Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to David Pruitt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

David , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

Firstly, the cost of post-secondary education makes it unattractive or unattainable for many young people. Saddling an individual with six-figures of debt post graduation is also not ideal because it acts as a hinderance for home ownership and other needs a person has that involves credit, such as leasing a vehicle or acquisition financing for a business.
Secondly, there are too many degrees available that will not lead to a career once the degree is obtained. So its highly probable that a person who graduates with a degree in Humanities or Social Science and carries a mountain of debt will never be able to find a job that aligns with the degree and paying off a student loan is not remotely feasible in that regard either.
Adjunct Professors or Guest Lecturers are effective at teaching College students and come at a much more affordable price than a tenured Professor. There are many Professors who are handsomely paid, so too are Deans and the Provost at a school you’ve never heard of might be earning nearly seven (7) figures per year. So salaries for full-time, tenured faculty are far too high. Moreover, the salaries paid to Athletic Directors and coaching staff for some sports teams are in the millions. To afford such high compensation for faculty and sports figures, the tuition must be high and in turn, College kids are forced to pay high tuition. Colleges should re-visit the monies paid to tenured faculty and lower the tuition for degrees that are not worth the same value as a degree that will lead to a profession such as Accounting or Engineering.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I became a lawyer not to practice law but to earn a portable skill-set. I never wanted to argue before a Judge or spend countless hours conducting legal research for motion practice. Instead, I wanted to understand the legal system, learn to think critically and focus on a few key subjects such as Contract and Real Estate law to round out my offering.
In addition to my law degree, I also hold a MBA (Accounting) and spent 14 years working in the Banking sector prior to becoming an attorney. My education and work experience lends itself nicely to helping business owners and individuals with needs that center on finance, real estate and contract law.
Today, I’m comfortable navigating through financial statements, conducting due diligence for a potential transaction, advising CEO’s and entrepreneurs on risks, and reviewing, editing or drafting contracts.
I help my clients mitigate risk by anticipating the harm that could come if a deal isn’t properly documented or if certain measures are not in place to safeguard my client from future litigation.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my business partner while in law school in San Diego. Jessica entered law school later in life and so did I, we were the older students in class. Prior to law school, I got married, had a daughter and decided to enter law school at age 33. Jessica was also in her early 30’s and got pregnant in law school. I respected her resilience and for the both of us, failing was not an option.
Jessica remained in San Diego and I relocted to St. Louis with my family because my wife accepted a very good position with a public company. Today, Marshall & Pruitt Law Group has an office in San Diego and in St. Louis. In San Diego we practice personal injury law and commercial litigation. In St. Louis, we practice commercial litigation & corporate transactions, lemon law and real estate law.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Fortunately, we run a skinny law firm, however, start up capital was absolutely necessary and thankfully I had the financial resources necessary to get us off the ground. As I mentioned earlier, I worked in the Banking sector prior to becoming an attorney and I paid for law school with a combination of scholarship and cash, no debt. I funded the law firm with personal savings until such time that it could support itself.
There are numerous lenders who will provide seed capital for a law firm, from what I’ve seen, the rates and terms are not unaffordable making law firm growth a real dream for any attorney who is contemplating starting their own law firm.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marshallpruittlaw.com/
• Instagram: @solutionsattorney
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marshallpruittlaw
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pruitt-mba-esq-8017a028/