About Me

I was born and raised in Missouri and attended high school in Sigourney, Iowa.  After a 3-year enlistment in the U.S. Navy, I attended the University of Missouri. While a student, I married (Fran).  I graduated with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in June  1971.  A month later, Fran delivered a daughter (Angie) and I obtained a job offer from General Electric.

I kept the daughter but turned down the job offer.  Instead, I went to law school at the University of Missouri - Kansas City (UMKC).   I received my law degree in July 1975 and practiced law in the states of Missouri and Florida for four years before moving to California in 1979.

For other adventures (and misadventures), read Arrows in the Dark.

In Los Angeles, I trained as a screenwriter at the renowned Writer’s Bootcamp and its invitation-only Think Tank. I have written eleven screenplays, three of which were made into films, two shorts and one feature-length film (Haunted House, distributed in DVD by The Asylum, for more information, see: http://hauntedhousemovie.net).  I am a member of Film Independent. 

I converted one of my screenplays into the novel, Masters of War, which was published in 2012 under the pen name, Conrad John.  For more information, see: http://mastersofwarbook.com.

Meanwhile, I have been engaged as a consumer advocate and freelance paralegal specializing in complex civil litigation.  I helped create a law firm that specialized in lemon law, administered the office, hired, trained and managed paralegals, and ran the highly successful marketing campaign.  I wrote the book, Lemon Law, a Manual for Consumers and interviewed on more than 100 radio shows nationwide, drafted a class action against General Motors and conducted the PR campaign that led to reform of lemon law policies and practices throughout the automobile industry.

My legal projects include the recovery (for the US government) health care fraud, including what was the largest health care fraud case in the country at the time.  I also played a principal role in the launch of more than 100 class actions against California banks for charging fees for services they did not perform.  The campaign resulted in California supreme court victory and state-wide reform of the practice.

I currently reside in California with my wife, Fran.