Max has been practicing law since 1981, but only since 1982 has he been a trial lawyer. He left a small firm in Kansas City, Missouri, where he did virtually no trial work, to join Jim Buckley and Bill Brown, who were the primary plaintiff's side civil and criminal defense trial lawyers in the small town of Sedalia, Missouri. He was in a courtroom on his first day on the new job. His first trial experience occurred shortly after that when he was second chair to try a murder charge in a nearby county. Over the next several years, Brown retired and Max became partner with Buckley and they worked together on many cases including multiple product liability cases, medical negligence cases and other assorted civil disputes that are common in small town practice. 

It was after an adverse result in a products case trial in St. Louis that Max decided that the time had come to act on his dream to attend the Trial Lawyers College that he had first seen advertised in the ATLA journal years before. While his partner was a trial lawyer, Max believed that new and different ways could help his clients. His partner and lead counsel in the St. Louis case relied on the same "tried and true" methods of voir dire that led to the inclusion on the jury of a man who had acted similarly to our poor client but who had escaped uninjured. That man became the foreman and led the jury to a 9-3 defense verdict.  The three women who voted against the verdict were crying when the verdict was read. That was a gut punch that never resolved.

Since it was after the three week class had already occurred, Max attended a regional TLC training in Georgia in 2000.  It was staffed by, among others, Maren Chaloupka, John Naizby, Lynne Bratcher, and others, especially excellent psychodramatists such as John Nolte and Kaitlin Larimer.  That experience cemented his resolve to attend the three week college.

On his first application to TLC, Max was "wait listed" but the class was full. That fall, he attended another regional in Colorado, and that seminar included staff such as Bill Trine, Conard Metcalf, Rafe Foreman and others, as well as Nolte and Larimer.  When the time came to apply for the next year he was accepted and eagerly attended the three week long college where he met wonderful staff who were nurturing yet tough; and excellent colleagues who were willing to embrace new ways to tell their clients' stories. That was in 2003.

Convinced of the benefits of continuing connection with TLC, Max attended a graduate program to hone his skills further.  

Since 2006, Max has been honored to be a part of the faculty staff and continues to support TLC in all its efforts to not only continue his own development but also to learn from other trial lawyers and train them as well. He believes that we all can learn from each other to carry on efforts to improve the lives of our clients through effect use of the system of justice that our country offers. Now, more than ever, TLC offers a unique approach to training lawyers for the people.