I grew up in and around Buffalo NY. In 1974, after graduating from Barker Central High School, I enlisted in the U.S. Army for three years. I received an Honorable Discharge in 1977 and began college at the State University of NY at Buffalo where I earned my Batchelors degree in English in 1982. While in college I married my wife, Kathleen, in 1979. Just to make college a little more interesting, we had children in 1980, 1983, and 1986. After college I earned my Juris Doctorate at Ohio Northern University in 1985. I moved to Georgia and was admitted to the bar in 1986.