Episode #2.5: Willie D. Powell III in The Heart of Law

Written By Caryl Veloso

Have you ever met a true brainbox? Someone intrepidly astute? Someone so capable, they can accomplish almost everything they set their mind to do? Wait until Mirena introduces you to her friend and present-day Renaissance man, Willie D. Powells III. He and our incisive host talk nineteen-to-the-dozen on today’s Heart of Law episode, showing us a cerebral way of living life to the fullest.

Thanks to his wise father who encouraged Willie to explore diverse academic fields before committing himself to the life of a physician, Willie did nothing less than reach for the stars. Calling himself a professional student, he shares his inspiring scholastic journey at Drexel University while under the wing of his genius mentor, Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., and revisits how he became an accomplished academician through and through. He conquered the GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, became an athlete, a concert violinist, a pianist, a chemical engineer, a biologist, holds an MBA, and graduated with multiple dual degrees alongside a law degree to boot! What can’t Willie do? How did he do it all in less than record time?  

On the one hand, Willie’s stint with ExxonMobil allowed him a glimpse of the chemical engineering industry; on the other hand, Willie’s subsequent work with Wendy Buskop Law Group immersed him in patent law—jump-starting his legal career. Down the road, Willie decided to make a seismic shift in his legal track after his sister asked basic legal questions he could not answer, “I can tell you about engineering and the law—all of this sophisticated intellectual property stuff—But the very common, everyday issue that you would expect a lawyer to know about, like divorce or somebody [getting placed] in jail … I couldn’t answer!” He questioned the direction of his legal career after that encounter. With his beautiful, brand new, very expensive, black Corvette staring him straight in the eye, he pivoted.

Willie “hung the shingle out” by joining forces with Irvin Gadson, George Tennant, and Derek Harmon. He began a new kind of education; Willie learned the ropes of criminal law, courtroom life, and how a boutique litigation practice should run. And ran with it, he did. A few years later, Willie set off to open his firm, the Law Offices of Willie Powells III & Associates, PLLC. As much as his entrepreneurial background and business acumen helped establish his nascent practice, Willie prudently did every menial and mundane task himself. He paid thoughtful attention to minute aspects of his business: humble enough to cut overhead costs, wise enough to choose strategic branding fitting his vision, and patient enough to personalize his services for every client. As Mirena points out, now Willie is a huge celebrity lawyer in Texas. 

Willie’s inspired enthusiasm for living and learning certainly fills the air and is nothing but contagious. While he talks with so much vim about what he learned (and continues to learn), Willie echoes what we have heard: If we put our whole heart into it, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to do. Because he vigorously lives by this tenet day after humble day, we believe him. So, let’s get to it! Let's learn. Let's live.

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

  • At the end of the day, helping people and making people happy makes me happy. 

  • What happens is you get the experience, you make some mistakes, you learn from them and now [you] get a fresh start.

  • If you come to my practice, we want to give you a world-class experience. We are changing the game from within.

  • We're very happy for opportunities to grow because we know when we grow, we reach out and help other people grow along with us. And, bit by bit, that's how we make our community, our city, our state, our country, our world a better place.

  • We definitely have our problems, but in the world we live in, if you [know] what you're doing right and helping people, you're [doing] great. There are no limits!

  • Let's go to the new echelon. Let's go to the unknown. Let's go to space … It's been a work in progress, but [discovery] is something that takes on a life of its own. As long as I get out of the way, I am [not] going to miss the shot.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

LINKS FROM THE SHOW:


Caryl Veloso
Previous

Episode #2.6: Stephen M. Reck and Jose Rojas in The Heart of Law
Next

Episode #2.4: David Selby & Todd Mathews in The Heart of Law