The ESSENCE SOCIETY JULE VERA ALTERNATIVE MUSIC PHENOMENON CHEF LEO ALL ABOUT HONEST COOKING TRIP WALTON THE FIGHTER

Transcription

1 The ESSENCE of S O U T H E R N SOCIETY 10 JULE VERA ALTERNATIVE MUSIC PHENOMENON CHEF LEO ALL ABOUT HONEST COOKING TRIP WALTON AUBURN / OPELIKA, AL SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015 THE FIGHTER

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3 FEATURES SOUTHERN TATLER PAGE 74 TRIP WALTON purebred southern boy and practicing law is in his DNA. PAGE 84 AUBURN UNIVERSITY AIRPORT The Auburn University Regional Airport has been serving the Lee County Area and has been educating pilots for more than 80 years

4 FEATURE TRIP WALTON

5 RIP Walton THE FIGHTER TRIP WALTON HAS DEVELOPED A REPUTATION FOR SETTLING LARGE PERSONAL INJURY AND WRONGFUL DEATH CASES. BUT IT IS HIS LAIDBACK STYLE AND CHARISMATIC LAUGH THAT REVEAL THE TRUE DEMEANOR OF HIS INFECTIOUS PERSONALITY.

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7 HERE ARE FEW PROFESSIONALS WHO CAN SAY THEY VE MASTERED THE ART OF WEAR- ING FLIP FLOPS TO WORK, but for Will O. (Trip) Walton, III, these summertime staples are a fundamental part of his wardrobe. Known as The Fighter across East Alabama, Trip Walton has developed a reputation for settling large personal injury and wrongful death cases, but it is his laidback style and charismatic laugh that reveal the true demeanor of his infectious personality. Trip was born and raised in LaFayette, AL, just 30 minutes north of Auburn. HE IS A PUREBRED SOUTHERN BOY AND PRACTICING LAW IS IN HIS DNA. His father, Billy, was a well-known lawyer for 50 years, and his grandfather was a lawyer and a circuit judge. Everyone in Trip s family practiced law, so he naturally didn t know anything else. Unlike many lawyers nicknames, Trip comes by being KNOWN AS THE FIGHTER HONESTLY, AS HE HAD A BRIEF CAREER AS A BOXER. For more than 30 years, Trip has been knocking out big cases and has become one of the most successful lawyers in Alabama. 77 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015

8 The Walton name has a long standing history in East Alabama. His father was the attorney for the City of LaFayette, and his mother, Beatrice, was an elementary school teacher and principal at East Side Elementary. Trip and his older sister, Marianne, attended Lee Academy, now known as Lee-Scott Academy, where Trip was a star athlete but a below-average student. In fact, Trip s parents had moved him and his sister out of public school and into the private academy in hopes that Trip s grades would rise. Despite his parents earlier concerns, Trip graduated from Lee Academy in 1976 and immediately began school at Auburn University where he majored in Public Administration. Trip had dreams of becoming a football star, and he joined the team as a tight end. I would have gone to Alabama, but Bear Bryant was on a bird hunting trip during my visit, so I could see I wasn t one of the big dogs there, Trip laughed about his decision to attend Auburn. Trip s football career at Auburn, however, was short lived. He decided he was too slow to be successful at football, so he moved on to the sport that would ultimately define his career as a lawyer. While at Auburn, Trip was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity and of the Auburn University Debate Team. Thanks to some of his friends in KA, Trip was introduced to boxing. He quickly discovered he had a knack for the sport and began traveling to Bibb City in Columbus three to four times a week to train. Unlike in football, Trip did not have any trainers or coaches in boxing. He did it all himself. In 1978, Trip won the on-campus intramural A Club Heavy Weight Boxing Tournament. That same year he was named the Southeastern Regional Intercollegiate Boxing Champion. In 1980, Trip enrolled in law school at the University of Alabama after graduating from Auburn, but he did not let his pursuit of becoming a lawyer hold him back from boxing. A year later Trip won the Alabama AAU Heavy Weight Boxing Championship. Trip s family was less than pleased about his continuation of his boxing career, so he cut a deal with them: he would quit boxing after he lost his first match. The dean and the school board at Alabama also thought Trip was more focused on his boxing career than his studies, and after averaging a C-minus two semesters in a row, the school placed him on a one year suspension. As a result, Trip made boxing a full-time career. In 1982, he traveled to Mobile to win the Alabama Heavy Weight Golden Gloves Championship. That fight was special because not only did he knock out a 1980 Olympic Heavy Weight Champion, but he knocked him out of the ring in just 30 seconds. It was the highlight of his career, and he was sure he was going to be a big-time boxer. However, every high has its low, and soon after winning his biggest fight, he lost his first in Fort Payne at the Alabama Golden Gloves Regionals. Trip remained true to his word and hung up his boxing gloves after losing that fight. Throughout 78 SOUTHERN TATLER

9 his career as a boxer, his record was 20-1, and 18 of those 20 fights were 1st-round knockouts. Trip s suspension from the University of Alabama was supposed to be for a year, but because of his relentless personality and strategic fighting tactics learned in the boxing ring, he scheduled a meeting with the dean and the school board and convinced them to let him start back a semester early. Their only requirement was that Trip quit boxing, and he agreed. Throughout the rest of his time in law school, Trip made A s and graduated in He passed the Bar exam on his first try, and he began his career as a lawyer in Montgomery County, serving as the Deputy District Attorney. This year of experience allowed Trip to develop a background in criminal cases, knowledge that he still uses in his law firm today. In 1985, Trip moved back to Auburn and joined Harper & Meadows, which later became Meadows & Walton. Two years later, he and Bob Meadows merged their firm with the Walker Hill Law Firm. Trip was a partner at Walker Hill for 18 years, but in 2001, the firm started branching off in different directions. Consequently, Trip started Walton Law Firm, P.C., and Mr. Hoyt Hill from Walker Hill came with him. Mr. Hill is my brain. He has done all of my writing and research for 25 years. He truly set the standard for research and legal writing, Trip beamed about Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill has been Trip s right-hand man for a quarter of a century, and Trip credits much of his success to him. Besides the mentorship Mr. Hill has provided Trip with throughout the years, he has also received guidance from other lawyers and previous professors. I had a professor, Bill Kelly, and he truly went above and beyond the call of duty by writing me extensive letters of recommendation to various law schools, Trip said. He also said he used to go and speak to Mr. Kelly s students as a thank-you for helping launch Trip s career. Trip also has sought after advice from Bob Meadows, who is also his personal lawyer. Mr. Meadows and Trip worked together for many years, and Trip still looks to him for legal and personal consultations. In addition, he calls Mr. Phil Adams a top-notch mediator and says he learned a lot of what he knows today from him. For much of his life, Trip remained a single bachelor. He resided in Auburn and took up with a lot of the young 79 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015

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11 It is easy to see that Trip has instilled in his family and in in his firm the same ideals he learned as a young man about helping others. single girls in the happening college town. When he was 40, Trip decided to move to Montgomery to find a more age-suitable group of women. He met his wife, Jacki, through a group of mutual friends, who often raved of this beautiful, charming woman Trip had never met. Ironically enough, she lived across the street from him. At 50-years-old, Trip finally married, and with Jacki, came raising her three children, who he now loves as his own. Forrest, 21, attends school in Auburn, Coleman, 18, started his freshman year at the University of Alabama in August, and Reilly, 9, attends the St. James School in Montgomery. Trip is an involved parent, sitting on the school board at St. James and working hard so that he can give his children the world. Trip is extremely dedicated to his work and is always on call. He is different from many lawyers in that he gives out his cell phone number on his business card. No matter what time of day it is, Trip is always ready to work. However, he is avid about working out and exercising a way for him to blow off steam and relieve stress. Jacki Walton is also very active and is an amateur tennis player. In her spare time, she teaches boot camp, barre classes, aerobics, and other fitness classes in Montgomery. The Walton s also enjoy spending time around the water and has a summer home in Point Clear, AL and a house on Lake Martin. My family and I do a lot of traveling in our spare time, Trip said. We were just down at my sister s house in Mobile, and this weekend we re traveling to a little bed and breakfast in North Alabama. In all of Trip s endeavors, his family is his number one priority. On Sundays, the Walton s split their time between the Saint James United Methodist Church and the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Montgomery. Jacki was Catholic when she married Trip, so the two decided to divide their time between churches rather than to convert to one or the other. A servant s heart is also a core part of Trip s foundation. He gives to almost 40 charitable organizations, including the YMCA of Montgomery, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Boy Scouts of America. In fact, one of Trip s most treasured accolades is that he is an Eagle Scout, an honor that is achieved by few men. With his family, Trip donated a well to a tribal community in Zambia, Africa, giving the community years of fresh water. It is easy to see that Trip has instilled in his family and in his firm the same ideals he learned as a young man about helping others. In addition to helping charitable organizations, Trip also dedicates time to speaking to his former fraternity and to other Greek organizations on Auburn s campus. He also frequently hosts the Auburn University Tennis Team in his home when they travel to Montgomery for tournaments. Trip is not shy about his dedication to his community, as he adamantly gives back to Auburn and to Montgomery each year. Since opening Walton Law Firm, P.C. in 2001, Trip has handled primarily personal injury and wrongful death cases. His biggest verdict was for $17.5 million, and he has recovered over $100 million in verdicts and settlements throughout his career. Today, his firm has 10 staff members, including four lawyers and a fifth coming in at the end of the month. My favorite part about being a lawyer is helping people put their lives back together. In the beginning, I didn t make a lot of money. I just genuinely enjoyed helping people, and I still do, Trip said about being a lawyer. He added on by saying, If you help people the money will come. Trip is not aiming to become a giant firm. He is proud of the well-known reputation he has developed as a lawyer in Alabama and appreciates how his firm has grown in the last almost 15 years. Walton Law Firm, P.C. currently has 205 open cases. Of those, 158 are personal injury or wrongful death cases, and 47 are criminal cases. I m still look- 81 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015

12 ing for success, Trip said. Success is being like The Rolling Stones. They haven t written any new songs since their early days, but Mick Jagger still goes out there and plays Satisfaction with as much enthusiasm as he did the first time. In Alabama, Trip Walton is the Mick Jagger of lawyers. Most of his clients have been referred by former satisfied clients, something Trip is extremely proud of. He attributes his clients satisfaction to the education he and his staff provide them with about their case. Although several of his cases have won millions of dollars, every case is different, making it impossible to ensure a client their case will have the same outcome. When Trip decided to make the move back to Auburn in 1985, he had big dreams of becoming the governor of Alabama and knew the name recognition his father and grandfather had established would immediately launch his career. Although he quickly abandoned his ideas of becoming a politician, he made the right choice in establishing himself in Auburn. Since 2011, Trip has been named as one of the Top Attorneys in Alabama and as an Alabama Super Lawyer. He is has been a Top 100 National Trial Lawyer since 2011 as well. In 2015, he was named by the American Institute of Legal Counsel as one of the 10 Best Attorneys in Alabama. Because he has won so many accolades and is so well known throughout the Southeast, Trip often travels out of state to speak to other lawyers. Trip s list of honors and awards is not going to stop growing anytime soon. When asked 82 S OUTHERN TAT L E R

13 about retirement, he says he will never quit working unless he absolutely has to. Since 1984, The Fighter has been striving to get East Alabamians the money they deserve from accidents and other cases. His reputation is known throughout Alabama and beyond as one of the toughest and most relentless personal injury lawyers, characteristics that he was mostly born with but developed inside the boxing ring. His values are centered on his family, his firm, and his clients, and because he is on-call 24-7, there is rarely a time you cannot reach him. Trip says, Success really means doing the same thing over and over and doing it better than anyone else, and he certainly is. The recoveries, verdicts, and favorable outcomes stated in this article, are not an indication of future results. Every case is different, and regardless of what friends, family or other individuals may say about what a case is worth, each case must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances as they apply to the law. The valuation of a case depends on fact, the injuries, the jurisdiction, the venue, the witnesses, the parties, and the testimony, among other factors. Furthermore, no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. 83 S EP TEM BER/ OCTOBER 2015