Deborah Holbert became an associate of the O’Mhuan Law Offices in November after following a rather unusual path to attain the goal she had wanted since graduating from college 30 years earlier.

Ken O’Mhuan has been a practicing attorney for 40 years and has had a law practice on Whidbey Island since 1995. He had been thinking about finding a fellow attorney to assist his clients when he wasn’t available.

Holbert graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1980 with a degree in economics and was a practicing economist for the government and a private consulting firm for 10 years before going into business for herself.

In 1990, she moved with her husband Douglas to Whidbey Island when her husband was hired by the county as an engineer. At the same time, Deborah Holbert bought a flower shop in Langley and successfully ran it for 10 years before selling it in 2001 to be a stay-at-home mom for her young son, Will.

Once Will started school, Holbert decided she wanted to return to the working world but wasn’t sure what to do.

She had always wanted to go to law school and, with the encouragement of her husband and her father, decided to follow that dream. In 2008, she graduated from Concord Law School based in California.

But because the school was not accredited in Washington, that meant Holbert was facing the hurdle of three years of law practice in California before becoming eligible to take the bar exam in Washington.

Instead of following that path, she discovered that Washington was one of only seven states that allow a person to become an attorney by working as a law clerk, with a strict course of mentored instruction. An added bonus is that the Washington State Bar would give her credit for most of the courses she took at Concord that meet Washington’s requirements.

To be accepted into the program, Holbert had to find an attorney willing to provide the mentoring support she needed. She sent out dozens of letters to attorneys in the Northwest looking for a mentor to support her in the program, and it took nearly a year to find the right fit.

Along came O’Mhuan, who noted that others have followed a less traditional path to becoming lawyers: “Her predecessors included Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln.”

Holbert took the Washington State Bar exam last July and was notified in October that she had passed on her first attempt, a key achievement as only 65.6 percent of those taking the July bar exam passed.

After being formally sworn in by Judge Alan Hancock on Nov. 4 and approval by the Washington Supreme Court, Holbert became a licensed attorney in Washington with her proud mentor and family looking on.

Holbert said her success would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of her husband, her son and her mentor.

Holbert is now officially an associate with the law office of G. Kenneth O’Mhuan in Freeland.