20 under 40: William Broderick-Villa

Favorite quote or saying, why?

“Children need an occasional pat on the back ... as long as it’s applied low enough and hard enough.” – Fulton Sheen

I like this quote because, in addition to the humorous bait-and-switch, it contains much metaphorical truth. As a teacher, my students achieved their highest potential not when I complimented them incessantly, but rather when I set rigorous standards and enforced these expectations vigilantly. As a society, I don’t think we expect enough of students and children. As a former Waterford High School teacher and Academic Decathlon coach, it was a culture of high expectations that helped our students achieve the highest Academic Performance Index scores in the contiguous seven-county region and helped our team advance to the Academic Decathlon state finals three times (and the national finals once) in the small schools division.

Community or professional highlights:

Attorney for Curtis Legal Group; I have litigated a 53-day probate litigation case (including issues of will contest, trust contest and complex accounting issues); admitted to practice before all courts of the state of California; admitted to practice in federal court for the Eastern District of California. Formerly externed for the highest court of Maryland while in law school. Formerly president of the Georgetown Law Student Bar Association (i.e., the student government for Georgetown Law). Current president of the Stanislaus County Estate Planning Council.

Your life changed when:

Two times. First, when my wife, Angelica, and I got married. Second, when our son, Ambrose, was born.

What do you want people to know most about you?

I love brain teasers, math puzzles and memorizing poetry. I taught high school math and history and coached Academic Decathlon for seven years before I went back to law school.

What do you like most about living here?

I love the people of the Central Valley, and I love the agriculture and abundance of fresh produce we provide the world. I like that this is where I’m from, and that my family is here. And I love the gnarled beauty of our endemic valley oak trees (quercus lobata), the largest and most majestic of the oaks in North America.

Why is community involvement important?

Humans have a need to contribute to the building up of society. This is what I tried to do as a teacher and in my former work in local government. A classroom is a microcosm of society, and as a teacher, it was easy to feel a sense of community and common purpose on a daily basis. As an attorney, it’s more challenging to stay “plugged in” to the wider world, and therefore one must consciously seek opportunities to build community. I get my fix through participation in Modesto Rotary, through church and through service on the National Ag Science Center and the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County board of directors (although I’ve had to pull back considerably since the birth of my son, who now rightly occupies the bulk of my elective time).

This story was originally published August 21, 2016 at 4:59 AM with the headline "20 under 40: William Broderick-Villa."