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From Lawyer to Warrior

Failing the Bar, Becoming a Marine
and Finding Meaning

By Chris Pavlak

Where to Buy:

Amazon.com
Politics & Prose

“I had been fortunate enough to seize an opportunity…to explore the unknown. To be denied this experience or to somehow have it stripped away would have left me with one looming question: what might have been? “

Fixated on the financial ascendancy of being a lawyer for a large, high-revenue law firm, Chris Pavlak attended law school for all the wrong reasons, though he wouldn’t realize this until years after he repeatedly failed the Bar exam.

Failure propelled Chris toward his purpose. He picked himself up, adjusted expectations, and reshaped his life. In From Lawyer to Warrior, Chris shares his journey and reveals that failure is a new beginning. He turned pain and humiliation into hope and fulfillment, discovering purpose and the true meaning of accomplishment and camaraderie. This is an honest book about reinvention and reclamation, an inspirational memoir that shows you how to overcome the pain of failure by being absorbed in something bigger than one’s self.

Source: Eye on Veterans Podcast

From Lawyer to Warrior

Failing the Bar, Becoming a Marine and Finding Meaning

By Chris Pavlak

Where to Buy:

Amazon
Politics & Prose

“I had been fortunate enough to seize an opportunity…to explore the unknown. To be denied this experience or to somehow have it stripped away would have left me with one looming question: what might have been?”

Fixated on the financial ascendancy of being a lawyer for a large, high-revenue law firm, Chris Pavlak attended law school for all the wrong reasons, though he wouldn’t realize this until years after he repeatedly failed the Bar exam.

Failure propelled Chris toward his purpose. He picked himself up, adjusted expectations, and reshaped his life. In From Lawyer to Warrior, Chris shares his journey and reveals that failure is a new beginning. He turned pain and humiliation into hope and fulfillment, discovering purpose and the true meaning of accomplishment and camaraderie. This is an honest book about reinvention and reclamation, an inspirational memoir that shows you how to overcome the pain of failure by being absorbed in something bigger than one’s self.

Chris Pavlak

About the Author

Chris Pavlak graduated from law school in 2006. He failed the Bar exam twice before joining the Marines and becoming a Ground Intelligence Officer. During his service, Chris has led Marine rifle and scout sniper platoons, has been a planner for Marine Corps service-level exercises, and has served as an advisor to Afghan Security Forces.

Still in the Marine Corps Reserves, he is a faculty member at a top-level intelligence school  near Washington, D.C. As a civilian, he is a consultant on the policies, ethics, governance, and regulations of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

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What People Are Saying

After hearing Chris's story, I knew it was important for him to tell his story to the world because everyone has experienced struggles, setbacks, and failures...As a Marine servant-leader, he decided to take point and help others navigate their own failures and setbacks by offering a story of resilience to those who think they may be at their own devastating dead end.
Carlton W. Kent
16th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (Retired)
A masterpiece of emotions and actions through failure. In this very raw tome, Chris Pavlak guides the reader through his journey of failing the Bar Examination. Out of this failure, he needed to attack in a new direction which led to a life of service in the United States Marine Corps where he has flourished. He is living proof that there truly are second acts in America. He is the embodiment of forging forward through fire. An example we can all learn from and appreciate.
Major General Michael Fahey,
USMC (Ret.)
Where failure is considered taboo and something we hide, Chris Pavlak has written an authentic and compelling story of resilience in the face of it, and how he found meaning in a life of service in the Marine Corps. Anyone who has failed at something significant--which is all of us--can learn from Chris's story.
Tom Schueman
USMC author Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakeable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter.
Chris Pavlak has written a powerful, honest testament to grit and resilience, the importance of rites of passage, and the power of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Bravo.
Nathaniel Fick
NYT bestselling author of One Bullet Away

Chris Pavlak

About the Author

Chris Pavlak graduated from law school in 2006. He failed the Bar exam twice before joining the Marines and becoming a Ground Intelligence Officer. During his service, Chris has led Marine rifle and scout sniper platoons, has been a planner for Marine Corps service-level exercises, and has served as an advisor to Afghan Security Forces.

Still in the Marine Corps Reserves, he is a faculty member at a top-level intelligence school  near Washington, D.C. As a civilian, he is a consultant on the policies, ethics, governance, and regulations of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Buy on Amazon

What People Are Saying

After hearing Chris's story, I knew it was important for him to tell his story to the world because everyone has experienced struggles, setbacks, and failures...As a Marine servant-leader, he decided to take point and help others navigate their own failures and setbacks by offering a story of resilience to those who think they may be at their own devastating dead end.
Carlton W. Kent
16th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (Retired)
A masterpiece of emotions and actions through failure. In this very raw tome, Chris Pavlak guides the reader through his journey of failing the Bar Examination. Out of this failure, he needed to attack in a new direction which led to a life of service in the United States Marine Corps where he has flourished. He is living proof that there truly are second acts in America. He is the embodiment of forging forward through fire. An example we can all learn from and appreciate.
Major General Michael Fahey,
USMC (Ret.)
Where failure is considered taboo and something we hide, Chris Pavlak has written an authentic and compelling story of resilience in the face of it, and how he found meaning in a life of service in the Marine Corps. Anyone who has failed at something significant--which is all of us--can learn from Chris's story.
Tom Schueman
USMC author Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakeable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter.
Chris Pavlak has written a powerful, honest testament to grit and resilience, the importance of rites of passage, and the power of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Bravo.
Nathaniel Fick
NYT bestselling author of One Bullet Away

Photo Gallery

Charlie Company, 4th Platoon at Marine Officer Candidates School in Quantico, VA in the summer of 2007. I'm in the middle of the 5th row. (U.S. Marine Corps)
The officers of Infantry Officer Course 3-08. The photo was taken after our final evolution of training in Twenty-nine Palms, California (June 2008) (Dhruv Fotadar)
The officers and staff of Ground Intelligence Officer Course 3-08, Dam Neck, Virginia (October 2008). Ground intelligence officers serve as staff officers and commanders in the fleet and are responsible for intelligence analysis, planning, and the tactical employment of ground surveillance and reconnaissance assets. I am in third row, fourth from right. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Sergeant Ian M. Tawney, one of the very best Marines I've ever had the privilege of serving with. His sharp mind and even sharper sarcastic wit were a rare combination. Holding himself and others to extremely high standards, he loved being a Marine and had the admiration of enlisted and officers alike. Pictured here in his Dress Blue "A" uniform, as a member of the 5th Marine Regiment, he is wearing the French Fourragere on his left shoulder. (August 2009) (Ashley Tawney)
One of the last pictures of Ian Tawney taken near the town of Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan possibly less than a week before he was killed in action. Several Marines from 2/5 transferred to 3/5 so they could deploy to Afghanistan. Pictured from left to right: Sgt Donald Roberts, Jr., Sgt Frank Denault, Sgt Caleb Giles, and Sgt Ian Tawney. (October 2010). Roberts and Tawney had met during recruit training and had been best friends ever since. (Ashley Tawney)
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Photo Gallery

OCS Graduation 2007
The officers and staff of Ground Intelligence Officer Course 3-08
The officers of Infantry Officer Course 3-08
Sergeant Ian M. Tawney
Sergeant Ian M. Tawney, Helmand Province, Afghanistan
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