Paul Durham: a responsibility to give back to the community.

• Author: Sutherland, Spencer

When seeking a career path to follow, Paul Durham didn't have to look far to find inspiration.

"My dad was a lawyer," says Durham, who serves as director and general counsel for the law firm Durham Jones & Pinegar. "I admired his keen mind and the way his legal training allowed him to help people. I wanted to be able to help people, too."

Durham was in college when he made the decision to go to law school. When he shared the news with his father, he expected a pat on the shoulder or at least an "attaboy." Instead, his father simply replied, "OK. If that's what you want to do," Durham recalls with a laugh. "I've since realized that the law can be a demanding profession:' he adds, "and that's what he was saying?"

After practicing law for 11 years, Durham struck out on his own, founding Durham Jones & Pinegar in 1991. The firm has since grown to become one of the largest in Utah, employing more than 80 attorneys and about 80 staff in offices in Salt Lake, Ogden, St. George and Las Vegas.

The firm is highly decorated, earning accolades from U.S. News & World Report, Best Lawyers and Mountain States Super Lawyers. Durham has been recognized personally as a Top 100 lawyer in the Mountain States, and recently received the Professionalism Award from the Utah State Bar.

In his position as general counsel for the firm, Durham is responsible for helping his firm's lawyers be completely ethical in how they practice law. Though that entails such things as avoiding conflicts of interest between clients and protecting client confidentiality, it often just means enforcing the firm's long-standing no jerk rule?"

"To be hired at our firm, attorneys and staff must not only possess a high academic record and excellent legal skills, they must pass the no jerk rule," Durham explains. "No jerk means that a person must treat other; with courtesy and respect--both inside and outside the firm. whether dealing with a client, opposing counsel, a senior partner or the emplovee in the mail room."

Though he is certainly pleased with his firm's many professional...