By Ross Richard Pesek

In Memory of Richard “Rich” Pesek August 19, 1941 – July 1, 2020. An original “South Omaha Boy” and legendary grandfather.

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

Bob Dylan – 1979

It was the spring of a faraway time and the ritual game of musical chairs known as “on-campus interviews” at the University of Nebraska – College of Law were wrapping up. Job offers were being made. The chatter in the air was thick with anticipation and fear. Who got offers? Where? Who was disappointed? Who would be without a chair when Ol’Bob Dylan’s music stopped?

But, for now, the music was playing, and I was dancing on nothing but instinct – who would I serve? It was dawning on me how little I knew about the legal community. I was a first-generation law student. I didn’t know a lawyer personally and I had no idea how law firms were organized. I was in law school because, apparently, I was better than most at academic testing. A full-tuition scholarship to law school was a big enough push for me to keep stumbling forward. Somehow, and to my amazement, this was the road unfolding before me.

For on-campus interviews, I wore my dad’s old suits from his days as a traveling salesman. It was lucky for me we were both 6’4. But, he wore the suits at 220 lbs and I weighed in at a slim 195 lbs. With a little tailoring by grandma, the suit would stay on me. Even so, I was swimming in my new environment as much as I was swimming in my suit.

But when the music stopped, I was one of the lucky ones. I had choices. Still, with my limited knowledge of the legal landscape, my vision was blurry. There was one thing I could see clearly: how much I would get paid. I scored an offer at a large corporate firm paying top dollar in my hometown, Omaha. They offered to pay me, and 12 others, $1,600 a week for our time. Considering Pizza Hut had been paying $6.00 an hour, plus tips for each pizza delivered, as I toiled through community college and state college, I jumped on the opportunity.

I remember my first days. A note pad with my name custom printed on it. A fireplace in an 8th floor corner office over-looking the Douglas County Courthouse. Dinners at the best restaurants downtown. Tickets behind home plate at the College World Series. Oh yes, and the legal work. I was told it would be “interesting, challenging and complex.”

First, review every bill being considered by the banking and finance committee of the Nebraska legislature for a corporation. Next, review some articles of incorporation. After that, research whether a corporation stole trade secrets. Edit these documents for typos, fast, because a closing deadline is coming. Brutal honesty, I gazed out my office window the way I had in middle school: with a longing to be free of my beautiful office and walk on the green grass under a clear, blue summer sky.

Then came the day where the “interesting, challenging and complex” legal work arrived and sent a jolt through me: how can we help that asbestos manufacturer avoid liability for knowingly causing untold numbers of blue collar workers to die painfully and prematurely from mesothelioma? Oh, what a jolt. As grandson of a South Omaha bricklayer, wearing the suit of a traveling salesman that was tailored by a woman who had worried aloud of grandpa’s lungs, the jolt left me stunned. ‘Sure boss, let me look into that,” was all I could muster while I considered what just happened.

In those days, I had a brilliant combination of earnest naivete. I thought, “This is terrible, I’m sure the partner in charge of the case can offer me some words of wisdom.” So, I waited until we were at a lunch and looked for a good opportunity. We had an entire table, lawyers from different departments and a couple other “summer associates.” The conversation had broken into smaller groups, the partner was next to me so I said, “So, these companies, they are accused of knowingly exposing workers to cancer causing materials for decades and for profit, how do you feel about defending them – morally?” It seems either my timing was off, or my question was so loaded the entire table quieted, heads slowly turned, and the partner looked at me and paused.

The partner, a little surprised, spit out his response, “They are good clients, nice people. They pay good rates and have unlimited work. If we could have had the tobacco companies as clients, we would have loved it.” There it was: an unequivocal submission of service to the largest, most systematic corporate defendants in the history of humanity. It was then, I knew I had to make plans for next summer.

By August, I had made plans to put my scholarship on hold at the College of Law and spend a year wandering the streets and museums of Mexico City. I got a phone call in my apartment, “Well, the fall stock market crash means we won’t have a clerkship program next summer, sorry.” I asked, the financial services floor was wiped out by the collapse of major Wall-Street investment houses. But what about the litigation department? “Oh, they are fine,” came the report. “In fact, they are working hard to pick up the slack and save jobs.” Regardless, it was a graceful exit for me.

I wonder if they ever knew what was happening on the other side of that phone line. I was no longer gazing out the window of a gilded office but resolved to learn Spanish by trial and error out on the street in the whirring buzz of humanity in one of the world’s largest cities. I wanted to bring back a talent for the people of Nebraska, South Omaha, Columbus, Schuyler, Crete, Lexington, Sioux City and anywhere else. I would serve the bricklayers like my grandfather, factory workers like my great-grandmother, bus drivers like my great-grandfather and salesmen like my father. No, they have not all been saints. But, in the end, it may be the devil, or it may be the lord, but we all have to serve somebody.

In 2014, Ross started his own law firm, Pesek Law LLC. As a private attorney, Ross focuses on accident an injury cases, often for Spanish speakers. He was recognized by the Nebraska Bar Association as the Outstanding Young Lawyer of 2013 and by the University of Nebraska Alumni Association with the “Early Achiever” award. Most recently, he was awarded the Seeds of Justice Award from the Nebraska Appleseed organization. Ross’ volunteer experience includes being an advocate for immigrants and their families and offering free legal services. He has established a free legal clinic at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in South Omaha where he has provided thousands of free legal consultations. Ross also established the True Potential scholarship program, a registered 501(c)(3) program. Since 2014, True Potential has awarded more than 100, one-year scholarships to immigrant students attending community colleges who would otherwise not be eligible for financial aid, based on their immigration status. Ross serves as a member of the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys Board of Directors.