James M. Hallett – 50th Reunion Essay

James M. Hallett

1001 6th Street

Ste. 120

Manhattan Beach CA 90266

jmhallettlaw@earthlink.net

310-376-3374

Spouse(s): Florence Popper (13 years); Mary Ellen Hal (30 years)

Child(ren): Karen Neinstein (1978); Joshua Hallett (1980); Adrian Hall (1979); Megan Walker (1980)

Grandchild(ren): Charlotte Neinstein (2013); Dylan Hallett (2017)

Education: University of California at Berkeley School of Law, JD, 1972

Career: 45 years criminal defense lawyer, 30 years family law attorney

College: Berkeley

While at Yale, I was a Republican activist. In November 1968, in a single night, I withdrew my place at Harvard Law School and my place at Navy Officer Candidate School, accepted admission at UC Berkeley’s Law School, and filed my application for status as a conscientious objector. That single night set my life’s course.

I got C.O. status and still take no pride in that. I should have gone to jail. I didn’t have the courage. My heroes are those who did. Our generation has yet to take responsibility for what we did in Vietnam. Shame on us.

After law school, I became a public defender in Los Angeles. I have handled over 30 death penalty cases over the past 45 years, and still have two pending as of this writing. I have one client on California’s death row. He is one of nearly 800. California has executed 13 prisoners since reinstating the death penalty in 1977, at a cost of over $5 billion.

About 30 years ago I took up family law, mainly to help put two children and two stepchildren through college. I quickly became allergic to divorce litigation and have taken a leadership role in the collaborative divorce movement. Family systems are at the heart of both my capital case work and my family restructuring work.

My daughter, Karen, worked as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, before becoming a mom married to a doctor. My son, Josh, and his wife are doctors in Chicago, with a baby boy. My stepdaughters are Adrian, a Manhattan Beach therapist, and Megan, a chef married to a realtor and now pregnant, in Torrance. As undoubtedly with all of you, my four children are the joy of my life.

My wife Florence and I divorced after 13 years and proudly raised two good kids together. My wife Mary Ellen and I were together 30 years before multiple diseases killed her. Being her caretaker was the single most satisfying work of my lifetime. She died a year ago and it seems the grief will never fade. But I’ve learned to live a very happy parallel life with Susan, with whom I’ll be married by the time our reunion rolls around.

I still love Yale. I still sing (in a choir). I swim a lot. My home is Manhattan Beach and I visit my home in Loreto, Baja California Sur. I am centered on my family, my church, and my work. I have no plan to ever retire. My wife’s death and my own close-call heart attack leave me with existential doubts, but all is well.