Published: July 12, 2008 07:10 pm            

Square peg, square hole

John Westbrook has the experience. The newest attorney to join District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson’s office, Westbrook has spent most of the past two decades going after the bad guys.

And, at 57 years old, that’s what he has found he is meant to do.

“I was really suited, I thought, for engineering because of the math and sciences,” Westbrook said of his initial direction in college. “But, at some point, I got into the abstract.”

He went to Texas Tech, starting in engineering and later switching to business studies, before transferring to Baylor University.

“I saw people getting out of business school making less money than when I worked in the oil fields or drove a truck,” Westbrook said. “So I went to law school.”

It was at Baylor that he earned first his business degree and then moved on to its well-respected law school and determined the course of his future career.

For 10 years after graduating from Baylor, Westbrook was in private practice, working almost exclusively in the oil and gas industry. But an economic downturn for that industry left him with little work from the petroleum industry.

So he went to work for Midland County was eventually promoted to the first assistant attorney position in the office.

His wife, Lisa, became sick and move became necessary to be near major hospitals. Relocating to Waxahachie and a job in the Ellis County D.A.’s office, he worked there for about two years until his wife’s death.

For the next three years, Westbrook was back in private practice before coming to Navarro County and into the type of law he prefers — prosecution.

“I did a little (criminal) defense work ... but I found that distasteful,” he said. “There’s a certain satisfaction in getting dangerous people off the streets. More satisfaction than fighting (in court) over a few dollars here and there.”

“You need a little stimulus (in life),” Westbrook said. “This is what I know, what I like to do.”

His boss is just happy that Westbrook is in his office.

“The thing about John, he’s a very hard worker and he’s got tons and tons of experience,” District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson said. “That’s not only good for my office but it’s good for Navarro County.”

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Loyd Cook may be reached via e-mail at lcook@corsicanadailysun.com

        

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