Justice Consuelo Marie Callahan, Circuit Judge, United States Courts of Appeal [20:18-25:23]

sort of humorous to me but because obviously physically I couldn't intimidate a fly but by the same token when I'm when I'm on it and I'm when I'm serious people know it and and as an advocate or as a judge that when I tell someone something and when I told my kids something everyone knew hey she means it that's true there's no question about that people talk about your focus and your energy and they do recognize that whimsical side as you refer to but they do know not only in court but anytime you put your time and energy into a project you're all about the business I'll get to that in a moment I wanted to ask you because I read in one of your numerous bios I was reading about you that your interest in the law started perhaps in high school and you had a mentor in high school can you tell us about that well it the first time I ever remember saying out of my mouth that I thought I wanted to be a lawyer was when I it was at a high school graduation party that turned out to be it was at the home of probably someone that will be in this legacy justice Modi Sabra was the and and his wife Betty and I went to high school with his son Ron who just recently retired from the Superior Court in Alameda County and they were we and I was actually in Ron's wedding because he married my best friend Sherry from high school so it was all this sort of convoluted thing but just just Sabra or Modi or whatever I think we called we called him Judge Sabra at the time and he asked me well what are you going to do I was obviously heading off to Stanford at that time and I said well I think I either want to be a lawyer or an English teacher and that was the first time I remember articulating that and it was odd that it went that it went to him but he was probably the only lawyer or judge that I actually knew at that time and so I've often thought back to that and it's been sort of interesting in the sense that the Sabra Callahan combination has you know we've crossed a number of ways because then Ron his son I we ended up being in law school together and then we both ended up being judges then I ended up being a justice and and and then Ron's sister later became a lawyer her name's Terry Bloc and Terry was my law clerk for two years just fairly recently so it's our personal family and legal careers have somehow all been intertwined and I think that I ended up being whereas Justice Sabra was somewhat of a mentor to me that I ended up being sort of the same to Terry later on absolutely and I know some of the folks you're talking about and I also heard actually in reading and knowing you in the community that you have touched a lot of lives you have helped and guided people by example and by your personal touch but I'm gonna get to that later okay get to your to your career tell me about Stanford why Stanford did you know that that's where you were going were you always aiming for Stanford well that's and that goes back to a little bit of my my focused mind when my dad went back and got his masters and his doctorate from Stanford at the time you know he had three young children and my parents spoke to us and said that dad was going back to school and that that was going to require you know a commitment from the whole family he was going to be gone a lot and he would you know the many would be less even though we weren't rich starting but it was going to be even less meaning you know had to quit piano lessons there was and it was a whole family effort and I do remember when and I remember my dad working very hard and I remember he was the oldest person in his his doctoral program and when he graduated he was first in the program and I do remember all of us being there and being so proud I mean I get choked up to this day thinking about it but okay I got to get back together on this but the but it was that his going back to school that I said I want to go to Stanford and so as young as being in fifth grade I was really I started to focus on what I would have to do and I knew I had to be academically at the top of my class and that I also needed they looked for well-rounded and people that did other things and so I remember even in high school that I had this little tiny book because we didn't have computers or anything like that then where I wrote down all of my activities and because I knew I would need to remember that for and I remember making a conscious effort as I that the things that I needed to do and so it was something that I think my dad going there and then seeing that and being exposed to the school that I really was focused on that now why English that's