The Atlanta Lawyer June/July 2016 | Página 4

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Thinking about 2 FOR 2 and formative experiences By James D. Blitch IV Blitch Law PC Think back for a minute. Is there a formative experience that influenced your decision to become an attorney? I am betting yes. Or maybe there is an experience early on in your practice that influenced the direction your career has taken? I am sure you have a story—we all do. 4 June/July 2016 Here is a story I told at our recent Annual Meeting, on May 24: There is a story that has long meant a lot to me—about a young man, 18 years old, living in southern Indiana at the time. He is working in the lumber business, which is booming. He needs the money, and he is not afraid of hard work. At some point, he finds some extra time to build a small flat-bottomed boat. He is good with his hands. A couple of tourists come along—this is on the northern banks of the Ohio River—and ask to be taken out to the middle of the river to catch a boat headed downstream. He does this, he is paid something, and he