In the Neighborhood

Lionel Halsey ’03 comes home from a tough day as a personal injury lawyer in Oceanside, Calif., and is eager to spend some time with his family. He catches up on the day with his wife, Aimee ’00, and plays with their two young kids. Lionel’s father, Bill Halsey ’75, who shares a backyard gate with his son, decides to visit with Lionel and Aimee and they all agree that an impromptu barbecue would be just the thing to end a long day.

After dinner, Patricia Halsey-Munroe ’75, who was out walking in the neighborhood and lives only two blocks from her son, Lionel, drops in to say hello to her grandchildren. The Halseys spend the rest of the evening entertaining the children and sharing hilarious stories about cases and clients.

It’s a fairly typical day in the lives of two generations of California Western lawyers whose lives are amazingly intertwined.

Patricia Halsey-Munroe and Bill Halsey both became lawyers in the Marine Corps after graduating from California Western, and Lionel was born at Camp Pendleton. When Trish and Bill divorced, Lionel initially traveled with his mother, who headed the Marine Corps Legal Assistance Program at Headquarters Marine Corps and later practiced as a civilian attorney for both the Army and the Coast Guard. Lionel eventually went to high school in Oceanside, where Bill Halsey had a private family and personal injury law practice, and attended California State University, Bakersfield, where Lionel was a wrestler. But he says his interest in the law was clear from an early age.

“I always had a plan to go to law school and apply to California Western. It was the only law school I considered,” says Lionel.

During his first year at California Western, Lionel worked for his father’s firm in Oceanside, and he met Aimee, who was working as an attorney for his father.

“I worked at Bill’s practice for a year before Lionel and I actually talked to each other,” Aimee recalls. “He was helping his dad on trials, and then we started dating.”

After graduating from California Western, Lionel and Aimee both worked at Bill’s practice, focusing on family law and personal injury cases. Lionel soon realized that, like his father, he wanted to start his own practice and focus primarily on personal injury.

“When my son was born, I wasn’t getting home until eight at night, and I wasn’t seeing him,” says Lionel. “I took three months off and Aimee and I discussed the idea of opening up a family firm.”

The husband and wife California Western team shares duties: Lionel works Monday through Thursday and takes off Fridays to stay home with his kids and Aimee takes over the lawyering duties on Fridays at the practice.

For Trish, watching Lionel and Aimee grow as lawyers and as a family is a rewarding experience, and she plays an important role in their professional and family lives.

“Since I’m a retired Marine Colonel, if Lionel has a case with an issue specific to the military, as in some of his divorce cases, he will contact me to discuss the military aspects of the case and get some insight into the client’s situation,” says Trish.

“If Aimee needs to run to the office to help out with a case while Lionel is in court, I’m also available to take care of my two grandchildren, who are at my home three or four times a month. Since I’m retired, I focus more on grandchildren and lunches than the practice of law.”