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Talcott J. Franklin began his professional career as a Juvenile Rehabilitation Counselor-1 (JRC-1) in the maximum-security unit of a juvenile detention facility operated by the state of Washington. As part of an interventionist staff, he helped protect individuals from further victimizing each other while serving their sentences for murder, rape, armed robbery, assault, and other serious crimes. He also counseled these individuals and was involved in the successful capture of several escapees from minimum-security units, including those serving sentences for murder, rape, and assault.
Following his time as a JRC-1, Tal taught sociology at the University of Washington, both as a teaching assistant and as a full instructor. He subsequently taught sociology as an instructor at Highline Community College. He also served as research director for a foundation where he focused on the analysis of crime statistics and crime prevention strategies.
Following law school, Tal represented countless survivors of sexual and physical abuse pro bono, receiving in 1997 the Mecklenburg County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Program Award for Exemplary Service to the Indigent. This work also earned him the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 E. Randolph Williams award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service, and assisted Hunton & Williams in winning the American Bar Association national pro bono award.
In 2002, he was the Co-Chair of the Dallas Bar Association Pro Bono Activities Committee, for which he also served as Co-Vice-Chair in 2001, where he focused the Committee’s efforts toward protecting at risk children.
Tal is the author or co-author of three legal treatises, and numerous articles, including a law review article on college sexual assault policy published in the 2016-2017 BYU Education and Law Journal.
In 2010, Tal started Talcott Franklin P.C., a boutique law firm with an international client base, which grew to over 20 senior attorneys licensed in twelve states. Tal has been featured on television, radio, and print media, including CNBC, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, HousingWire, and numerous other outlets.
Prior to starting Talcott Franklin P.C., Tal was an equity partner, Deputy Chair of Litigation firm-wide, and Dallas office head of litigation at the international law firm Patton Boggs LLP (now Squire Patton Boggs LLP).
In 1983, Tal graduated from South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon, and attended Gonzaga University on the M.M. Conway Scholarship. After two years, he transferred to the University of Washington, where he received both a B.A. and an M.A. in sociology with an emphasis on quantitative research methodology in 1988 and 1992, respectively, and as an undergraduate was a member and rush chairman of Acacia Fraternity. He worked his way through college at a variety of fun jobs, including security guard at a steel mill, fitness instructor, high school debate coach, ditch digger for irrigation systems, can stacker at a cannery, lecture note taker, and statistician for the university mental health clinic.
In 1995, he graduated magna cum laude from Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he was a Staff Writer and Editor in Chief of the Washington & Lee Law Review, a member of Order of the Coif, and the recipient of the Robert and Anne Banse Honor Scholarship.
Tal is currently a partner at Washington, D.C. based Franklin Scott Conway LLP.