansas Attorney General. When a trial was expected to take at least the better part of a week, two Assistants would be assigned. Carl and Nancy were so assigned several times. During an employment law case, Carl and Nancy were having dinner with their state employee defendants when one of their clients whispered to Carl, "What does your wife think about you being here?" Carl asked what he meant and the client responded, "You know, what does she think about you spending a week here in Wichita with Nancy?" Carl mulled the question, then suggested "I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" The client was then puzzled and Carl said, "Ask her. She's sitting right there." They learned that their clients had no idea they were married. They kept their personal life out of their professional life in the Attorney General's office. Carl indicated it was not a conscious decision to hide their marriage from the clients "but it had nothing to do with the counsel we were providing so it never came up."
Last November, Annette and Larry Gurney were recognized by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the purpose of moving for their son Sam's acceptance and Larry's attesting to their son's good moral character because Annette couldn't quit crying long enough to...
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