He attended the University of Texas Law School. He graduated from law school and received his license to practice law in 1985. His first job out of Law school was a position as Director of Legislation and Legal Services at the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. He has been actively involved in representing the members of TCTA as an attorney and a lobbyist since that time. He has been involved in every major school finance bill considered by the Texas Legislature since 1985 in addition to Education Code revisions during the sunset review process and the rewrite of the Education Code in 1995. He has lectured in graduate and undergraduate courses at several colleges and has published articles in legal and other public interest publications. He is a past Chair of the School Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.