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William Cremins, BJ '80

Tell us about yourself.
I am a small fish in a small pond, practicing law in Knoxville, Tenn. I wouldn't be anywhere else, doing anything else, with anyone else. If a success is any of that, then I am successful. I realize I owe a debt to the J-School for preparing me to do what I do, and I am indebted to a lot of others for helping me every day at Mizzou and afterward.

What were your first impressions of the J-School?
I recall seeing classmates' names and hometowns posted on a classroom door. There were students from one coast to the other.

Where were the best places in Columbia during your time at Mizzou?
The hill during football games. Stephens Lake. Wherever I was at the time.

What is your best advice to current students?
Find your passion. Prepare yourself to do what you love. Treat others nicely. Have a plan.

What fun college memories do you have?
Skruffy parties during Cruisin' Cal's radio show broadcasts on the campus radio station. Skruffy getting on the phone (again) to call the show when not supposed to be on the phone, or up so late. Stephens College girls. Sitting on the columns watching the flags fly over Jesse Hall. Following the band through downtown after a big win.

What would a sample of your work look like?
In preparing for a workers' compensation trial, I have to learn enough medicine to understand and question the treating physician. I prepare my client to comfortably relate how he was hurt and the effects of his injury. I outline an argument indicating for the court various elements of my proof satisfying each requisite component of the claim.

What is your greatest professional achievement?
There may not be a single achievement I'd consider "great" or "greatest." I always feel glad to have influenced lives each time a client of mine goes home with his or her child, or children, after a custody case. I've also had that feeling after verdicts or settlements which I know will change clients' lives. It's an achievement for me whenever I make a difference in those lives.

What motivates you?
I care about folks who entrust their children, assets, careers and lives to me. Giving a damn about others motivates me.

What has been the best afterthought of history?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." (First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)