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OGDEN -- Seven out of the eight partners in Ogden's largest law firm, Farr Kaufman, now ride touring motorcycles, hitting the highway in bands of barristers engulfed by the roar of the open throttle.
The senior partners, Stephen Farr and Steven Kaufman, were the last to go leather and chrome, with Farr getting his license this year.
Office-wide viral mid-life crisis? Feel of the wind through their bald spots?
"I've got no bald spot," Kaufman said. "We've actually ridden them up the steps of the courthouse just to rev them up and let everybody stare at us."
All deny any mid-life crisis. "I think we were all past that when we started this," Kaufman said. "Our average age is 50-plus." The oldest biker-partner, Richard Medsker, is 60.
Bikers now are all "doctors and lawyers and CEOs, not the rough-and-tumble stereotype," Kaufman said. "I guess it's cool to be 50 and have a Harley.
"And it's cooler to be a lawyer, and 50, and have a Harley, and still have the same wife for the last 30 years."
Ron Perkins started the whole thing in 1995. The firm's full name is Farr Kaufman Sullivan Gorman Jensen Medsker Nichols and Perkins. They favor the mystique of the Harley brand.
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When lawyers are in cars "everything becomes work-related," Perkins said. "You're still thinking about your cases and everything else."
But escaping the entombment of a closed vehicle changes all that, he said. "When you're out riding, you can't think about anything but riding. I don't give work a second thought when I'm on a bike."
It's more about economics than a mid-life crisis, Perkins said -- besides, he rides with his wife. "The majority of bikers now are white-collar professionals, since otherwise you can't afford them," he said of the Harleys that start at $17,000.
"I paid more for my last bike than I did for my first house."
The group touring on the open road has numbered as many as 13, said partner Kevin Sullivan. They are often joined by friends with the same hobby, including a few police officers.
"We take off in different directions," he said. "Tremonton, Bear Lake, Monte Cristo. In the summer we'll ride every Friday afternoon for a couple hours."
"It's just good stress relief. Most of the bikers I know are doctors and lawyers. We've never had any problems."
Kaufman noted former Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Zimmerman rides a Harley, as does retired 2nd District Judge David
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Roth. "You do view the world differently," Kaufman said. "It's more than just the ride. It's the whole culture. You work in the conservative, quiet zone of the law. Then there's the sense of power and speed on the bike.
"And you get to meet a lot of interesting people you would never interact with otherwise."
There's a Harley culture, he said, as opposed to bullet bikes or any other model. "When you tell people you have a motorcycle, the first question they always ask is, 'Is it a Harley?' "
"There's a certain collegiality among Harley owners," Kaufman said. "It's a common denominator. You're automatically a buddy. You immediately have something in common."
When Kaufman stepped down as president of the Utah State Bar in 1997, his colleagues on the bar's board of commissioners gave him a leather biker jacket as a going-away gift.
"It's a totally different world than what you're doing all day as an attorney," he said. "You're not out committing crimes, but you're kind of a cowboy."
By TIM GURRISTER
Standard-Examiner staff
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