On The Edge

Profile:The Surfer Lawyer

By Peter Pan

 

          Narragansett native, John Pariseault is not your typical lawyer.  He works at the prestigious law firm of HinckleyAllenSnyder in Providence, five days a week.  His specialty is real estate, and he works with major New England developers on zoning and permitting matters.  He is a member of the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Bars.

          But when the surf is up, John is usually the first local in the water at the Lighthouse, Matunuck Point, or Monahan’s Dock, paddling out at the first light of dawn.  He is easy to spot in the water, tearing up the surf, just as he has done for the past fifteen years.

          He grew up surfing the hollow lefts off Bonnet Shores Beach Club, riding his first waves at the age of 6 years.  He still has his first surfboard that his parents bought him at the Watershed Surf Shop when he was 10 years old, a 5’10” Epoxy Ono Model. 

          He perfected his radical surfing style as a member of the Watershed Surf Team in the 1980’s and 90’s, winning many regional and New England contests.  John finished first in the New England district several times during this period, and competed in both the regional and East Coast Championships.

          Meanwhile, he was a top student at the Moses Brown School in Providence, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Brown University in 2002.  He graduated from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 2005, as a member of the Order of the Coif and magna cum laude.  “It was just an incredible amount of studying and hard work during this time,” said John.  “There was little time for anything else.”

          While he was on his quest to become a lawyer, he was also on the hunt for good waves.  “I surfed a lot of good breaks in San Francisco, during my years at Hastings,” he said in an interview this past week.  “The area reminded me a lot of Rhode Island, especially all the point breaks.  It was definitely more crowded, however.  I got out as often as I could, although it was sometimes tough to break away from the books.”

          John actually made the move to California, when his girlfriend Blythe went to Hastings College to pursue her law degree.  John had met her as an undergraduate at Brown University.  “I started surfing a few years before I met John,” said Blythe, who married John in the summer of 2007.  “I learned right here at the town beach.”  Blythe swam competitively for Brown University as a student, and adapted well to the ocean.

          He knew that when he finally got his law degree, he wanted to get a job near his favorite surfing breaks in Narragansett.  He rented a small apartment in Wakefield, when he interned at the Rhode Island Superior Court in 2003.  And when he worked for Justice Francis X. Flaherty as a Law Clerk from 2005-2006 at the Rhode Island Supreme Court, he juggled his time off, to hit the surf regularly.

           “I got used to waking up at 5:15 AM to get in the water before work,” said John.  “You just have to discipline yourself to do it.”  “I always know when he is getting up to go surfing the next morning,” said Blythe.  “He goes to bed at 8:00 PM the night before.  I stopped asking him why he is going to bed so early.  Now, I know.”

          The great thing about getting in the lineup at such an early hour is that there is, as John puts it; “Just you and the seals.”  While the crowd can get heavy even early in the morning during the warmer months, he often is out by himself in the icy cold mornings of the Rhode Island winter.

          “There are usually two or three others out there when I paddle out,” he said.  “I see Kristen Fraza, Peter DeSimone, Doug Merrick and Jamie Risser.  That is about it.”

          His wife is also a successful lawyer, and works for Johnson and Wales University, also in downtown, Providence.  “I won’t get up that early to surf,” she said.  “I have a lot of hair to deal with, so it slows down the process.  I stick to the weekends.”

          When the surf is not up, and the snow is on the ground, they take off and ski in northern New England on the weekends.  “I grew up racing on the winter weekends at Wachusett Mountain,” said John.  “I got Blythe into skiing this past winter, and she loves it.” 

          In order to maintain their active schedule, both John and his wife work out during the week, at the Kent County YMCA.  They combine a regime of Pilates, weight training, and cardio fitness to keep the paddling power necessary for riding.  “I ride basically short boards in the range from 5’11” to 6’6”, so I need to keep my paddling endurance at a high level,” John said.

          But first priority is always surf.  “All activities revolve around the swells,” said John.  “If the waves are breaking in Narragansett, we stay here for the weekend.”  They recently moved to North Kingstown, so they can be a bit closer to Providence, but still close enough for those dawn patrols when the surf is up