Tina N. Babel

PRACTICE AREAS: Business and probate litigation

LAW SCHOOL: University of California, Hastings

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT? Simply being a lawyer. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after undergrad, but I worked for a small maritime firm as a legal secretary and thought I could do what they did.

FAVORITE U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE? Justice Antonin Scalia. Our beliefs and politics could not be more diametrically opposed, and sometimes his decisions (or more likely, dissents) make me angry. But there is no denying that he is brilliant or is a powerful, witty legal writer. He repeatedly challenges what I think I know, and that makes me a better lawyer and advocate.

IF YOU HADN’T BECOME A LAWYER, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? A professor, hands down.  I love the academics of the law as much as I enjoy the practice.

ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU? I used to have a pretty substantial speech impediment. Until I was about 13, I couldn’t pronounce my s’s, t’s, l’s, th’s and sh’s. R’s were the worst.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUNG LAWYERS? Over prepare.  Never once have I regretted preparing too much, be it for a client meeting or an unimportant motion.