Perseverance in Profile
JARED D. HAGER: The Sky Is the Limit
BY TOM CALARCO 10
Jared D. Hager climbed Mount St. Helens on one leg. The climb personifies the perseverance of the 35-year- old Perkins Coie attorney, who lost his right leg at the hip to cancer when he was 12. Such determination has been the trademark in a life of achievements that belies his circumstances.
H DIVERSITY & THE BAR® NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
ager, who graduated first in his class at the University of Minnesota School of Law, is the only one is his family to complete college. He was raised amid addiction and abuse along with two older brothers by a single mother who worked two jobs and relied on the charity of others to make ends meet. His father has suffered from recurring bouts of illness and homelessness. His brothers
were varsity athletes in high school, but did not receive col- lege athletic scholarships. “I can confidently say my adversity was a blessing,” he
says. “I didn’t have even a 50-50 chance of survival when I was diagnosed, but long odds mean a bigger payoff, right? It changed my life for the better because it redirected and channeled my focus. Had I not lost my leg, had I not battled cancer, I almost certainly would not have joined the debate team, gone to college and law school, or become an attorney.” Hager is sensitive to the issues of the “disability” move-
ment and its careful application of the word, yet prefers being known as a disabled attorney than an attorney with a disability. “I personally identify first and foremost with my permanent condition,” he explains, “not my profession.”
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