|
I started as a paralegal in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1972
and retired in Louisville, Kentucky in 2004 at age 52. Prior to my retirement, I was a Litigation Paralegal,
Legal Expert, and President & CEO of Paralegal Specialists Incorporated, a company that provided legal services nationwide
to lawyers, law firms and judges. We sold the company in 2003 to a group of lawyers, paralegals and investors in
Seattle, Washington, and after assisting with the dissolution and transition to Seattle, I retired the following year.
At the time of my retirement I had nearly 30 years experience, 6 years
of legal training, and had assisted in winning over 2 billion (yes it is a "B") dollars worth of court judgments.
I worked 26 states and I specialized in the handling and management of what are known to the public as "class actions"
or "complex litigations." Class actions can be and often are used to bring about major reforms, often
nationwide, but they are a headache to manage and can sometimes get you killed (school desegregation class actions in
the 1970's are an example of the kind that could get you killed). A typical and garden variety class action I helped
manage was the one reported at Kendrick v. Bland, 541 F.Supp. 21 (W.D.Ky. 1981). I served as Chairman of its Plaintiffs'
Committee from 1981 to 1984, and as a consultant and paralegal in the case both before and after those years.
I was also a torts (civil wrongs), appellate procedure, constitutional and criminal law specialist. I loved
torts and constitutional law, tolerated appellate procedure and hated criminal law. I hated criminal law because it
is always very simple and boring (same 4 questions in every case) and is the only area of law in which almost nobody
makes a decent wage. Neither the cops, the criminals, the prosecutors nor the defense lawyers make a decent wage.
Criminal law, although a necessary evil, is poverty law. And I know that to be true, because I worked every angle of
it over the years. And I do mean "every" angle. The money is in torts and class actions. Despite
my dislike of criminal law, I have assisted in several high profile criminal cases over the years, some examples being the
cases of Larry Hicks, Tony Kiritsis and Walter D. Smith. Walter remains a friend to this day.
I retired from law in 2004 for the simple reason that I became "burned out" with it. I was tired of
lawyers, tired of trials, tired of endless court deadlines, and tired of the legal system as a whole. I was tired of
cops, tired of criminals, tired of prosecutors, tired of defense lawyers, tired of plaintiffs and tired of defendants.
With a few exceptions, such as local Louisville Judge Patricia Walker Fitzgerald, all of my old friends and mentors had
died. I was also tired of having to play bill collector every month, chasing down "deadbeat" lawyers
that had given us "rubber" checks (i.e., checks bounced for insufficient funds in their bank accounts) or otherwise
become delinquent on their accounts.
For a time I considered suicide, but some old investor friends Ron Holt
and Chuck Clark talked me into taking a new and different path, not related to law, and so I survived what
we now call my "male mid-life crisis." I am now happy I did.
My different path was to get involved with the Internet and become an investor in several Internet related businesses,
including an Internet website design company that designs, builds, manages and operates small business Internet
websites nationwide. I serve as a consultant to that company now. The company operates real estate related sites,
funeral home sites, church sites, and general small business sites.
My
retirement has also allowed me to become very active with raising monies for my favorite charities, which are named
below. If you do not have a favorite charity, I urge you to adopt one of mine. And I thank you now for your help!
|
Family: I am the only
son of Barbara and Donald Houston (my parents), both of whom are now deceased. I am 56 years old and a Leo. I
was born and raised in Central Indiana. I opened an
office in Louisville, Kentucky in 1985. I have one sister,
Donna Elaine Houston, who is married and currently resides near Portland, Oregon under her married name of Donna Schmidt.
I am a widower and
have two grown sons - John and Tom. John is an attorney at law and resides near Chicago, Illinois. Tom is a real estate broker and resides near Atlanta, Georgia. I have four
grandchildren: Dan, Mary, Steve, and Tom.
Hobbies and Interests:
I enjoy
reading non-fiction books and am fascinated by American history. History is often ignored and considered irrelevant,
but people ignorant of history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. I also enjoy taking early morning walks and bike rides in downtown Louisville, watching movies and
listening to music. If and when I want, I
sometimes do legal work for lawyers and federal judges, usually for free.
I like
plenty of space, dislike crowds and tend to be a recluse.
|
Charities,
Clubs & Organizations:
The Network for Good collects and distributes donations free of charge to over 800,000 charities.
That means that 100% of any donations you make go directly to the charity or charities you designate.
If you are interested in making a donation through the Network for Good, please visit that website by clicking on the link below . Save a life or make a difference TODAY! And thank you for caring.
Click here to visit DavidFloydHouston.org
I am also a supporter of The Innocence Project, which helps innocent persons wrongly convicted for crimes they did not commit get out of our prisons.
My favorite specific charities (click links):
|
|
Some of my favorite movies:
|
Some of my favorite music artists:
|
Favorite quotes or paraphrases: "I disagree with what you say, but will defend to my death your
right to say it." "Politicians
are like diapers. They need to be changed often, and for the same reason." "The law is like sausage. You love it until you see how it is
made." "A jury consists
of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer." "Everyone
is presumed to know the law except judges, who have Courts of Appeals above them to set them straight." "The liberties of none are safe unless the
liberties of all are protected." "Freedom of speech is worthless unless it protects the speech you hate." "I always turn to the
sports pages (of newspapers) first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's
failures." "To get what you want, STOP doing what isn't working." "Injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere." "If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably
still be at the dock." "Experts once told us the Earth was flat." "You
have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
"If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the
thinking." "You aren't learning anything when you're talking."
"Forgive your enemies, but never forget
their names." "Man is still the most extraordinary computer of
all." "Judge, this witness has more stories than a Sunday newspaper." STUDENT ASSIGNMENT: Want to be a paralegal
or private investigator? Find out right now whether you have what it takes. E-mail me your list of the sources
for each of my favorite quotes above, stating which statements are actual quotes and which are paraphrases, and
which if any sources are disputed or unknown, with a brief explanation of how you investigated and discovered each
source. 16 or more right - you have what it takes to be a Big Dog. 11-15 right - you could be a cop or a
news reporter. 8 to 10 right - you could be a lawyer (but stick to uncontested divorces, bankruptcies and chicken
theft cases, like most lawyers do, and do not try to be a litigator). Less than 8 right - think about an alternative
career. Happy hunting!
|
|
