Send in the Clowns - Clark County Bar Association

Send in the ClownsDON JACOBSHearsay Special CorrespondentWelcome back Hearsay readers to our continuing series of featurearticles about fellow CCBA members who do things looselyqualifying them as local heroes. Our subject this month isSalmon Creek med mal lawyer John Gill. John grew up inPacific Grove, California, a beautiful little coastal town justnorth of Monterrey. He went to college at Golden Gate Universityin San Francisco and picked up a business degree. He musthave done pretty well there because he was accepted into theprestigious Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He graduatedin 1984 and with the new degree in his quiver, figured he'dhead back to Pacific Grove and hang out his shingle. That isuntil he actually looked around Pacific Grove. It seems the placewas a very popular spot for lawyers to congregate. They werelined up wing tip to wing tip on the main drag. So John took hissheepskin and went a short ways north to the beach communityof Marina. Not many lawyers there. But an awful lot of soldiers.In those days Marina was located right next to one of the biggestUS military bases in the country, Fort Ord California. So Johnset up shop as Marina Legal Center. His firm provided youngsoldiers the legal services they needed. Divorces, bankruptcies,DWI's and other typical consumer legal services comprisedmost of the caseload. After a few years John hired some youngassociates and starting focusing on the personal injury casescoming into the firm. John operated the clinic for about 15years, until 1999. Then the unforeseen happened. Congressclosed Fort Ord. Talk about a ghost town. Marina just lost anarmy base with 40,000 servicemen as neighbors. John's businessplan didn't look so good all of a sudden. So he packed up hisbags and headed north to the land of easy money. The Couv.Where we all have more business than we can handle and clientswant to post more of a retainer than requested. Did I mentionJohn has some issues with business plans? But John does havesome family here. He tells me attorney Bob Gregg is his cousin.And when John arrived in 2000 we still had troops at Vancouverbarracks. So John came into town and immediately took boththe WA and OR bar. He landed a job with Hicks & Meyer.After about a year he was hired away by Reeves Kahn & Hennesey.Then the Blair Shaeffer firm hired him about a yearbefore they dissolved. Bad timing. Finding himself out of a jobagain, John began wondering whether he should just startanother firm of his own. So in 2005 he hooked up with his currentlaw partner, Trent Coons, and created the Salmon CreekLaw Offices. Trent and John have been up on 134th ever sincewith John focusing primarily on medical malpractice.So that's John Gill's story. I know, not exactly much differentthan the rest of our stories. But John's story has one thing notone of the rest of us share. You see, in his spare time, John is aclown. On many weekends he trades in his briefcase for handbuzzers and a lapel flower that squirts. Which is what got himabove the Hearsay editorial board radar. For the last ten years,John has spent his off time dressing up in an outlandish suit,with painted face, baggy pants, funny nose and huge clownshoes. When John first came to town he joined the VancouverMason Hall, eventually becoming a Shriner. In 2002 he decidedto sign on with the Shriners South West Washington ClownUnit. Sounds like it'd be a great subject for a reality show. Alongwith ten to twelve other unit members, John now spends hisspare time performing at parades and visiting sick kids at thePortland Shriners hospital. Everything the unit does revolvesaround raising funds for these kids and the care they need.Many of us have heard about this place. They treat kids with avariety of birth defects and other serious ailments, all for free.Not a bad thing to support in your spare time. The unit alsoraise funds to help pay for the parent's transportation and lodgingwhen the kids travel here for care.6 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION