DESIREE CHERRY

I grew up in Santa Clara County, California, graduating from Los Gatos High School in the early 1960's. I attended San Jose State University and received a B.A. degree in Social Science. After obtaining a secondary teaching credential, also through San Jose State University, I taught in San Jose Unified School District for thirteen years. I graduated from Lincoln University Law School in 1981 as Valedictorian, passed the California State Bar Examination that same year and started practicing law with my brother, George A. Sanbrook, in 1982. I am married and have one daughter who graduated from Santa Clara University and is pursuing a career as a sales manager for an electronics distributor.

Those persons who have a single and special outstanding talent and have always known from childhood exactly what they wanted to do in life have always fascinated me. For most of us the path to a career choice is not always so straight. At the age of nine or ten I wanted to be a ballet dancer and by the age of fourteen acting had its allure. Being the youngest child in my family with two older brothers made me tough, spoiled and quite competitive. Although I always enjoyed science and math, in my generation it was not considered a particularly feminine pursuit. In spite of the fact that I generally enjoyed a challenge, being in an advanced math class with twenty-five or thirty boys and only two or three girls was a risk I was not willing to take. It would have branded me a "geek" for life, so I believed and somewhere along the line I got the impression, well that "boys were just better suited for math." Consequently, with this attitude and the avoidance of more advanced math, I always lacked confidence in my ability to tackle mathematically oriented projects.

Education was always stressed in my family. I was encouraged, but not pressured to do well. Unlike my brothers who were steered directly towards professional career goals, my education was viewed by my parents and many members of their generation as providing security and independence, secondary to the role of wife and mother someday.

When I was fifteen and a half and a sophomore in high school my father suffered a fatal heart attack and died suddenly. This profound loss impacted every aspect of my life. My grades suffered and it wasn't until my senior year with the support of a couple of very understanding teachers did I finally get back on track. When I entered college being a foreign diplomat and traveling the world sounded extremely romantic, adventuresome and quite frankly somewhat rebellious. Towards this goal I became a Social Science major with a political science and business minor. The business minor was purely practical since financially I needed t work my way through college. The best of plans, however, are often laid to waste. I fell in love, got married and decided to pursue a more traditional feminine career in education. I became a secondary school teacher.

I would like to think my motives for being a teacher were altruistic, but in reality they were practical. Nevertheless, teaching provided its own intrinsic rewards. For thirteen years I taught history and government. Like so many careers, however, in spite of the education and training, there are always aspects of a job that you never fully appreciate and understand until you experience them. The development of interpersonal relationships, the rapport and the mutual trust and respect that can be developed between teacher and student and which provides the optimum environment for learning was something I learned on the job. It was this aspect of the job that was most rewarding and provided me with a good foundation for my second career choice, law.

In the 1970's as part of an American Government class I developed a curriculum program called "teenagers and the law." Since both my brothers were attorneys and my husband was in law enforcement, the law was always a topic of conversation during family gatherings. The enthusiasm and interest in understanding the law generated by my students was contagious. I started asking myself, did I have what it takes to get through law school? At first I dismissed the thought as being too impractical, after all I was thirty three years old and had a daughter that was barely five years old. Fortunately, I also had a husband that was quite supportive. With a mortgage that was dependent on two incomes at the time, I decided to continue teaching and attend law school at night. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed learning. Also, sitting on the other side of the desk at night was refreshing and gave me a new perspective and appreciation for education. Juggling family, teaching and attending law school was not easy, but it certainly forced me to be disciplined and far more organized than I had ever been in college.

My greatest fear in law school was not that I might fail the bar examination required at the end, but passing the course called legal accounting. I had to face the math demon again, and if I didn't make it through law school I was sure it would be because of the dreaded accounting course. I worked very hard, mostly out of fear. Surprisingly, not only did I enjoy the class, but I received a straight A in the course. I was sure it was just a fluke!

I am presently practicing civil law with emphasis in personal injury. Personal injury involves representing those persons who have suffered physical and/or emotional injuries as a result of another person's lack of reasonable care. When a person or entity is careless or negligent, the law imposes responsibility upon them for the injuries they cause to the extent of their careless conduct. Such injuries may result from an automobile accident, a defective product, a dangerous condition on public or private property, or any careless conduct that causes others to suffer injuries and damages.

There are many aspects of my job that I find challenging and interesting. Although knowledge of the law and keeping up with the changes in the law are obvious requirements of the job, being a lawyer provides endless opportunities to learn about other subject matters and other people's jobs. For example if a tractor or BB gun is defective and causes injury, not only do I have to acquire a basic knowledge of the workings of the tractor or BB gun, but I also have to learn about the nature and extent of the injury my client received. I sometimes refer to textbooks and often must seek the assistance of other experts in the fields such as doctors. economists and engineers. When determining a clients damages I must calculate not only their medical expenses but also the economic losses. This task requires some detailed calculation of lost wages, lost stock option, pension and other benefits, and/or business income, but I now find myself actually enjoying these mathematical challenges.

My job also provides many opportunities to write and meet new people of all ages and from all walks of life. Being a good public speaker as well as a good listener is also very important. The legal profession involves a tremendous amount of paperwork and having good computer skills is a valuable asset.

As aspect of my career that I dislike the most is the lack of trust and negative public image the legal profession has acquired. Pat of this problem I think comes naturally from advocating a position or taking an unpopular stand. I do believe that the majority of the lawyers are ethical and work very hard for their clients. Nevertheless, in my opinion the single greatest cause of the negative public image is negative publicity resulting from poor attorney, client communication. A person's first contact with the legal system can be frightening and frustrating, especially when a single seemingly insignificant fact can change the whole outcome of a case, a situation most people are not prepared for. A lawyer must find time to be better educated. She must communicate with her client throughout the handling of the case, keeping them informed, helping the client to be realistic in his or her expectation and to understand the system and what is expected of them. My teaching experience has been invaluable to me in developing good attorney/client relationships.

The best advice I can give from my own experiences is to set your goals and don't avoid a desirable career choice just because you are afraid of failing one patroller aspect or because you feel you won't quite measure up. It may turn out not only to be your greatest challenge, but also your greatest triumph.