Law Blog Former Lawyer of the Day: Will Hopkins

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I was nobody - just a face in the crowd
With a dream far too big to get off the ground
People told me, “You’re crazy - it ain’t gonna fly
There’s no way you can make it, so don’t even try”
I could’ve told myself, that’s just how it is
Accepted my fate, oh but I never did
– from “When You Come From Nothing,” by Will Hopkins



The Law Blog sees American Idol sporadically, but we know enough about the contest to know we like the guy with the dreadlocks and the Irish woman with the tattoos. What we didn’t know, until today, is that there’s also an American Idol songwriting competition, which began last season.

According to Will Hopkins, a former partner in the Washington office of Ross, Dixon & Bell, tens of thousands of songwriters submitted their songs in March, twenty finalists were selected in early April, and, tonight, the voting for the songwriting contest will close. Then, on the last night of Idol, the winners will sing the winning song.

How does Hopkins, 47, know all this? Well, his song, “When You Come From Nothing,” was chosen as one of the 20 finalists. Hopkins, who chucked his life in the law and now splits his time between D.C. and Nashville, spoke to the Law Blog about making the jump from lawyer to musician.

Hi Will. Thanks for talking with us. So were you an entertainment lawyer before you got into music?

I was doing insurance coverage counseling and litigation, and professional liability defense work at Ross Dixon. It’s a Hogan & Hartson spin-off. I was in the first class of summer associates in 1985, during my second year of law school at University of Virginia, and then I went back and started practicing. I made partner in the mid 90’s.

When did your music interest begin?

I got wrapped up in writing songs in law school, but I had always written and composed full-scale works of music in my head. I could hear the full orchestration, chord changes and base notes, and I could make up the melody. But I had no training in music and didn’t play an instrument, or come from a family of musicians. But, all the time I’d walk down the street and I’d be singing a tune out loud. So with my first paycheck from Ross Dixon I bought a synthesizer and started taking piano lessons from a friend of mine in DC. But around that time the legal practice of an associate at a big city firm got overwhelming, and I found I didn’t have time for it. The legal career took over, and the muse left me. I no longer walked down the street and made up tunes.

Well we know the muse came back. So when and how did it happen?

13 years later. A doctor diagnosed me as having [attention deficit disorder] and suggested I try Ritalin. In my mind it unleashed the creative gene again, and it was like the light was back on. And I said, Dammit, do something with it this time. I knew of a guy in town who was a music studio owner. After placing six unreturned calls, I finally caught him and said I’m not taking no for an answer. We picked 11 songs to do full-scale demos of. The first time we got together to work on one of those songs, he stopped me and said, You know more music theory than a lot of full time musicians do. I took that as a sign. About five months later, when I’d recorded five songs, I made a decision: God is telling you this is what you have to do with your life.

How did your partners at Ross Dixon respond?

The reaction was, either we need to do an intervention because this guy is on crack cocaine, or his doctor has his medicine cranking at too high a level. Fortunately, at that time I had no idea how difficult it is to make it as a songwriter, with the music industry going down about 15% a year.

Was your family supportive?

I have a domestic partner, Joe Gale, the U.S. Tax Court judge. He’s been very supportive.

Will you ever return to law?

Technically, there’s one case I’m helping another partner on. I don’t want the client to say, oh, that’s all he’s doing. But my intention is that I’m a songwriter and that’s what I want to be known for. I probably was not cut out to be a full-time lawyer. But I couldn’t do what I’m doing right now if I hadn’t practiced law for 13 years, in terms of having the financial resources to do it. For me, I would’ve given up too easily if I’d started off as a 26 year old, because I’d have been frustrated in not making it.

We like the guy with the dreadlocks, and the woman with the Irish accent. If you could choose an Idol contestant to sing your song, who would it be?

David Archuleta or the Irish girl, Carly [Smithson]. The truth is, I don’t think Jason [Castro] [the dreadlocks guy] has the pipes to do my song because it’s pretty rangy.

Sounds good Will. Best of luck in the competition.

Thanks.

LB Readers: If you care to listen to snippets of the final 20 songs, or vote in the competition, click here.