Lasting Impact

Amidst the sprawling Kansas prairie north of Topeka sits the small town of Holton – the county seat of Jackson County. This tight-knit community is known for its natural beauty, historic town square, and 124-year-old courthouse, where many highly successful attorneys have gotten their start. Seven of these prestigious lawyers have something in common – while students at Washburn University School of Law, they completed an internship with Richard “Dick” Lake, BA ’61, JD ’68. Working with the compassionate country lawyer was nothing short of transformative.

“He turned us into talented lawyers through his mentoring,” said Kevin Regan, ’81, who interned with Lake in 1979 and now has his own criminal and civil law firm in Kansas City, Missouri. “The common denominator to all of our success is Dick Lake. He taught us ethics, integrity, how to use your imagination and preparation to defeat your opponent, and how to evaluate a case justly to ensure the integrity of your conviction.”

For Tom Erker, ’82, the experience he gained trying cases alongside Lake catapulted him to a successful career as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Johnson County, Kansas, before his retirement in 2022. He interned with Lake in the summer of 1981 after moving to Topeka from Long Island, New York, to attend law school. From Lake he learned not only how to practice law ethically but also how to balance family and professional life and live and work in a rural setting.

“I remember driving to Holton every day from Topeka on a rural two-lane highway, and every day was an adventure,” Erker said. “It was probably the most valuable apprenticeship a young lawyer could have. Dick taught us respect for the court, respect for the rule of law, and respect for the other side of the case, no matter what happened. It was an incredible opportunity.”

Originally from Topeka, Lake began practicing law in 1968 and quickly established himself as a go-to criminal defense attorney in Topeka before moving his young family to Holton, where he served several terms as county attorney. But Lake wasn’t always so certain he wanted to be a lawyer. Prior to attending law school, he served four years in the United States Navy, where he rekindled his love of the law defending sailors against various charges in court martial proceedings.

“I realized how skewed the system was, and this piqued my interest in going back to law school,” Lake said. “My time in the Navy taught me discipline and not to jump to conclusions – to take your time and get to know people. This has been very helpful in the practice of law.”

In Holton, Lake found acceptance in the community and a great environment for his two sons to grow up in, with ample opportunities to be involved in activities and sports. After his appointment as county attorney ended, the family decided to stay in Holton. Lake opened a criminal defense practice across the street from the courthouse and worked with a wide variety of clients including the oppressed, the elderly, individuals with mental illness, and indigent people. When necessary, he worked pro bono, underscoring his foundational belief that the most important part of the legal profession is helping people.

“At my first firm, their motto was that if you walk through the door, money or no, we represent you,” Lake said. “I’ve always lived by that. I think part of your responsibility as a lawyer is that if someone trusts you with their case, you should do the best job you can for them, whether they can pay you or not. I think that helps maintain the reputation of our profession.”

With his interns, Lake sought to impart the same values he kept at the forefront of his own life and legal practice. He encouraged them to be punctual and honorable, do pro bono work, always be honest and keep their word, and to stick up for their fellow lawyers. He insists that during his four decades working with interns and teaching as an adjunct at Washburn, he has learned just as much from his students as they have learned from him.

“I taught them that we are here to help people,” Lake said. “The most valuable part for me is seeing how successful they’ve all turned out – they’ve all gone on to have stellar careers. I helped them along the way, but they already had a lot of that in them. They drove all the way to Holton to try cases, and that took some initiative on their part. They wanted to be trial lawyers.”

Lake was also renowned for giving his interns a great deal of experience and freedom in the courtroom. During Regan’s internship, for instance, Lake asked him if he wanted to try the first murder case in the history of Jackson County, even though Regan was still a student at the time. Once the shock wore off, Regan jumped at the opportunity.

“I spent the summer studying the science of blood spatter, ballistics, fingerprints, shooting distances,” Regan said. “I studied the law of treaties between Native Americans and the U.S. government. It was believed that I was the first law student in the country to try a murder case while still in law school – and I not only tried that case, but I won it.”

Erker also praises Lake’s ability to allow his interns to come to their own conclusions and learn from their mistakes. During his internship Erker was allowed to try cases against top lawyers, with Lake guiding him through the practicalities of taking a case from inception to arguing it at the court of appeals.

“I can attribute my success and my love of the practice of law to Dick Lake,” Erker said. “Dick let you make your own mistakes, and he also taught you that you learned more from a loss than you ever learned from a win. He would sit down with you and analyze your case. He would ask us questions and let us make decisions, and when we got it wrong he would show us why.”

Over the years, Lake’s track record for training accomplished attorneys has been incredible. In addition to Regan and Erker, his interns have included Paul Morrison, BS ’77, JD ’80, who went on to become the attorney general for the state of Kansas; Tom Warner, ’84, who became a top trial lawyer; Frank Caro, ’83, who is a partner in the national Polsinelli Law Firm and specializes in energy and utility law; the late Mike Ireland, ’81, who served as a district court judge; and Maurice Brewer, ’14, who became an assistant district attorney in Wyandotte County, Kansas.

Of this group, Morrison, Regan, and Warner have distinguished themselves as fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is the most prestigious award in the profession. Only the top one percent of trial lawyers in North America get in, with induction based on trial advocacy, ethical conduct, integrity, professionalism, and collegiality. Regan says many law firms are lucky to have one attorney who is a member of this elite organization, and the fact that Lake has three among his interns speaks volumes about his effectiveness as a teacher.

Beyond learning the practice and ethics of law, Lake and his former interns have kept in touch and remained, as Erker said, like a second family. The group often has meals together and has done work on Lake’s farm. Regan recalls one summer when he and some of his fellow interns were helping Lake bale hay, which none of them had done before.

“We were all city boys, and we didn’t have the right equipment or clothes,” Regan said. “We loaded this hay truck up with 200 bales of hay and we were dead tired. It was dinnertime and we were done – we had been sweating all day in 100-degree July heat. One of the interns said he knew how to drive the truck but he ran it into a ditch, and the truck tipped over. All of the hay bales fell onto the ground, and we had to restack them.”

Lake unofficially retired in 2024, though he continues to take cases for old clients and friends. Still, his legacy lives on in the work of the many lawyers he has trained – and this year he was permanently memorialized with the Atticus Finch Award, which Regan created to honor Lake and recognize the values he shares with the iconic attorney in Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” All of Lake’s interns have signed the award, which will hang outside the courthouse in Holton.

“I’m proud that my interns thought so much of me to do this on my behalf,” Lake said. “I’m also proud that it will remind the people of Holton that I lived here and worked here and was one of them.”

“Dick Lake has crafted a tremendous legacy of excellence, skill, and proficiency with several generations of interns,” Regan said. “His legacy reflects quite well on the university whose lineage we all proudly share.”