Terry graduated from Gonzaga School of Law, the night program, in 1973. He had obtained his B.A. in Political Science from Pacific Lutheran University in 1969. He began work as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Pierce County in 1973, prosecuting traffic offenses and misdemeanors where he gained experience and court presence.

After he began his private law practice with Peter and Michael Sterbick, he was asked to come back to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office to act as a Special Prosecutor on a high profile case that presented conflicts to the Prosecutor’s Office. He obtained a conviction in that matter. While in private practice in the 70’s, he was given assignments by the Pierce County Department of Assigned Counsel to defend indigent individuals charged with felonies. Two felony trials made headlines in the Tacoma newspaper when Terry obtained acquittals of the accused. Immediately thereafter he refused to accept such assignments, preferring to specialize in the personal injury field.

In 1975 Terry was elected Secretary of the Washington State Trial Lawyers’ Association, the major association of Washington lawyers who represent injured people. In 1977 he was elected President of the Pierce County Young Lawyers Association and in 1978 he was elected Chairman of the Washington State Young Lawyers Association. As a Young Lawyer officer he lectured across the nation in a dozen seminars to young lawyers on the subject of how to create and manage special free services to the public, such as free taped legal advice by telephone, tours of the courthouse, and special speakers in schools on Law Day. Because of Terry’s work as a County Young Lawyer President, the county association received a first place award nationally from the American Bar Association for its achievements and public service work. Because of his Chairmanship of the State Young Lawyers later, the state association received a first place award for activities state wide as to public service, education for the public, education for young lawyers, etc.

Terry has served on numerous committees of the Washington State Bar Association and has served as Chairman of one committee dealing with professional relationships among lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, etc. Terry has lectured at approximately a dozen Washington State Trial Lawyers’ seminars on numerous topics of personal injury, lawsuits against insurance companies, maximizing damages, trial practice, etc. He was asked to be a co-author of the leading manual for trial lawyers in Washington on representing an injured person in a motor vehicle accident. He was a speaker at several seminars dealing with insurance coverage issues. He has over 25 years of membership in the Washington State Trial Lawyers’ Association and was honored as a member of the Amicus Curiae Committee. That select committee decides when the State of Washington Trial Lawyers’ Association should intervene in an appeal to help advise the Appellate Court of the importance of the personal injury legal issues that will be heard by the Court between the two contesting parties. Terry has served as a Special Attorney for the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries to pursue the State’s claim against the liable third party when the State has paid wage loss and medical bills to an injured worker.

Terry was an instructor teaching civil litigation to paralegals for many years at Pierce College in Tacoma, Washington. Terry loves teaching the law as well as practicing it.