John Sansom: Minister Meets Manager By: Melanie Kowal

“I see all changes as an adventure,” explained John Sansom. “If my family and I get lost on the road, I say, ‘Looks like we’re going to have an adventure.’”

Sansom’s calm demeanor appears anything but adventurous. However, this ex-preacher has made some risky and surprising decisions which led him to his current position as Client Accounting Manager at Troutman Sanders.

A native of a small town in Alabama, Sansom’s family uprooted and moved to Tulsa when he was a sophomore in high school. This was the first of Sansom’s “adventures,” and he took it all in stride. Nonplussed by moving mid-high school to a much larger town, he and his family dutifully followed when his father’s job, once again, relocated them. This time it was to a small town in Iowa, where Sansom finished his senior year of high school. Unlike many kids who would’ve kicked up their heels at the thought of changing high schools prior to graduation, Sansom moved graciously, with the idea of adventure always in the forefront.

After high school, Sansom stayed put and attended Westmar College in northwest Iowa. Unsure what he wanted to be, he received dual degrees in psychology and religion. As a youth, he’d been heavily involved in the United Methodist Church. He decided to combine his lifetime devotion with his college studies and received a scholarship to the theological school at Emory University. However, adventure beckoned and he decided to take a year off before attending graduate school.

Sansom moved in with his brother in Birmingham and began an exciting year as an assistant manager at Shoney’s. One of his shining moments: learning to scramble a gallon of eggs at a time. But with the potential for on-the-job injury or an extreme case of carpal tunnel, Sansom left to attend graduate school, taking with him his new wife whom he had know since elementary school.

The program at Emory lasted three years, consisting mainly of theological studies and some practicum. While in seminary school, he simultaneously began the ordination process in the United Methodist Church, a complex process including writing essays, interviewing with committees and reporting to boards. At the end of the program Sansom emerged with a master of divinity and the title of minister. He returned to northern Alabama where he served churches for the next five years.

While Sansom enjoyed aspects of church leadership, he decided that life as a minister was not for him. He needed a life change – another adventure – but wasn’t sure what that was.

“What does an ex-preacher do?” Sansom said. “What kind of skills can transfer into secular society?”

Fortunately for Sansom, he had been blessed with a very useful skill: typing. “I burn up the keyboard,” he boasted. In fact, Sansom’s typing skills had earned him high school typing awards, much to the girls’ chagrin. Based on that valuable skill, and having heard that law firms pay well, Sansom applied for a support staff job at a 22-attorney firm in Birmingham. He became the first male legal secretary at the firm.

Sansom’s expert typing skills, and easy-going nature, quickly helped him climb the law firm ladder. He became a commercial real estate paralegal, and when the office’s administrator retired, Sansom was given the position. From secretary to administrator in four years certainly was an adventure!

 “I like working with smart people and you find plenty of those in a law firm,” Sansom stated. As administrator, he found himself surrounded by intelligent folks. Sansom’s managing partner was very supportive and understanding. He taught Sansom the ropes and how to negotiate with the partners and staff. Before retiring, the former administrator had introduced Sansom to the ALA, and he relied greatly upon the resources and camaraderie therein.

After five years as administrator, Sansom knew that he could go no further at his firm. He would either have to resign himself to his current position (which he did enjoy), or look for another opportunity. He decided to focus his search outside of Birmingham, as the opportunities were limited and vacant administrator positions were few and far between. Sansom set his sights on Atlanta and accepted an administrator position at Brock & Clay in Marietta. It was a larger firm in a growth spurt and proved a good introduction to Atlanta’s legal community. For the first few months, Sansom lived and worked in Marietta while his wife (who was finishing her responsibilities as a teacher) and children stayed in Birmingham. They eventually joined him in Marietta, where they continue to live today. But Brock & Clay wasn’t Sansom’s final stop. Two and a half years later he accepted a position as Client Accounting Manager at Troutman Sanders.

In his new position, Sansom had to relinquish his small firm administrator responsibilities such as unclogging toilets and changing light bulbs (too bad!) in order to focus on one task. He now oversees timekeeping, billing and collections, something that he had been involved with in the past. However, at Troutman he performs these duties on a much larger scale.

For the past year, Sansom has successfully focused on client accounting. His one short-coming is the innate urge to control what’s going on, no doubt a side effect of his 10 years as an administrator in smaller firms. But he knows where his boundaries are, and happily accepts his limitations of power.

Sansom enjoys the challenges of problem-solving and the rewards of working with intellectual people. While he doesn’t use his Shoney’s skills frequently (how often do you have to scramble a gallon of eggs?), his gift for building relationships serves him well on a daily basis. Little did this fast-typing boy from Alabama know what adventures would await him.

Editor: Marianne M. Lawhead (mlawhead@sheastokes.com) (This publication is the property of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators. Reproduction or reprint without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Click here to request reprint permission.)

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