50 years ago this fall, I was a member of the very first class to start at the then brand-new BC Law School campus. But I ended up there after an unexpected — but well aimed — kick in the pants.

Rewind to the spring of my senior year in college. I had checked off almost all the boxes for what I thought was a strong, competitive, well earned application to top-notch graduate schools in clinical psychology. Good grades, ample volunteering, an internship in a relevant field, a double major — all completed. All I needed were reference letters.

I asked my undergrad faculty advisor, clinical psychology professor James Roff — one of the many people at nearby Brandeis University who had personally invested in me — for a recommendation. “Michael, I’d be doing you a disservice by writing your reference letter,” he candidly told me. “With your skills and nature, you strike me more of an advocate or a policy change agent. You’re not going to want to just sit there and ‘hold space’ for a client. Think about law school, politics, social work. Not clinical psychology.”

My ego bruised, I graduated, feeling rudderless and without a clear plan. Eventually, I realized that Professor Roff ‘got me ‘. After working with a local Police Department for a while, I followed his advice.  And I sought out BC Law because of former Dean Father Robert Drinan’s commitment to educating the whole person — mind, body and spirit.

After law school, I built an interesting career as a health-care attorney and hospital executive team member, but always devoted time to doing volunteer legal work.

In retirement, I am dedicating myself even more to helping others, and I’ve been surprised and humbled to have been recognized twice by the Washington State Bar and King County Bar Associations for my pro bono service.

Brandeis University and BC law truly opened doors and helped shape me to focus on access to justice. But it was my mother who taught her boys (like Mr. Rogers ) to be — and look to — the helpers. 

---

Michael B. Goldenkranz ’78 was a health care attorney and later a member of a hospital’s executive team before retiring. In 2023 he was awarded the King County Bar’s 2023 Individual Pro Bono Award and the Washington State Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Public Service Award. He has been volunteering for the King County Bar Association’s Neighborhood Pro Bono Legal Clinics in Seattle, almost weekly, since 2004.