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The Evolution of an Associate Attorney: Donald Greiwe

Don Greiwe is de la Parte & Gilbert, P.A.'s newest attorney. In this article, we provide a brief glimpse of Don's personal life and how his personal experiences are beginning to shape his life as a young lawyer.

In college, Don was a co-founder of the reincarnation of the University of Notre Dame men's rugby team. About 10 years prior to Don's arrival at Notre Dame, the rugby team had been disbanded indefinitely after a series of behavioral incidents, and the outlook for any future endeavor looked grim. After playing briefly for an adult men's rugby club from the surrounding area, Don and a core group of driven individuals made it their goal to organize a team made up of students from the University to play rugby against other college rugby clubs, despite lacking any formal recognition by the school. They organized secret training sessions on campus fields, recruited players from intramural football squads and ROTC units, and sold t-shirts and jerseys to fund beer and gas money for the team to travel to away games and tournaments across the Midwest. Don and the other players loved the team, and worked hard to provide it a sense of legitimacy that they knew it lacked. Throughout the next 3 years, their hard work paid off. By the end of Don's senior year, after enjoying a winning 9-0-1 season in which they would have won the Chicago Area Rugby Football Union league title had they actually been a legitimate member, the University finally acknowledged their efforts and recognized the Notre Dame Men's Rugby Club for the first time in 14 years.

After playing rugby for Notre Dame, as he stayed at the University to complete his Masters in Accounting, Don went on to pursue a career as a certified public accountant. However, after five years of practice, Don realized that something was lacking in his life. Despite having a great position in a preeminent local CPA firm back home in Tampa, enjoying the people he worked with, and having a secure future for himself in the public accounting industry, he knew that he needed a change, because he did not love his work. He had gained an immense amount of work experience from his time as a CPA, learning true work ethic and expanding his understanding of the intricacies of the business world. But it was not enough. He had reached a point where he was no longer driven to go further with that career. So, he enrolled in Law School at the University of Florida. Don says, "It was the best decision I've ever made. I discovered a love of the law and the trial process that I never knew I had. Once again, I was lucky enough to share a passion of mine with a close group of friends. It made success in law school attainable, enjoyable, and expected."

Now that he has passed the Florida Bar exam and is working at de la Parte & Gilbert, Don explains, "I appreciate the fact that once again, I am lucky to be in a position where I am working with individuals that share the same passion that I do. I am pushed to become the best lawyer possible, and this only compliments my personal desire to reach that goal." While looking forward to a bright future as a lawyer, Don looks back on how a ragtag group of college students succeeded on the rugby pitch, and is confident that being a part of de la Parte & Gilbert will lead to professional excellence. We are pleased to have Don on our team at de la Parte & Gilbert!

Don practices in the areas of commercial litigation, personal injury, and medical malpractice. He can be reached at dgreiwe@dgfirm.com.