Shared from the 5/11/2017 Austin American Statesman eEdition

Getting to Know You: Attorney Lisa Richardson

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Lisa Richardson

Welcome to the Getting to Know You segment, where you can learn a little more about your neighbors. Know someone who should participate or would like to participate yourself? Email us at editor@ rrleader.com or call 512-255-5827.

Lisa Richardson

Place of birth: Born in Houston but raised in Port Aransas.

Immediate family: Married to Mark for over 20 years with kids, Bryant and Kathryn. Mark is the chief strategy officer at CyberDefenses. Both kids are students in Round Rock ISD.

Education: High School in Port Aransas; Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Texas; JD (Juris Doctor) from South Texas College of Law.

Occupation: Attorney

What’s your career ambition? I practice family law (divorce, custody, etc.) and spend a lot of time mediating family cases as well as civil cases. I am very passionate about this emotionally challenging and frequently tough area of the law. Parties are often going through the toughest time in their lives. The law does not always provide them with the outcome they desire. My goal is to continue to provide top quality legal services and to continue to help families resolve their differences with simple, cost-effective solutions that allow the parties to salvage some positive relationship with each other for the benefit of their children.

Civic or other nonprofit activities: I am actively involved in professional committees and serve on the State Bar Board of Directors representing a 15-county area. I am a current Round Rock Chamber board member and a current board member for the National Charity League and a past board member of the United Way of Williamson County.

What is the latest project in which you are involved? As far as local involvement, I was part of a team of incredible women who worked very hard to bring a National Charity League chapter to Round Rock. The National Charity League is a national organization that has mother and daughters (in grades 7-12) working together to serve their communities. It teaches and provides leadership opportunities for the girls and introduces them to various cultural events and activities. The Round Rock chapter just received its chapter certification.

Hobbies: Golf, reading, traveling and anything involving water activities.

What qualities in people draw you to be their friend? A sense of humor, honesty, commitment to their friends, family, faith, community and patience. My schedule is crazy and I do not get to spend near enough time with my friends.

I have aknack for: Juggling and getting things accomplished. With two teenagers and both parents working, life can be complex and hectic. One must get good at making it all happen while striving to find balance between work and life. Build a schedule. Plan ahead. Don’t procrastinate. All of these feel like critical skills when you realize life is short and there is so much to soak in, experience and enjoy about this world.

The one thing I’d like to change about Round Rock is: The traffic. Things are getting congested. While this is an unavoidable symptom of growth that is made temporarily worse with all the construction, the hope is that it will lead to improved flow through innovative design and construction that can handle our growth.

Most significant or interesting job: Without a doubt my most significant, interesting and challenging job is as a parent. My mother used to say being a mother was “the best job in the world.” She neglected to say, while incredibly rewarding, it has its challenges — daily, hourly, sometimes each minute.

Being a parent involves a certain balance of giving your kids freedom to make their own choices and assert their independence while still maintaining parental control. Being a parent means coming home from long work days to help with homework, do laundry and pack lunches. Plus, it is extremely difficult to see your children hurting as they experience some of life’s unpleasant moments and you, as a parent, are powerless to fix the problem or remove the hurt.

On the plus side, there is no sound I like more than the laughter of my children. I try to hold onto those laughing, happy moments since our kids are both teenagers and in a few short years we will be emptynesters.

Which of your civic-oriented accomplishments make you the proudest? I have a soft spot for civics lessons. I have done a lot of work with the Law Related Education committee at the State Bar. LRE provides curriculum and teacher training to educators across the state to promote civics education in the schools.

I love history and any chance to work with kids to make history fun or promote an education on our system of government, or send a positive message about the legal profession is a big plus for me.

I recently volunteered to be a chaperone when my daughter wanted to take an eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., with 27 other classmates. We had six action-packed days of experiencing the history and government lessons D.C. had to offer.

At one point I was the last person getting on the bus and the kids, on their own, were reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Hearing a busload of eighth-graders reciting the Pledge of Allegiance made the trip complete.

What is one interesting fact about you that people probably don’t know? For a brief time I earned a little (keyword: little) extra money after college doing jitterbug competitions in a few country bars in the Houston area.

A bad habit I have is: According to my father (now deceased) and my husband, I never turn off a light. If there is a remote chance I will revisit a room, I leave the light on.

My pet peeve is: Being wasteful. I know that is ironic given my penchant for leaving on all the lights, but I promise I’m trying to reform.

My most humorous moment was: I was about 7 years old when I drew my mother (think stick figure) for a newspaper contest for Mother’s Day. The winner won a gift card for their mother to go shopping at one of the local stores.

I won. Not only did I have a great stick figure, but I helpfully drew arrows to all her important items: skirt, purse, black wig. Looking back, I’m sure it was the reveal of the black wig that made mine the winning entry. The picture was posted for all to view in the local paper much to the chagrin of my mother. Good thing for me my mother has a sense of humor too.

If you could sit down and ask questions of anyone (living or dead), who would it be and why? Michelangelo. He was such an incredible artist and able to work with so many different mediums. I would love to know where he found his inspiration.

And Nelson Mandela. I appreciate his activism and social commitment to bringing radical change to his country in a period that overlaps with my own. Being able to witness such a fundamental change in our world, during my lifetime, is significant. One of my favorite Mandela quotes is, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

If you were stranded on an uninhabited island, with no means of communication or escape, what is one item that you would you like to have? A five-star resort. I might as well enjoy the stay. Plus, if you build it they will come. No more stranded for this girl.

Is there anything that you passed up on doing that you now regret? I had the opportunity as a teenager to go on a salvage trip with Mel Fisher out of Florida. I’m not sure how serious the folks were that invited me but I wish I had followed up on the invitation.

See this article in the e-Edition Here