Former prosecutors open local practice

WASILLA — Somewhat out of place amidst the diplomas on the wall of Denali Law Group hang a plaque and a mace.

The plaque, framed beneath a badge, reads, “In appreciation for your efforts to crush the enemies of the state.” The mace, mounted on its own bracket with a red evidence tag still attached, was a gift to partner Richard Payne from law enforcement in Valdez. It was evidence in a murder trial, purchased at auction after the trial ended.

The plaque was a gift from his former employers, the Palmer District Attorney’s Office, and references a joke he often made in his previous position. Payne and his partner, Jon-Marc Petersen, are both former prosecutors from the Palmer office.

“It was terrifying,” Petersen said of leaving the regular paycheck of his state job and striking out on his own.

Payne agreed. Five generations of his family have been miners.

“I’ve been a company man; it’s in my blood,” he said, adding that being an assistant DA handling 150 cases at a time is “kind of like working in the mines of the legal profession.”

As a two-man firm in the Valley, where the bulk of private attorneys work as single practitioners, Denali Law Group is among the largest.

Deborah O’Regan, Alaska Bar Association executive director, said that a quick look at her membership rolls turned up no other Valley law firms larger than Denali Law Group, but two or three with a pair of practitioners. Payne and Petersen said the plan initially had been to be a three-man firm, joining another Valley attorney already in practice.

Petersen joined up first while Payne waited for his quit date, but Peterson soon found he and Payne likely wouldn’t mesh well with the other attorney.

“[Petersen] drove down to Anchorage and sat in the back of Papa Pilgrim’s sentencing,” Payne said, referencing the McCarthy-area patriarch whose family’s saga made statewide headlines and whose rape case Payne prosecuted.

Payne and Petersen decided that day to go into business themselves. Payne also said he’s been amazed at how much support and advice they’ve been able to get from local private attorneys. One attorney told them a lot of Valley residents aren’t on a cash income and the pair should consider taking trade in lieu of fees.

Just last week they took in a motorcycle.

Although Payne and Petersen often found themselves as adversaries of many of the same lawyers from whom they’ve been getting advice, most have been welcoming. Only one attorney has not been helpful, Payne said, and it’s because he and Petersen are former assistant district attorneys.

So far, the partnership has worked out well, they said. They’ve been splitting day-to-day maintenance and janitorial work themselves. Thursday morning, Petersen was out on the front stoop, shoveling snow in a suit and tie, he said. In their first weeks both have been working to spruce up the office, a former dance studio.

Not thinking they’d be busy, Payne and Petersen donned coveralls and painted the walls. That made for interesting conversation when clients walked in.

“Every single one of them has been excited to see that an attorney was willing to work,” Payne said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.