31 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2022 See Search and Rescue p 32 interest and helped me to improve myself while serving others. I remembered learning about SAR when I was assistant county counsel at Jackson County. I put in my application and interviewed. The next thing I knew, I was going through the academy and testing to become a member of Jackson County SAR. Since becoming a member of SAR, I have specialized in technical rope rescue, wilderness medicine, snow travel, avalanche response and bike rescue. SAR training teaches me how to operate more proficiently and safely in the outdoors. This is the win-win I was looking for in a service opportunity. I get to serve my community and work hard in nature while learning the skills and habits that keep my family safe in the outdoors. Stress management Being a trial lawyer is a stressful job. I have heard it said a plaintiffs’ attorney gets compensated for taking on the stress of their clients. That feels true. Like many people, I have a hard time focusing and struggle with intense anxiety. I have employed many techniques to manage stress and to be more efficient and focused. At the office, I try to focus on one thing at a time. I have employed the well-known strategies of only checking email a couple of times a day, creating self-imposed deadlines, and managing my food and caffeine intake. Outside the office, I exercise daily, cook, meditate, read, spend time with my kids, and, when things are really bad, I stream old sitcoms (Cheers, Night Court, Gilligan’s Island), which I find very comforting. In addition to my practices in and out of the office, SAR has added a stress reducing, focus enhancing, physically challenging activity to my life that has become irreplaceable. When I am on a search or taking part in a rescue, I am working hard, I am focused on details, I am part of a team. The stakes are high, often life or death. I am searching for or aiding people who are in jeopardy while nature is relentlessly pressing in around us, both beautiful and dangerous. It is a uniquely authent i c e x p e r i e n c e . Working hard while intensely focusing gives my mind a break from stressors and anxiety. The result of an SAR mi ss ion i s of ten clarity, focus and a reordering of priorities. I am reminded of what is important. I can compartmentalize problems and prioritize tasks. SAR is not all life-and-death scenarios. There are also the long drives to and from missions. There are training events and, yes, even some meetings. These are times that individuals, who usually would not interact in social and professional circles, get to know each other, grow together as a team and form unbreakable bonds. A good portion of my legal practice is advocating for citizens who are injured or wrongfully killed by law enforcement. As a member of SAR, I spend more time with law enforcement than I spend with Linthorst (second from right), his SAR team and the rescued hiker enjoy a day that ends well for all.
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