Campbell Law 50th Anniversary Spotlight: Jonathan Breeden ’00
Jonathan Breeden ’00, a native of Laurinburg, North Carolina, is the owner of Breeden Law Office, a family law practice he built in the Raleigh suburbs of Johnston County. He came to Campbell Law with one goal already in mind, to open his own firm, and he has spent his career doing exactly that, trying cases in court and representing children and families across the region. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1996.
Why Campbell Law?
Breeden arrived already knowing he wanted to run his own firm, and he chose the school for the one program built around that goal, its start-your-own-law-firm course, then taught by Professor Rick Rodgers. It was also the school the attorneys back home in Laurinburg pointed him toward, for the practical nature of the education. “I knew I wanted to start my own firm from about the time I decided to go to law school,” he says, “and Campbell had a great program for it.”
On practice
His practice area found him. When Breeden opened his firm in Johnston County, the calls coming in were from young families breaking apart, and family law became the work. “As I got into it, I fell in love with it,” he says. “I got to try cases in court, and I was helping children, which I truly enjoy.”
A lesson that stuck
Asked what Campbell Law taught him that he still uses, Breeden’s answer is preparation. “When you’re going into court or to mediation, there is no excuse not to be the most prepared attorney in the room.” It’s the standard he now holds his own young associates to, he says.
The mentor who shaped him
The person Breeden credits is Rick Rodgers, who taught the firm-building program that drew him to Campbell Law and then gave him the confidence to use it. Rodgers told him he’d trained plenty of lawyers who went on to build successful firms of their own. “He said, ‘You are as good and as smart as they are, so just go do it.'”
Advice to current students
Students should seek out internships in the area of law they actually want to practice in, Breeden advises, so they can get a clear sense of what the day-to-day is like before they commit to it.
The next 50 years
Asked what should define Campbell Law’s next half-century, Breeden pointed back to what he believes defined the first 50: teaching the practice of law, not just the theory. He also hopes the school keeps teaching “that you can be a Christian and an attorney, and that there’s a right way to do things regardless of what the world is teaching.”
Sidebar
Currently listening to: “The Successful Mind Podcast” with David Neagle.
Most adventurous thing: Took a helicopter to the top of an Alaskan glacier and went dog sledding.
Favorite Raleigh spot: Lenovo Center for N.C. State University basketball and Carolina Hurricanes games.
Proudest moment: Being named “Man of the Year” by the Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce in 2012 for his community work.