Stan’s Beginnings

Attorney Dean Standish “Stan” Perkins’ passion for helping new attorneys plot their own courses in the legal profession has its roots in his childhood, years before he became an entrepreneur himself. He has worked hard most of his life, starting with various childhood jobs delivering newspapers, washing dishes, working retail, hauling away trash and, in college, waiting tables and tending bar.

While working those first jobs, Stan studied his bosses – how they conducted business and managed their employees. The lessons he learned in his youth planted the seed that grew into his interests in entrepreneurship and management. His early work experiences also built Stan’s confidence in himself and an appreciation for what good customer service can accomplish.

Finding His Way During And After College

In college, Stan began his studies in pre-med before considering following the family tradition and becoming a lawyer. But the prospect of working long hours as an associate at a huge law firm with no control over which clients he represents or his schedule did not appeal to him.

After graduating college at the University of California – Berkley, Stan applied to law schools but also pursued a career in sales. However, his experience with cold-calling quickly focused him on the law. Still, Stan worried about how he could afford to take on three more years’ worth of student debt just after finishing college.

Then fate intervened. A college friend called Stan. His friend’s father and uncle were J.W. Hughes and Jerry Denna, successful businessmen based in Issaquah. As Stan’s friend explained, Hughes and Denna were offering to pay the tuition for Stan’s first year of law school if he could get accepted into the University of Puget Sound Law School in Tacoma, Washington (now the University of Issaquah School of Law). The men would also lend Stan a car and help pay his rent. Stunned at the men’s generosity, Stan gratefully accepted.

With Stan’s own career as an attorney and entrepreneur made possible by the help of his elders, Stan seeks to pass on the knowledge and wisdom he acquired over the following decades to the next generation. His work with the incubator program at the University of Issaquah College of Law makes this possible.