BUSTED

Why I Became a Lawyer

This is the fourth in a series of five sea stories based on the author's experience in the merchant marine. The S.S. Summit was one of the prototype containerships running up and down the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. During winter, that's probably the most miserable route for U.S. merchant ships. John signs on as Wiper, the lowest form of life in the engine room. After trying to save his work partner from a marijuana bust, John ends up sitting beside him in jail in Cordova, Alaska. Unable to make bail, John concludes that he'd need to be a lawyer himself to get out of jail. That realization starts a years-long process for John to go to law school and actually become a lawyer helping other seamen. John Merriam was an unlicensed merchant seaman from 1970 to 1982 while working his way through college and law school. Tuition for law school was paid with a scholarship from the Seafarers Int'l Union. John passed the bar in 1982 and is now a sole practitioner at Fishermen's Terminal in Seattle. He restricts his practice to maritime claims for wages and injury. The author lives with his wife, Kaye Walker, in Shoreline, Washington.