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From Bank Robber to Supreme Court Brief-Writing Paralegal

By Lynne DeVenny

"In 2000, I couldn't have named a right in the Bill of Rights" ~ Shon Hopwood

How do you go from a convicted, incompetent bank robber with only a semester of college under your belt, to an extraordinarily talented legal writer who has had two cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court?

You start by choosing to work in the prison law library because it pays more than the prison kitchen, and then you read over 10,000 court opinions and help your fellow inmates file numerous legal documents, many of which resulted in sentence reductions or new looks at their cases.

Shon Hopwood, a Nebraska paralegal, now works for Precedential Paralegal and Cockle Law Brief Printing Company - and also has an agent and a book deal. He blogs about filing Supreme Court briefs at Cockle Blog (a great addition to a brief-writer's RSS feed reader).

The Peoria Journal Star neatly summarizes Hopkins' made-for-the-movies life story in a single paragraph:

Convicted bank robber gets 13-year prison sentence. Old high school crush happens to visit while he's incarcerated. After he gets out, they marry, have a baby on Christmas Day. He's invited to Harvard University to talk to undergraduates. There, in March, he finally meets the man who became something of a mentor while he was in prison. Seth Waxman, a former U.S. solicitor general now with a prestigious partnership at a prestigious law firm, also gave him an enthusiastic reference for his current job at - where else? - a major company that specializes in helping lawyers prepare Supreme Court briefs.

How far has Hopwood come?

[Earler this year], the solicitor general?s office, led by Elena Kagan, a former dean of the Harvard Law School, asked for and received an extra month to try to rebut the arguments of the paralegal from Omaha.

Hmmm, I'm likin' John Cusack, Tobey Maguire, or Jake Gyllenhall to play Hopwood in the movie. Since we're playin' casting director here, what are your thoughts?

Sources: The New York Times; Peoria Journal Star; LinkedIn

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on September 27, 2010 (boomark / email).