Michael H. Powers

Michael Powers is a man of many interests. He's an accomplished writer, and artist. He's worked in, and around, professional sports for more than 35 years, including four years for the California Senate Committee on Professional Sports; where he drafted legislation regulating athlete-agents and establishing the first boxers pension plan in the Country. He also participated in Major League Baseball's Salary Arbitration Hearings, drafting opinions in several, including one involving Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Pedro Guerrero.

While growing up in Carlsbad, Mike's father was on the faculty of Scripps Institute of Oceanography, co-authoring the seminal "Waves Across the Pacific" study, which for the first time established the methodology for accurately forecasting ocean waves.

"I have been surfing since I was ten years old" says Powers, "The competitive atmosphere in the water, learning the unwritten rules of surfing protocol, and learning to be in the right spot at the right time to catch the next wave, are all life lessons that have served me well over the years."

When his father, who was also in the Marine Corps for 31 years, was transferred to the Pentagon, Mike and his family moved to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he finished high school. He was accepted at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, with hopes of pursuing a career as a journalist, however, after a year at UNC, he decided to take a break from academia to pursue other interests, including owning a health food store and becoming a union carpenter. Eventually, he returned to school at Chapel Hill, intent on pursuing a law degree.

Following his graduation from Chapel Hill, he matriculated to the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where he excelled and was honored by the National Moot Court Board with Best Oral Argument and Top Written Brief during his time there.

Following law school, he landed a position with one of the pre-eminent San Francisco based Workers Compensation Defense firms, eventually spending 24 years there before retiring from the partnership in 2009; for 10 of those years, Mike was the Managing Senior Partner of the firm's Sacramento office.

"I have known Ed Benthale for 15 years, and in fact, there was a point where it looked like our two law firms would merge; so when Ed suggested I come to work for him in his new Concord office, I knew it would be a good match."

Mike resides with his wife Catherine in Sacramento and continues to pursue his interests in surfing and writing. "Over the years we have surfed all over the world including Ireland, Mexico and both the East and West Coast of the US."

Mike has authored three books to date, including two on Baseball and his latest on Surfing and Southern California's Kustom Kulture entitled: "Michael Dormer and the Legend of Hot Curl". He also is the creator of an art series in collaboration with the artist Shepard Fairey and the Estate of the legendary photographer Jim Marshall entitled: "American Civics: Educating the Citizens" (americancivics.com).

"Looking back, the parts of my life that I have come to cherish are the relationships that I have had with some of my heroes including Shepard Fairey, lead guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna Jorma Kaukonen and of course the inimitable Yogi Berra, who wrote the forward for my second book."