He's been hailed and pilloried as a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. His roster of clients includes Dow Jones, Arthur Andersen and J. Howard Marshall, III (Anna Nicole Smith was not a fan), not to mention a who's who of professional athletes: Roger Clemens, Warren Moon, Wade Boggs, Adrian Peterson, Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich. As a result, he's become a celebrity in his own right, as the highly successful, name partner of Rusty Hardin & Associates, a 12-attorney firm in Houston. He's one of four attorneys in the U.S. and the only one from Texas honored as a 2018 Global Elite Thought Leader in litigation by Who's Who Legal.
Not bad for a North Carolina boy from humble beginnings. Part of that upbringing included going toe to toe with his mom at the dinner table, expressing their political differences while breaking bread. They always finished the meal with a hug. This is just one of many stories Rusty shares during our free-wheeling conversation about how his experiences shaped him, his thoughts on our divided nation, and steps we might take to come together.