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Legal Background

Personal and Educational Background

Personal and Educational Background

Mr. Browne was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 26, 1938 of Irish and German descent. He grew up in Marion, Indiana, graduating from Marion High School in 1956, where he was on the Golf Team for three years and also lettered in football.

Mr. Browne's grandfather, John R. Browne Sr., was a famous lawyer who practiced in Marion, but was known throughout Indiana and beyond. The senior Mr. Browne, a 33rd Degree Mason, a fiery orator, was seldom seen without a book in hishand. He wrote The Great Sermon, a book interpreting Christ's Sermon on the Mount.

Mr. Browne's father, John R. Browne Jr., also had a distinguished career as a practicing lawyer in Marion, Indiana, beginning as a prosecutor and going in to represent railroads, insurance companies and many local businesses. Mr. Browne Jr. was a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated lawyer, a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and was named in the 1987 Edition of Who's Who In American Lawyers. He practiced law successfully until he was 84 years old.

Personal Affiliations:

Mr. Browne entered the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin in 1957, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. While at Madison, Mr. Browne became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, forming many strong friendships which exist to this day. Mr. Browne worked for his meals in college by waiting tables at the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority House. Mr. Browne rowed for a period of time on Lake Mendota with the UW Freshman Crew Team, which provided the genesis of Mr. Browne's life long devotion to the physical and mental health benefits of a regular exercise program. Mr. Browne presently swims, lifts weights and practices Yoga to stay fit.

Mr. Browne was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps after graduation from college. He served on active duty for six months at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, as a medical supply officer. He was later to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve for the 7 ½ remaining term of his duty commitment, plus 5 additional years with the 6253d U.S. Army Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco, where he served as Hospital Company Commander and achieved the rank of Captain, USAR.

After his six months active military duty tour in 1960, Mr. Browne broadened his horizons by traveling in Europe for three months in a VW beetle automobile purchased in Stuttgart, Germany. He toured Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark, Holland and England.

Mr. Browne entered Indiana Law School in Bloomington, Indiana in the Fall of 1961, graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.

For 7 semesters during college and law school, Mr. Browne ran a Children's Program at The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. He and his staff of children's counselors founded a "Sports School," teaching children of ages 6-14 the rudiments of tennis, golf, swimming, horseback riding, fishing, archery and bowling.

Mr. Browne arrived in California from Indiana in 1965, having marked this destination after attending the 1960 Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena. Although his Wisconsin Badgers lost that game, the escape from the snow into sunny California at that time made it very clear to Mr. Browne that he wanted to live and work in California.

Because the California Bar Examination was only offered twice a year and had less than a 50% pass rate, Mr. Browne took a Bar Review Course at night, while working during the day at Irving Lundborg and Company, which was a small local stock brokerage member firm of the New York Stock Exchange that later merged into Clark, Dodge & Co. and then Kidder, Peabody & Co.

Mr. Browne became licensed to practice law in California in 1966. He is also licensed to practice law in Indiana.