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Dave : How long have you worked with KAIA ?
Will : I started working with KAIA in 1980 , so it ’ s been a little over 40 years . It was shortly after Larry Magill came to the association that he asked me to serve as Counsel .
Dave : What made you decide to get into the practice of law ?
Will : Well , I don ’ t know exactly , but I decided I wanted to be a lawyer in the seventh grade , and I had never really changed my mind . When I was in my last year of service in the United States Air Force , I evaluated what to do next . I really wanted to be able to have a profession , and I did not really want to work for a large corporation . And if you ’ re a Liberal Arts major , one of the few professions available in the legal profession . So those were the considerations , and I ’ m glad I made the decision I did .
Dave : I ’ ve heard that you did pretty well in law school at Washburn ?
Will : I guess I just had a faculty for the law . I finished third in my law school class of 200 and graduated magna cum laude . I missed being first in the class by five-hundredths of a grade point , but who ’ s counting . I like to tell people that I cheated a lot on the exams ….. but you get extra credit for that in law school !
Dave : So , if not an attorney , what would you be ?
Will : During my last year of Air Force service , I was very interested in going to medical school . But , I determined I would have to go back to school to get some prerequisites because I hadn ’ t taken a lot of the course work that I would need to go to medical school , or even to take the medical school entry exam . I looked at all the years that you would have to be in medical school and perform a residency , and it was just too long .
Dave : How did you initially get connected to the association ?
Will : LLarry Magill was one of my all-time closest friends , and we would regularly meet socially even before I started representing KAIA . I had already been doing agent E & O defense work for Employers Reinsurance Corporation , so it was a really good match .
Dave : Speaking of E & O cases , how many E & O cases have you been involved in over the past 40 years ? How many overall cases in total ?
Will : My best guess when I look back on my average annual caseload is around 300 E & O cases . You have to understand that I was actively defending E & O cases for about 36 years , maybe even longer going back to my law clerk days . During those years , we represented many
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