When Weatherford ’ s own Tom Vick was sworn in as the 137 th president of the State Bar of Texas on June 23 , it marked two big firsts — the first State Bar president from Parker County , and the first family practice attorney to hold the esteemed office . A few days after taking office , Vick sat down with Marsha Brown , PCT ’ s editorin-chief , to talk about life , law and the Peach Festival .
Tom Vick can ’ t recall a time in his life when he didn ’ t want to be a lawyer . The son of well-loved local attorney Gabe Vick , some of his earliest and happiest memories center around spending Saturdays in his father ’ s office in downtown Weatherford , watching quietly as his father helped people solve the overwhelmingly complicated problems of life . Today , he works from the office where his father practiced law .
How much did those great , early memories have to do with Vick ’ s decision to become a lawyer ?
“ Oh , probably everything ,” Vick said . “ A lot of children of lawyers decide to become lawyers . It ’ s very prevalent .”
Not only was Gabe Vick an attorney , he was a Parker County Judge for a good long while .
“ Occasionally , I went to the courthouse with him when he conducted a wedding ,” Vick said . One of his favorite stories about his father centered around just such an occasion .
In the presence of the bride , her family , and friends , the groom , turned to Judge Vick and asked , how much he owed the judge for performing the marriage ceremony .
“ In the finest spirit of Access to Justice and making legal services available based on what the client could afford , he looked at the groom and said , ‘ Whatever you think she ’ s worth !’ That was my first lesson in value billing .”
What influenced his father to decide to become a lawyer ?
“ I have no idea ,” Vick said . “ I just showed up in this world , and he was already a lawyer .”
Gabe Vick served in the Korean War and upon his return home , enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin .
“ He became a lawyer and my uncle became a dentist ,” Vick said .
Accompanying his father as he campaigned is another of Vick ’ s happy , early memories .
“ He was running for county judge when I was 9 years old . I ’ d ride around the county with him in his old black 1958 Pontiac ,” Vick said . “ He would stop at coffee shops and businesses , he ’ d hand out cards and talk to people about their problems .”
Tom Vick loved meeting those people and watching as his father talked to them and helped them . Vick always looked forward to those Saturdays .
When he grew up , he pursued his goal of becoming an attorney , by heading to Austin College in Sherman , where he played on the basketball team , as he pursued his bachelors degree , then to South Texas College of Law , in Houston , where he earned his law degree graduating in 1981 .
Once Vick reached that goal , he returned to Weatherford to practice law with his dad .
Like his father , Vick was and still is a firm believer in the importance of giving back to his community . Even as a young attorney , while working hard to establish his law practice , he never shrank from serving his community .
At the age of 27 , Vick was elected mayor of Weatherford , the second youngest mayor in the city ’ s history .
“ Jim Wright was the youngest mayor in Weatherford ’ s history . He beat me by 45 days ,” Vick said .
While Vick served as mayor , Weatherford made a number of strides that probably would not have happened without Vick ’ s leadership , including construction of a new city hall , the one Weatherford operates from now , as well as a new fire station . It was all accomplished without a tax increase .
During that time , the Parker County Peach Festival made its debut in the parking lot of College Park Shopping Center .
Of course , Mayor Vick was in attendance , along with a few dozen others .
“ That ’ s what you do when you ’ re the 27-year-old mayor of Weatherford ,” Vick said . “ Who would have imagined that it would grow into the big event that we see today ?”
Even then , Vick envisioned Weatherford putting on more events , fun events that would attract people from around the state and make young couples want to move to Weatherford and raise their families here . “ Those ideas were met with a lot of resistance ,” Vick said , adding that he ’ s pleased at the direction the city is going . He looks out the window of his office , quiet as he watches workers put together the Peach Festival .
While he served as mayor , Vick continued to work hard growing his practice . Today , he ’ s considered one of the best family practice attorneys in the county , as well as the state .
Today , about 95 percent of Vick ’ s practice consists of family law , while the rest consists of working as local council . “ I have some businesses where I ’ m local council ,” Vick said . “ Lawyers have big cases from around the state or around the country , and they want to hire a lawyer that ’ s from here , that knows how the courts work , and how the system goes here .”
Gabe Vick was in general practice throughout most of his career . “ He started out as a general practitioner ,” Vick said . “ When I was 12 or 13 , I actually watched him try a felony theft case of a guy that robbed a jewelry store . My dad handled a lot of divorces , all kinds of litigation and he wrote a lot of wills . He did a lot of probate . He used to tell me , “ When you ’ re young you can do a lot of wills ,
SEPTEMBER 2017 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
7
When Weatherford’s own Tom Vick was
sworn in as the 137 th president of the
State Bar of Texas on June 23, it marked
two big firsts — the first State Bar presi-
dent from Parker County, and the first
family practice attorney to hold the
esteemed office.
A few days after taking office, Vick sat
down with Marsha Brown, PCT’s editor-
in-chief, to talk about life, law and the
Peach Festival.
T
om Vick can’t recall a time in his life when he didn’t
want to be a lawyer.
The son of well-loved local attorney Gabe Vick, some
of his earliest and happiest memories center around
spending Saturdays in his father’s office in downtown
Weatherford, watching quietly as his father helped people
solve the overwhelmingly complicated problems of life.
Today, he works from the office where his father prac-
ticed law.
How much did those great, early memories have to do
with Vick’s decision to become a lawyer?
“Oh, probably ��ٕ��ѡ�����t�Y����ͅ�����q���Ё��������)�ɕ����������́�������Ѽ�������������̸�%ӊéٕ��)�ɕم���л�t)9�Ё����݅́����Y���������ѽɹ�䰁���݅́��A�ɭ��)
�չ��)Ց�����ȁ������������ݡ����+�q=���ͥ�����䰁$�ݕ�ЁѼ�ѡ������ѡ��͔�ݥѠ����)ݡ����������Սѕ����ݕ�������t�Y����ͅ����=���������)��ٽɥє��ѽɥ�́����Ё��́��ѡ�ȁ���ѕɕ���ɽչ�����Ё�Ս�)�������ͥ���)%��ѡ���ɕ͕�������ѡ���ɥ������ȁ�����䰁�����ɥ���̰)ѡ���ɽ������ɹ���Ѽ�)Ց���Y���������ͭ������܁�Ս����)�ݕ��ѡ���Ց�����ȁ��ə�ɵ����ѡ�����ɥ������ɕ����+�q%��ѡ�������Ё���ɥЁ�������́Ѽ�)��ѥ�������������)������͕�٥��́�م���������͕�����ݡ�Ёѡ�������Ё��ձ�)����ɐ�������������Ёѡ���ɽ�������ͅ�����a]��ѕٕȁ��)ѡ����͡��éݽ�Ѡ��d�Q��Ё݅́�䁙���Ё���ͽ�����م�Ք������)�����t)]��Ё����Օ�������́��ѡ�ȁѼ��������Ѽ���������)������+�q$���ٔ����������t�Y����ͅ�����q$����Ё͡�ݕ��������ѡ��)ݽɱ����������݅́��ɕ��䁄�����Ȼ�t)����Y����͕�ٕ�����ѡ��-�ɕ���]�ȁ������������)ɕ��ɸ���������ɽ��������ѡ��U��ٕ�ͥ�䁽��Q��́�Ё��ѥ��+�q!���������������ȁ������չ������������)���ѥ�г�t�Y����ͅ���)�������她����́��ѡ�ȁ�́���������������́���ѡ��)���Y����é����䰁��ɱ䁵���ɥ�̸+�q!��݅́�չ�������ȁ��չ�䁩Ց���ݡ���$�݅̀�啅��)�����'�e��ɥ����ɽչ��ѡ����չ��ݥѠ����������́���������(�����A��ѥ����t�Y����ͅ�����q!��ݽձ���ѽ���Ё�������͡���)������ͥ���͕̰����e���������Ё��ɑ́����х���Ѽ�������)����Ёѡ��ȁ�ɽ����̻�t)Q���Y������ٕ�����ѥ���ѡ�͔������������݅э����)�́��́��ѡ�ȁх�����Ѽ�ѡ��������������ѡ����Y������݅��)����������݅ɐ�Ѽ�ѡ�͔�M���ɑ��̸)]��������ɕ܁�����������Օ����́����������������)�����ѽɹ�䰁�䁡�������Ѽ���ѥ��
����������M��ɵ���)ݡ�ɔ�������啐����ѡ����ͭ�щ����ѕ�����́�������Օ�)��́��������́���ɕ���ѡ���Ѽ�M��Ѡ�Q��́
����������1�ܰ)���!���ѽ���ݡ�ɔ������ɹ�����́��܁���ɕ���Ʌ�Յѥ��)������ĸ)=����Y����ɕ������ѡ�Ё���������ɕ��ɹ���Ѽ)]��ѡ�ə�ɐ�Ѽ��Ʌ�ѥ�����܁ݥѠ���́����)1������́��ѡ�Ȱ�Y����݅́�����ѥ����́����ɴ������ٕȁ��)ѡ�������х���������٥��������Ѽ���́����չ��丁ٕ����)���չ����ѽɹ�䰁ݡ����ݽɭ������ɐ�Ѽ���х���͠���́���)�Ʌ�ѥ���������ٕȁ͡Ʌ����ɽ��͕�٥�����́����չ���)Ёѡ����������ܰ�Y����݅́����ѕ�����ȁ��)]��ѡ�ə�ɐ��ѡ��͕������չ���Ё���ȁ���ѡ������e�)���ѽ��+�q)���]ɥ��Ё݅́ѡ���չ���Ё���ȁ���]��ѡ�ə�ɓ�e�)���ѽ�丁!�����Ё������ԁ���̳�t�Y����ͅ���)]�����Y����͕�ٕ���́���Ȱ�]��ѡ�ə�ɐ�������)�յ��ȁ�����ɥ��́ѡ�Ё�ɽ�����ݽձ����Ё��ٔ���������)ݥѡ��ЁY����é������͡��������Ց����������Սѥ�������)��܁���䁡�����ѡ������]��ѡ�ə�ɐ����Ʌѕ́�ɽ����ܰ���)ݕ����́����܁��ɔ��хѥ����%Ё݅́������������͡���ݥѡ���)��х�����ɕ�͔�)�ɥ���ѡ�Ёѥ����ѡ��A�ɭ�ȁ
�չ��A�������ѥم�)�������́����Ё���ѡ����ɭ������Ё���
�������A�ɬ)M��������
��ѕȸ)=������͔��5��ȁY����݅́�����ѕ��������������ݥѠ)����܁��镸��ѡ��̸+�qQ��ӊéݡ�Ё�ԁ���ݡ����eɔ�ѡ���ܵ啅ȵ���)���ȁ���]��ѡ�ə�ɐ��t�Y����ͅ�����q]���ݽձ����ٔ)���������ѡ�Ё�Ёݽձ���ɽ܁��Ѽ�ѡ�������ٕ�Ёѡ�Ёݔ)͕��ѽ�����t)ٕ��ѡ����Y������٥ͥ�����]��ѡ�ə�ɐ����ѥ�����)��ɔ��ٕ��̰��ո��ٕ��́ѡ�Ёݽձ�����Ʌ�Ё��������ɽ�)�ɽչ��ѡ���хє�����������չ��������́݅�ЁѼ���ٔ)Ѽ�]��ѡ�ə�ɐ�����Ʌ�͔�ѡ��ȁ�������́��ɔ���qQ��͔������)ݕɔ���ЁݥѠ�����Ё���ɕͥ�х�����t�Y����ͅ�����������ѡ��)���é����͕���Ёѡ����ɕ�ѥ���ѡ�����䁥́�������!�������)��Ёѡ��ݥ���܁�����́���������ե�Ё�́���݅э��́ݽɭ���)��Ёѽ��ѡ�ȁѡ��A�������ѥم��)]��������͕�ٕ���́���Ȱ�Y�������ѥ�Օ��Ѽ�ݽɬ)��ɐ��ɽݥ�����́�Ʌ�ѥ����Q���䰁���é���ͥ��ɕ��������)ѡ�����Ё�������Ʌ�ѥ�����ѽɹ��́���ѡ����չ�䰁�́ݕ�����)ѡ���хє�)Q���䰁����Ѐ�ԁ��ɍ��Ё���Y����é�Ʌ�ѥ������ͥ���)��������䁱�ܰ�ݡ����ѡ��ɕ�Ё���ͥ��́���ݽɭ�����́�����)��չ������q$���ٔ�ͽ�����ͥ���͕́ݡ�ɔ�'�e����������ո�)�����t�Y����ͅ�����q1����́��ٔ�������͕́�ɽ���ɽչ�)ѡ���хє��ȁ�ɽչ��ѡ����չ��䰁����ѡ��݅�ЁѼ���ɔ��)����ȁѡ�ӊé�ɽ����ɔ��ѡ�Ё����́��܁ѡ�������́ݽɬ�)������܁ѡ�����ѕ�����́��ɔ��t)����Y����݅́�������Ʌ���Ʌ�ѥ���ѡɽ՝���Ё���Ё��)��́��ɕ�ȸ��q!���х�ѕ����Ё�́������Ʌ���Ʌ�ѥѥ���ȳ�t�Y���)ͅ�����q]����$�݅̀�ȁ�Ȁ�̰�$����Յ���݅э����������䁄)������ѡ��Ё��͔���������ѡ�Ёɽ���������ݕ����ѽɔ��5�)����������������Ё�����ٽɍ�̰���������́�����ѥ��ѥ������)����ɽє�����Ё���ݥ��̸�!����������Ё����ɽ��є��!���͕�)Ѽ�ѕ��������q]�����eɔ��չ���ԁ�����������Ё���ݥ��̰(�