Face to Face - October 2011

Thomas R. Sheets

McDonald Carano Wilson LLP

Partner,
Las Vegas & Reno
Number of Employees: 100+
Years in Nevada: 30
Years with Company: 1

How did you first get into your profession?
My dad didn’t finish the tenth grade but he recognized the value of a formal education. He encouraged both of his children to take advantage of educational opportunities that weren’t available to him. When I was in high school I told him I was fascinated by the law. Among other things, he told me that I had a gift for argument. That is most likely when I first decided on the law as a profession.

What would you want your legacy to future generations to be?
I would like my legacy to be that I left things better than I found them; that I treated people with fairness and respect; that I was a credit to my chosen profession; and that I was a good husband and a supportive father.   

What business advice would you give someone just starting in your industry?
Have a plan and follow it with the understanding that adjustments can and will need to be made along the way. Don’t expect immediate and complete gratification, be patient in evaluating success. Professional life, like life in general, is a marathon not a sprint. Make sure there is balance in both your personal and professional lives.

What is the biggest challenge your industry is facing?
The law is a noble profession. It is a privilege to be allowed to practice as a lawyer. As a profession we need to reassure the public that the vast majority of us who are granted this privilege understand the responsibilities that come along with it.

What is the best perk of your career?
I have had the good fortune to do a lot of traveling to places that I might otherwise have never seen and to participate in events that I would not have expected to be involved in.  As an example, less than two years ago I was invited by my friend and fellow Nevadan Jon Wellinghoff, the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, on a trip to China with Secretary of State Clinton and Treasury Secretary Geithner. It was an extraordinary eighteen day journey that allowed me a unique glimpse of a changing China as well as a close up opportunity to watch diplomacy in action at the highest level.