While at West Albany and Stanford, he worked as a farmworker, carpenter's helper, and teaching assistant.
in 1979 from Yale Law School, where he was a classmate and friend of future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
After leaving law school, he clerked for U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alfred Goodwin from 1979 to 1980.
In 1980, he became an attorney in private practice with the law firm of Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler.
He went on to join Haglund & Kirtley, where he worked until being appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals in 1994.