College, Work & Family Rocky on the Ranch Following graduation from high school, Rocky attended the University of Utah, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy. It was time to decide what to do with the rest of his life, but first, Rocky spent a summer building buck fence at a Wyoming ranch. He also worked as a cab driver, methadone clinic worker, waiter, truck driver, and construction laborer. Then, wanting to see more of the world, Rocky traveled for several weeks throughout Southern Europe and worked for a few months as a dishwasher, and as a laborer at a biology institute in Freiberg, Germany. The study of philosophy and history inspired Rocky to find a vocation that would make a positive difference in the world. Rocky believed that a career in the law, as well as public service, would provide great opportunities for creating positive change. The law school graduate, with supportive Mom and Dad Rocky moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended the National Law Center at George Washington University. Upon his graduation, with honors, from law school in 1978, Rocky returned to Salt Lake City to begin his law practice. Rocky began handling jury trials right out of law school and prepared and argued two cases before the Utah Supreme Court during his first year of practice. As his career progressed, Rocky handled dozens of important cases, many times without charging a fee. According to Rocky, "the highest calling of a lawyer" is to make certain the law is fairly and equally applied. During the next 20 years, Rocky worked with many of the leading lawyers in Salt Lake City, and his practice evolved to his association as president of the law firm of Anderson & Karrenberg. During his legal career, Rocky, who is listed in Best Lawyers in America, handled many complex commercial cases, including antitrust and securities matters. In the 1980s Rocky was instrumental in obtaining payments for thousands of depositors who had lost their life savings in Utah's failed thrifts. He has been a proponent of joint custody so that more men can and will maintain responsible and consistent relationships with their children following divorce. Rocky was an effective advocate in groundbreaking civil rights cases. And he worked to institute a program to provide access to legal services for people who did not qualify for help through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who were not able to afford to pay a full fee for critically important legal services. Rocky demonstrated strong and effective management abilities as chair of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar Association, as President of a multi-million dollar law firm, and as lead lawyer in some of the most important cases to be litigated in Utah's courts during the past 25 years. In addition to providing free legal assistance to people who are homeless, economically disadvantaged, and disabled, he has been a leader in nonprofit organizations, and provided thousands of hours of volunteer service to help make this a better community. Approximately four years after he began his law practice, Rocky married a free-lance writer and mother of two boys from a prior marriage. Together, they had a remarkable son, Luke. Although they divorced, Rocky shared custody of Luke, who lived, until he was 18, with each parent half the time. Joint custody enabled both Rocky and Luke's mother to stay closely and consistently involved in Luke's life. During several years of Luke's elementary education, Rocky spent time each week co-op'ing in his classroom and has always taken an intense interest in Luke's education. Creating a safe, healthy, nurturing community for Luke and others has been a driving force behind most of Rocky's volunteer activities.