Attorney
Clements & Clements

“I attended El Centro College as it was centrally located between my home and work. I started college at almost 30 years old, after working in the printing industry for several years and after being in the United States Coast Guard. I attended classes full-time during the day and worked full-time at night, like most of my fellow students.

“After starting school, my wife and I decided that we wanted to start our own law firm, and I set a goal to become an attorney. Because I wanted to become a trial attorney, it was imperative that I choose a school where I would experience a cross-cultural interchange of ideas and social norms. I felt this was important so I could understand different cultures and backgrounds.
 
“One benefit of attending El Centro was the opportunity to experience leadership roles as a student. Mr. Jimmie Henslee was a great mentor and teacher; he inspired and motivated me when times were difficult, even when I did not want to be motivated. He helped me understand how to set and achieve my goals.

“The teachers at El Centro took an interest in my studies and helped me learn in an environment that was not threatening. They provided one-on-one guidance that helped me develop my study skills and learn how to attain my goals.

“When I showed interest in my classes, all my professors in turn showed interest in me. In fact, every professor whom I came in contact with urged me and my fellow classmates to complete our tasks and reach our goals. They helped me stay on track and overcome any stumbling blocks I encountered. This armed me with the tools necessary to deal with the lack of interest by the professors at the four-year university I attended after completing my classes at El Centro.

“Without my professors’ positive reinforcement at El Centro, I might have given up my quest to become a lawyer, at the suggestion of the upper-level professors. I always heard Mr. Henslee reminding me, ‘You can achieve what you can conceive; just stay on task.’
 
“Studying accounting helped put order in my thinking process, which I was lacking, as I am somewhat of a free thinker. The organization it takes to learn accounting helped me to organize the way I needed to think to achieve in business.

“I believe accounting is the heart of any business, and if you do not know how to handle your accounting, you are not going to have as much success as you wish.”
 
Rob Clements and his wife, Kelly, are partners in the law firm of Clements & Clements, Attorneys at Law. He attended El Centro College from 1986 to 1987, studying accounting as he worked and tutored in the college’s accounting lab. He has been awarded the El Centro Outstanding Alumni Award, Phi Theta Kappa Outstanding Alumni Award and the President’s Scholarship at the University of Texas at Dallas.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and a law degree from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth. He was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1994 on his first attempt, and is a member of the Dallas and Texas Trial Lawyers Associations and the Order of Barristers.

Clements & Clements specializes in personal injury plaintiff trial work, including vehicle and construction accidents, wrongful death, workers’ compensation claims and catastrophic injuries, with clients across the state of Texas.

A paralegal in the firm, Martha Galvan, also took accounting and paralegal classes at El Centro College and has been with Clements & Clements for 15 years.