"Never let your present circumstances determine your destiny."

Sherri Allen
Solo Practitioner
Bremerton, Washington

With 20 years' experience, the Law Office of Sherri Allen, PS focuses on social security disability and personal injury cases. Sherri has been married for 17 years and is the mother of two boys ages 12 and 3. She was a partner at Theiler, Douglas, Drachler, Mckee, LLP prior to opening her own office in Kitsap County.

Sherri is a former board member of the ACLU of Washington and serves on the WSBA Legislative Committee. She is a member of the Bremerton School Foundation, the Kitsap Community Credit Union Audit Committee, and the National Organization of Social Security Representatives.

Were you always interested in becoming a lawyer?

No. I was born in Richmond, Indiana. I had two brothers and two sisters. I was the middle child. My mother quit high school to marry my father. My major in my first two years of college was chemistry. Once I took a political science course, I decided to switch my major to political science.

Was there anyone who encouraged you to go to law school?

No, and I did not have any role models. The only African-American teacher at my high school assisted me in obtaining a scholarship to attend Indiana University. I was nervous about telling my mother that I wanted to become a lawyer, because all of my life I had told her that I would become a doctor. When I told her that I was going to become a lawyer, she told me that my father had always wanted to become a lawyer.

My father was a straight-A student in high school and his mother worked as a housekeeper for a lawyer. In order for my father to go to college he needed a scholarship. Although my father had the highest GPA of any minority student in his high school, he lived on the "wrong side of the tracks." The scholarship designated for a minority student was given to a non-minority student, and because of this my father was unable to attend college.

What challenges did you face in you pursuing your law degree?

We were very poor. My parents separated when I was in high school. My mother was barely able to earn enough money to support my younger siblings. After my first year of undergraduate studies, I took a leave of absence from school to work. I worked during the day and eventually began taking courses at night. Once I was accepted into Indiana University School of Law, I worked three jobs to support myself and to send money home to my mother.

I was in an accelerated program in law school and I finished in two years and three months. I moved to Los Angeles, California, my final year and completed my coursework at Loyola Law School. I took the California State Bar and passed. I was a lawyer.

What brought you to Washington, and what has been your experience in practicing law here?

I was offered a job with the firm Theiler, Douglas, Drachler, Mckee, LLP in February 1997. The firm had a good reputation and I made partner. The firm was family oriented and my experience was positive. I left practice in Seattle so that I could devote more time to my family. I've learned from my experience that regardless of what it seems like at the time you can overcome your present circumstances, and I would encourage students and young lawyers to never let your present circumstances determine your destiny.