Focus helps attorney keep his complex life in focus

Determined, eclectic, disciplined, humble and grateful a complex set of adjectives to describe Matt Addison, a man of many interests and disciplines.

He's a black belt in Tang Soo Do; Washoe County Honorary Deputy Sheriffs' Association lieutenant; a graduate of Truckee Meadows Citizens' Police Academy; a passionate writer and creative cook; an attorney and partner at McDonald Carano Wilson; and a husband and father of three. He's also a judge pro-tem for Reno Municipal Court and an arbitrator/ mediator for the Second Judicial District Court.

It's difficult to amass a list of accomplishments and hobbies half that long if you aren't focused and passionate.

A Reno native, Addison graduated from Reno High School in 1983, then pursued an international relations degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.

While getting his undergraduate degree, Addison had a robust social life. Little did he know it would come in handy at work.

A fraternity brother helped him secure a job as a paralegal for a downtown law firm. While his job focused on tasks like courthouse research, Addison smiles as he recalls that he also became the firm's de facto social director.

While he was organizing the office fun, he also found himself drawn to the law, and decided to pursue a law degree at Santa Clara University.

"The appeal of it was that I considered it to be the ultimate honorable profession. Maybe I'm naive. It does seem sometimes some people have made it a business rather than a service, but I see it as solving problems," he says.

Addison's practice focuses on general commercial litigation, but he's also focused on helping those who protect our country. Homeland security and national security issues are passions, and coupled with his undergrad degree, it's led him to help support organizations that share that passion. His interest in law enforcement, too, was kindled at an early age.

"I was given a 'ride home' by law enforcement a few times in high school," he recalls, grinning. "No handcuffs or anything. But it was a law enforcement community that was very kind and generous. I wanted to be a part of that."

His outgoing, social nature matured over the years, but no factor was as instrumental as becoming a father.

Addison and his wife, Robin, met when they were 4 years old. She grew up in Portola, Calif., and the families were old friends, taking trips, camping and spending holidays together. He recalls the first time they met, she corrected his ABCs, and that before becoming a couple, they'd were probably near to one another 200 times. It wasn't until his father passed away in 1991 and Robin came to express her condolences that the romance began.

The couple shares a love of the outdoors and martial arts, and of course, their children.

Fraternal twin sons Carson and Connor are 13, and daughter Sienna is 11. Sienna, who Addison proudly claims to be "the smartest of the three," is also a martial artist, and his sons are active in Pop Warner football, which Addison, a high school and college player, agreed to coach last year. While the team greatly improved, and Addison won a "most inspirational coach" award, football season took a turn the family never expected.

During the season, players are required to do weekly weigh-ins to make sure kids don't exceed weight limits and potentially hurt others. Carson was losing weight, and coupled with a loss of appetite, he ended up at the doctor's office. Blood tests showed nothing wrong.

Less than two weeks later, however, another blood panel revealed 86 percent of Carson's cells were now riddled with leukemia. Had one more month passed before the disease was detected, and he might have died.

The next day, Carson started treatment at Oakland Children's Hospital. He went from 86 percent of his cells affected to 6 percent in 11 days; remission came two weeks after that. He has 34 months of treatment left, including eight to nine months of intense chemotherapy. He can't go to school, can't play sports, and he may not get to start his freshman year at Reno High with his brother words which prove difficult for Addison to say.

The family's strength has been sorely tested recently. Connor was rushed to an emergency room after a fainting spell injured him. Not long after, he crashed while skiing and doctors initially thought his back was broken. He's healthy now.

"My son's illness gave me clarity ... what's important and what's not. The pretense just goes away," Addison says. "And I don't care if that doesn't work for somebody.

"Gratitude and humility," Addison starts to say, then stops for a moment before he can continue. "Even when I look at what's going on with Carson, when I look at the other kids at Oakland, we're so much better off. (One patient) Rocky is 18 months old. He's been there seven months already and he may never leave."

He's also grateful that he is where he is in his life if this all had to happen.

"This is the only place I've ever worked, my first professional job. Unless I become a judge, it'll be the only place I ever work. And I could not pick a more supportive place," he says. "And thank God (Robin and I) are where we are, and not just starting out."

Addison has put his many activities on hold as the family supports Carson, but one thing hasn't changed; he's still cooking. Refusing to follow recipes ("I love to create new things") he recently mastered a longtime goal. He created a marsala sauce his son deemed "better than the sauce at La Strada."

Among his many accomplishments, that's one Addison certainly takes to heart.

A grateful man

Who: Matt Addison, attorney, McDonald Carano Wilson

Family: Wife, Robin. Twin sons Carson and Connor, 13. Daughter Sienna, 11.

He says: "On my tombstone, I don't want it to say just 'Partner.'"