1114. A Pause in His Career Sent Him in the Right Direction

“I was working in New York City for over 6 years as a criminal prosecutor when my father got ill. My wife and I decided to move our family to Florida temporarily to take care of him. Having that time with him allowed us to reconnect in very meaningful ways. I came to realize that there was a lot of life that I had missed while chasing the brass ring in NYC. I had missed being with my parents, with my extended family. And I actually realized that, even with my own wife and children, there was a lot of time that I missed because I had such a concern to ‘bring home the bacon.’ I knew I needed to change what I had been doing, but once you start chasing that brass ring spinning around on the carousel, it becomes the only thing you know. Taking care of my father allowed me to slow that cycle. I knew I wanted to use my skillset but not chase that hot-shot trial lawyer lifestyle. I found a really great position as lawyer-editor with a small publishing company in Florida. The business was involved in publishing the laws of local government, which included ordinances, resolutions, charters, and things of that nature. In that publication system, it was not adversarial like when you are a trial attorney and you have to prepare for a fight and make sure you cover your nose so it doesn’t get broken. When you’re not in an adversarial position but in more of a consultant position, you’re working with a friend, you are working with and assisting them in what they’re trying to do. And that’s what we did: We assisted the local governments in positioning their local law and making sure that it was up to snuff and met up with statutes in federal law.”

Jimmy Jenkins, before writing stories and books, earned his law degree from the University of Maryland. After graduating law school, Jimmy undertook a commitment to public service by becoming a criminal prosecutor for several years. Jimmy wrote Green Rush Fever because he felt a need to tell the story about how his family’s small farming operation entered the nascent Florida hemp industry in 2019. Aside from his analysis about growing hemp, in Green Rush Fever Jimmy also writes about his family’s tradition of having a strong conviction in their faith and a tenacious belief in the power of having the robust loving support of one’s family members.