Today we’d like to introduce you to Kent Schaffer.
Hi Kent, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I originally had been a drama major at the University of Texas but when I was in my second year I met a well known criminal lawyer named Racehorse Haynes who inspired me to become a lawyer. I spent a summer working for him and changed my major during the next semester.
I spent 4 years working as an investigator for Racehorse and then went to law school. Upon graduation, I went in with my brother, Randy who was already a well established lawyer in Houston. I started trying complex federal cases almost immediately and have continued to do so for about 45 years.
Interestingly, around 20 years ago my practice changed and I began to establish a niche in the legal world wherein rather than just dealing with clients who had been arrested; I began to cater to clients who had problems that were not necessarily criminal. We started dealing with clients who were being blackmailed or extorted, locating missing people, advising clients on how to avoid criminal and civil problems in their businesses, and locating missing assets. Just recently we were retained by a Chinese conglomerate that had been the victim of a $240 million dollar theft. We spent two years travelling around the world filing law suits and seizing property from the thieves; eventually recovering over $200 million.
Now my practice is devoted, in a significant part, to representing athletes and performers in the rap music industry.. Unfortunately as they begin to finally reach a high level of financial success there are large numbers of people who try to separate them from their money. That is where we come in.
Outside of my legal practice, I have become very involved in the ballet world. I have spent the last several years on the Board of Trustees of the Houston Ballet and I currently serve as the Vice President of the Ballet Academy on the Executive Committee. Houston has one of the largest and best ballet academies in the world, with over 700 students, many of whom are in residence and I am fascinated watching these young students go on to some of the best ballet companies in the world. My legal practice has also given me the ability to underwrite several ballets for the Houston Ballet and the Angelo Greco Company which is a relatively new company already getting international attention. I was also fortunate to recently become involved with Voices of Arts Central which is a local company that is starting to take off in a big way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have been lucky that most of my career has been in an upward trajectory almost from the beginning; thanks in large part because of the example set by Racehorse Haynes. But also because my work days start early and end late and I rarely say no to any opportunity. I have been good about avoiding struggles by not letting myself get distracted and by having a love for what I do. I cannot imaging there are many other careers that I would have enjoyed as much and so while I may have encountered many struggles, it did not seem that way to me.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We have a boutique style firm that is made up of eight lawyers. Most of the lawyers in our firm practice exclusively criminal law and one practices civil trial law. I think what separates us from most other criminal firms is that we do have a fairly large number of lawyers and we generally take a team approach to working on cases. Most criminal lawyers work alone, however, in almost all of my cases I bring in other lawyers from the office that have a special expertise in a particular field.
Almost all of us have a low volume of cases so we have more than enough time to deal with whatever problems our clients may have.
How do you think about luck?
I do not know where luck ends and being smart begins, or vice versa, but I think that luck plays a big role in my life. I have always been happy with my life but even more so as I have gotten older and I think luck has a lot to do with that. I was lucky to have parents who cared about me and gave me a good education, I was lucky to have good professors at school, I was lucky to have a great mentor, I was lucky to get great clients who gave me a chance to prove myself, and I was lucky to get a great wife and great kids.
But I can’t give all of the credit to luck. Luck may have given me great opportunities but it is intellect and dedication to hard work that keeps you from squandering away that luck.
Pricing:
- Our services are not for the feint of heart., but we are worth what we charge.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.skjm.law
- Instagram: kentschaffer1
- Facebook: Kent Schaffer
- LinkedIn: Kent Schaffer
