A “Vets to Ventures” Veterans Day Feature: From Service to Success at Adams & Reese

Before they were attorneys, advisors, and business leaders, our Adams & Reese veterans were soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Guardsmen. Their experiences forged discipline, leadership, and resilience, all qualities that now define their success in law and business. 

This Veterans Day, our “Vets to Ventures” monthly blog series commemorates this special day by honoring 17 Adams & Reese attorneys and staff whose stories remind us how service continues to shape success in the legal profession. Across branches and generations, their paths to service are as diverse as their practices. Our Veterans include: 

• Air Force: Rob Fowler 
• Army: Alisyn Bukowski, Richard Carmody, Johnny Domiano, Brittany Izquierdo, Marc L. Warren, and Marc W. Warren 
• Marines: Madeline Algarin, Ken Curtin, Marshall Hevron, and Maralice Palm  
• Navy: Sean Buckley, Jeff Littlejohn, and John Scott 
• National Guard: Dale Allen and John Woods 
• Merchant Marines: Frank Liantonio 

Mission and Mindset in Military Service and Practice 

From the Army to the Air Force, our veterans agree that the lessons of service, mission focus, teamwork, and communication continue to guide their practice. 

Adams & Reese Commercial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Counsel Richard Carmody, who is celebrating 50 years of practice, reflects on how his eight years of service in the U.S. Army has shaped his mission-focused approach in his legal career. 

“In the military, you are focused on accomplishing a mission. You learn to collaborate with others and to utilize all the resources available to you,” said Carmody. “These lessons translate extremely well to the practice of law in a multidisciplinary law firm where you have an arsenal of expertise available across a broad footprint. It’s as if you are in the operations center and are communicating with the client to understand and define the mission. Then you can decide who needs to be deployed on what issues.” 

Carmody recalls a particularly complex bankruptcy matter in which collaboration among his colleagues, a value he learned early in the military, proved to be the best means of serving a client. “I recall one rapidly moving bankruptcy sale matter in which we used 17 lawyers from six offices over the course of two months to help our client achieve a desired outcome. It felt exactly like being in an operations center in Vietnam.” 

Rob Fowler, Environmental Team Leader, says the Air Force taught him that structure isn’t bureaucracy; it’s how you move fast without chaos. “The Air Force taught me the chain of command isn’t red tape; it’s how you move fast without colliding. When everyone knows who decides what and when, then you act under pressure and still stay aligned,” said Fowler. “In my practice at Adams & Reese, that looks like clear ownership of a matter, clean lines of responsibility, and a shared plan, so nothing is dropped.” 

“The rhythm was simple: say what you’re going to do, do it, then say what happened – brief, execute, debrief – three words ingrained in every military officer. With clients, that means keeping them informed early and often, especially when facts shift. No surprises. Honest updates. Decisions made with the best information we have. And finally, stay mission focused.” 

Fowler added that through his experience in service, he learned to define the objective with the client, align the team to it, and adjust as conditions change. “That mix of respect for the chain of command, steady communication, and a clear mission is what I carried from the Air Force into how I work with clients today.” 

Lessons from Across the Branches 

Each branch of the military carries its own creed: discipline, courage, loyalty, and service. These principles continue to influence how our veterans lead in law and in life. 

Adams & Reese Government Relations Counsel Dale Allen, who served for 28 years in the Tennessee Army National Guard, reflects on how his service allowed him to assist local military families, especially during major deployments, and to build lifelong friendships with fellow JAG officers who went on to serve as judges, attorneys, and public servants across the country. 

“The National Guard is the best organization I have ever associated with in my career. Being able to have a private legal and military career for twenty-eight years was just a great opportunity,” said Allen. “The military training as a JAG officer was invaluable and carried over to my legal practice.” 

For Ken Curtin, Construction & Litigation Partner, the Marines transformed self-doubt into purpose. “As a kid, I was a skinny, insecure, timid kid in high school who had no direction nor plan in life. I decided to join the Marines to challenge myself,” reflects Curtin. “The Marine Corps taught me that success is determined by hard work, resoluteness, and perseverance. I brought the hard-learned lessons of the Marine Corps to my law career and discovered that success in the law is also dependent on hard work, resoluteness, and perseverance. These lessons have served well both in life and in my legal career.” 

Curtin also lives out the Marine motto, Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful). “Semper Fidelis symbolizes a lifelong commitment to my fellow Marines and my country. It is a way of life that puts the collective good above an individual’s ego and desires. A lone Marine is only one person, but a Marine squad working in tandem and supporting each other is a family, and unstoppable. 

“I have tried to transfer this sense of commitment to my partners. Throughout my career, I have discovered that by working together with my fellow attorneys and leveraging each attorney’s unique strengths and knowledge, clients obtain the best service and results. The consequences are law partners who I consider family and satisfied clients who return to the firm.” 

A Tradition of Service and Reflection 

For many of our attorneys, Veterans Day is deeply personal. It is a day to honor not just their own service, but the legacy of sacrifice that runs through their families and communities. 

“As a former Air Force officer, Veterans Day, to me, is about sacrifice, plain and simple. It runs through my family. My dad and his brother wore Air Force uniforms for over 20 years. Both of my grandfathers were drafted into the Army, one in World War I and one in World War II. That history isn’t a story I read; it’s the house I grew up in,” said Fowler. 

Fowler's reflections remind us that the cost of service is borne not only by those in uniform, but by their families as well. “I remember my dad’s two remote tours, each one a full year: an empty chair at the dinner table, missed anniversaries with my mother, and a scratchy collect phone call at odd hours that had to stand-in for being there. Those tours taught me that sacrifice isn’t just the veteran’s; it belongs to the family too — spouses carrying more than their share, kids learning to be patient, and moments you don’t get back.” 

“We make a big deal, as we should, when a kid chooses where to attend college. Too often, we don’t clap as loudly when a kid picks a uniform. Veterans Day is my reminder to do both: honor the choice to serve and the quiet cost that choice asks of the people who love them,” said Fowler. 

Honoring Service and Leadership 

Veterans Day reminds us that service, in all its forms, changes who we are. To our Adams & Reese veterans, thank you for your courage, leadership, and example. Your dedication strengthens our firm and the communities we serve every day.