Q & A with Thomas Wang
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Q&A
Q & A with Thomas Wang
Thomas Wang joined Ashburn & Mason, P.C. in Anchorage, Alaska in 2009. He has been a member of the Alaska Bar Association since 1998 and has wide-ranging experience in real estate, commercial transactions, and labor and employment law.
In his commercial practice, Wang has assisted clients in a wide variety of business matters including the negotiation of executive employment agreements, non-compete and other restrictive covenants, commercial leases and land acquisitions, corporate formation and restructuring, and business sales and acquisitions. He has represented clients in court and arbitration proceedings involving service contracts, construction, landlord-tenant, insurance, corporate dissolution, and other commercial disputes.
A graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas, Wang received his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1997.
Q: Before becoming an attorney, what was your first job?
A: In the summers during college, I worked as a camp counselor at a dude ranch in Ft. Davis, Texas and as a caddy at a golf course in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Immediately prior to law school, I worked as a clerk/runner for the Metropolitan Legal Department of Nashville and Davidson County, which was a great learning experience.
Q: What motivated you to pursue a legal career?
A: I had no lawyers in my family or anywhere in my family’s circle of friends. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. But I liked reading and writing, so I figured I could find a path somewhere in the law.
Q: Who was your chief mentor and how did he or she influence your career?
A: My first boss in Anchorage was a model of zealous advocacy and ethical practice standards. I have always hoped to live up to those standards.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A: It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help with something.
Thomas Wang pictured with his wife, Colleen Savoie, in Denali National Park in Alaska.
Thomas Wang
Q: What is one thing you would like to learn to do?
A: I would like to become fluent in Spanish.
Q: What is your proudest career achievement?
A: Our firm’s mission statement is “to provide high quality legal representation, delivered in an economical and ethical fashion, working in an environment that values our clients, our staff, and our families and relationships.” I am proud of our efforts to balance those aims and provide a good working environment for the next generation of the firm’s lawyers.
Q: What other career path might you have chosen?
A: Working for the U.S. State Department. I have always loved travel and been interested in diplomacy. That, or being the general manager of a baseball team!
Q: What is your most treasured material possession?
A: My road bicycle.
Q: What is your happiest childhood memory?
A: Sneaking onto the nearby public golf course after hours to go “golf ball hunting” with my father in out-of-bounds territory on warm summer nights.
Q: What is your favorite movie and book?
A: Movie: “Lost in Translation.”
Book: “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Q: What is the most awe-inspiring place you have visited?
A: Natural: Iguazu Falls in Argentina.
Manmade: Angkor Wat, the temple complex in Cambodia.
Q: What are your favorite leisure time pursuits?
A: Cycling, cooking, reading, and tinkering with mechanical things (often unsuccessfully).
Q: What is your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
A: “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain
Q: Who is on your guest list for the ideal dinner party?
A: Colleen Savoie (my wife), Steve Kerr, Katherine Graham, Tom Colicchio, Gore Vidal, Barack Obama, Madeleine Albright, and LJK Setright (English motoring journalist).
Q: What are the top three items on your bucket list?
A: Completing some of the iconic climbs of the Tour de France. Developing enough boating aptitude to do a significant trip – loop of the inland waterways or Inside Passage of Alaska. Visiting the Gates of the Arctic National Park and exploring some of the more remote corners of Alaska.