People You Should Know: Alex George
Principal, The George Law Firm, LLC
AGE: 37
JOB DESCRIPTION: I’m an attorney. My firm (I work with an associate, Casey Berndt) practices in only two areas of law: business law and estate planning. Estate planning represents the largest part of my practice. We provide the full range of estate planning services, from preparing complex revocable trusts to advising on simple wills and durable powers of attorney.
YEARS LIVED IN COLUMBIA: 5
ORIGINAL HOMETOWN: Marlborough, England, a beautiful market town in the west country, near Stonehenge.
EDUCATION: After a succession of Harry Potter-like English boarding schools (only without the magic), I studied law at Oxford University. Then followed the dullest year of my life (I hope) at the London School of Law to complete my professional qualifications.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I’m not sure how this happened, but my wife gets all the good gigs around here. She’s on the board of the Missouri Symphony Society, sings in the Columbia Chorale, and all sorts of other grand things. I, meanwhile, get to be vice-president of our neighborhood association. I also coach my son’s soccer team, but I’m pretty sure they only let me do that because of my accent. Professionally, I am a member of the Boone County Bar Association and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. As a firm, we have been involved with some pro bono work with community-based non-profit organizations, helping wade through the paperwork involved in securing 503(c)(3) status.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: I practiced law for two large international law firms in London for eight years, doing large-scale commercial transactional work and corporate finance. During that time I also worked in Paris for a year, which was where I met Christina, my wife. I left the legal profession in 2000 to write novels full time. When we moved to Missouri in 2003, we thought I should probably get a proper job again, and so I took the Missouri Bar Exam in 2004. I became a partner at a firm in Jefferson City before opening up my own practice at the top of the Tiger Hotel on March 1, 2006.
COLUMBIA BUSINESSPEOPLE I ADMIRE: My friends Chris Stevens and Jennifer Perlow, co-owners of PS Gallery on Broadway. Their uncompromising vision, hard work and commitment to the community and the artists they represent are inspiring. Both through the gallery and Artrageous Fridays, their contribution to the artistic life of the town is tremendous. Also they throw excellent parties.
WHY I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT MY JOB: To be an effective estate planner, it’s crucial to get to know your clients well enough to understand what they want to achieve and what their priorities and objectives are. I enjoy this process very much. Everyone has an interesting story to tell. It’s a privilege to hear so many of them. Meeting our clients’ needs in a swift, professional manner is very rewarding. Although estate planning may not be the most glamorous sort of law, is very important for absolutely everyone. After all, we’re all going to die at some point. I believe that everyone should have some form of estate planning in place, and I feel lucky to be in a position to help people achieve that.
IF I WEREN’T DOING THIS FOR A LIVING, I WOULD: Write books, probably. I have published four novels in England, France, Germany and Italy, and am presently working on my fifth. I get up at 5 a.m. every morning and get a couple of hours of writing in before the children wake up. If you catch me yawning in the afternoon, that’s why.
BIGGEST CAREER OBSTACLE I’VE OVERCOME: I knew when I was preparing to take the Bar exam that my legal career in mid-Missouri was always going to be different from what I had done previously in London. I had no idea just how different! In addition to the challenges of working in a small firm rather than a firm with hundreds of attorneys, I have had to adapt my skills to a new marketplace and a new area of law.
A FAVORITE RECENT PROJECT: They’re all good. Giving my clients the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they and their loved ones will be properly taken care of should the worse happen is always a satisfying result.
WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PROFESSION: Estate planning is not just for the rich or the old. If you do no estate planning at all, you are forfeiting the right to decide who receives your possessions when you pass away; the State of Missouri will decide for you, instead. And your assets will have to go through the probate process, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Also, there’s a lot more to estate planning than just wills. Durable powers of attorney and advanced health care directives can be used to help you during your life, and a revocable trust can often be an excellent way of both avoiding probate and affording maximum security for those you leave behind—especially for the parents of young children. There are no “one size fits all” solutions to estate planning. Everyone is different. But everyone should do something.
WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Thanks to satellite TV, I still get to yell at Arsenal, my soccer team, once a week, although it’s questionable whether that really classifies as “fun.” Wednesday nights are sacrosanct: the OFL soccer league at the Mac on Forum is an endless source of pleasure, exercise, polyglot cussing and very occasional glory. I love it. (Ask someone else what “OFL” stands for.) I also play the saxophone, and when the house is empty, I’ll get my tenor out and honk a bit.
FAMILY: My wife, Christina, is a native of California, Mo. We have two children: Hallam (6) and Catherine (2).
FAVORITE PLACE IN COLUMBIA: Any table at Sycamore, if there is one of their pork sandwiches on it.
ACCOMPLISHMENT I’M MOST PROUD OF: Moving to a new town, to say nothing of a new country, always presents challenges. Professionally, I’m proud to have begun my own law firm. Personally, I am proud of the friends and colleagues that I have gotten to know here over the past several years. Also I can now say the word “soccer” without wincing.
MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT: I am also the executive vice-president of Big Surf Waterpark at the Lake of the Ozarks. I am responsible for all of the park’s sales and marketing, which is almost a full-time job in itself. It’s about as different from estate planning as it is possible to get.