Kyle Gee – 50th Reunion Essay

Kyle Gee

2626 Harrison Street

Oakland, CA 94612

kylegee@pacbell.net

510-435-6707

Spouse(s): Michelle Migdal Gee

Child(ren): Erin Migdal Gee, Paul Migdal Gee

Education: USC Law School

College: Saybrook

I arrived in New Haven in 1965 as a very rough piece of work, coming from the far backwoods of rural Virginia. Despite Yale’s transformative powers—and an intensely enjoyable year in a “spook”—I left Yale in 1969 with a lot of rough edges in place. I taught high school and coached sports for a few years, which was rewarding work but daunting as a profession because so many teachers appeared to have burned out by their 40s. It was off to law school in 1972 for the worst possible reason—not being sure what else to do—but that decision worked out beautifully in two ways: I met my wife Michelle (42 years and counting); and I found a type of law that suited me right down to the ground.

I went on to practice with a college roommate, Eric Henrikson, and we started doing criminal appeals as our “supplemental income.” It turned out that we enjoyed being part of the “adversarial justice system,” and criminal appeals had become a major focus of our work when Eric was tragically killed in the late ’80s. My wife and I had a family meeting at which I raised the idea of buying more suits and looking for work in a San Francisco tower. She expressed her reluctance to be married to a “real lawyer,” suggesting in the alternative that I continue as I was for a bit, to see how things went. The next three decades passed quickly, and the criminal appellate work continues.

While “no one gets rich representing poor people,” we carved out a life in the Bay Area, with a wonderful family and close friends. Our daughter Erin is an ob-gyn in Portland, and our son Paul lives with his wife Monica in southern California, working for Blizzard Entertainment.

One rewarding sideline arose when a judge’s wife asked in the mid-80s if I would be willing to serve on the local American Diabetes Association board. One can’t say no to a judge’s wife, and that eventually led to a stint on the ADA National Board of Directors where I was able to observe how medical professionals, “research docs,” business leaders, and attorneys—no shortage of egos there—were able to work collaboratively to make good decisions for the right reasons.

Another good experience arose by chance, when I ran into classmate Ray Lebov at a judicial meeting in San Francisco. Ray was the chief lobbyist for the California Judicial Branch, and after his retirement from government, Ray become the lobbyist for an organization of criminal appellate attorneys. For more than a dozen years, Ray and I have worked together to try to influence legislation and policy in California.

Beyond that, Michelle, the kids, and I have devoted ourselves to as much travel as we can handle, and we’re off to England as this is being written. It has been, and continues to be, a very good life.