Seguin Citizen

Local attorney finds balance between legal work, community and family

Seguin Citizen: David Eveld

What is your current occupation?
"Lawyer"

What does that involve?
"Primarily representing people with legal problems or other disputes and helping them resolve those problems in the best way possible."

What do you do off the clock "just for fun"?
"Enjoy my kids."

When and where were you born?
"Houston, 1963"

What's the most recent book you've read?
"'Courage and Consequence' by Karl Rove"

What is the best advice you've ever received?
"Just be yourself."

What is the biggest challenge you've ever faced?
"Raising kids to have good values and be respectful and responsible is a pretty big daily challenge."

If you had to describe yourself in just two words, what would they be?
"Compassionate and funny"

What inspires you?
"People who do the right thing no matter what."

If you could assemble a dinner party with any five guests (living or dead), who would they be?
"My dad, my wife and my kids."

What is your favorite TV show and why?
"Anything sports-related or on the Discovery channel."

What are your roles in the community?
"Most of my community activity right now involves coaching youth sports. I belong to St. James Catholic Church. At one time, I was volunteering giving legal advice at Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our family spends most of its free time (unfortunately) on youth sports activities."

What is your educational background?
"I went to college at the University of Notre Dame and law school at University of Houston."

What are your professional background/achievements/leadership roles?
"Primarily, I have been a lawyer here in Seguin. As far as my professional background, I taught one year of high school after graduating college which was an interesting experience. Several years ago, I was president of Seguin Noon Lions Club and involved on my church parish council. More recently, I was on the Seguin Little League Board."

Share your family.
"My wife's name is Ardis and is a soon-to-be former housewife and budding real estate agent. My children are James, 14, who is a freshman at Navarro High School; Anneliese,12, who is in seventh grade at Barnes and Will,10, who is in fifth grade at St. James."

What are the moments in your life and career that are your proudest accomplishments?
"One legal case in particular concerning gaining an acquittal on a murder charge for an innocent man who was a very unfortunate victim of circumstance. Otherwise, my children are my proudest accomplishment (knock on wood)."

What brought you to Seguin and why did you choose to live here?
"My wife and I wanted to get out of Houston and live in a small town. When I got out of law school, I looked for employment opportunities in Seguin and other towns around here because this is such a great area to live in. Luckily, I found an employment opportunity in Seguin."

What do you believe to be the strengths of this community?
"Seguin has managed to maintain its small town feel but is large enough that almost everything you need is close by. That and the people here are just no-nonsense, decent, hardworking people with good values who will help others at a moment's notice (with some exceptions of course)."

What initiatives or changes would you like to see in Seguin that would further strengthen the community?
"Some of the poorer neighborhoods could be improved such as streets and maybe through grants or volunteer work help people improve their homes to the extent they would want such help. Right now, we have too many high school graduates who aren't going to college or going into the work force. It is an incredible shame when we see one of our Seguin kids (young men, in particular) getting into serious trouble and doing such damage to their lives. Maybe the high school or some other local entity could give assistance to high school graduates that are otherwise directionless as far as employment or additional education."

Do you have any family roots/history in the area?
"My mothers ancestors settled in the Weimar/La Grange area. That's as close as my roots get to Seguin."

What are your plans for the future, personally and/or professionally?
"I plan to continue to work as a lawyer in Seguin."