Kent Spence: Trial Lawyer and Outdoorsman

Photos Provided by Kent Spence

Ask Kent Spence what his childhood was like and he’ll tell you that he spent it in the great outdoors. Born and raised in the small town of Riverton, Wyoming, Kent grew up hunting, fishing, backpacking, hiking and more, always seeking new adventures and, as he put it, always “exploring out in the sticks”. Raised the way Wyoming natives often are, Kent quickly found a passion for nature, developing a fervor for the outdoors that has proven to be a lifelong sentiment.

Even now, as a lawyer of more than 30 years, Kent finds a way to connect with nature several times a week, if not daily. “I actually became a lawyer around age 33,” he says, “and law practice is very demanding, so I became an after-work and weekend warrior. Any time I could fit in, I was out doing activities in the great outdoors”. But his time spent outside was more than just rushed intervals between trips to the office. In fact, Kent says, being an outdoorsman has been a key component in ensuring a successful law career. He explains, “The outdoor activities that I participated in kept me emotionally and physically healthy to do the high-stress work of being a lawyer”. There is no doubt that the outdoors has been a kind of refuge for Kent; a safe place to escape the stress of daily life and to truly embrace the beauty that surrounds him.

So, one might ask, if his love for nature is so great, why didn’t he pursue a career as an outdoorsman? An adventure guide? A professional athlete? A salesman of outdoor equipment? Well, the answer is really quite simple: he wanted to help people. “I didn’t even decide to go to undergrad until I was 24”, Kent describes. “I was a carpenter prior to that, for 6 years after high school, until I got motivated by some lawyers that were involved in a case representing people against a big, nuclear corporation. That case inspired me, and helped me see that I could actually make a big difference as a lawyer, representing people against big powers”. Kent packed away his carpentry tools and made his way to Montana, where he completed undergrad, and then moved to Georgia, where he received a Juris Doctor and began his career as a lawyer.

And in his career, Kent has excelled. Not only has he lost just two cases in the entirety of his practice, but he has graduated from the Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming, volunteered his time as faculty on the Trial Lawyers College staff for 21 years, been honored in the top 100 trial lawyers in Wyoming by the National Trial Lawyers Association, served as president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, and defended countless individuals who had been wronged by big corporations, or in cases regarding civil rights, personal injury, and wrongful death.

Clearly, Kent isn’t someone who half-asses things, so it makes sense that he’s a fan of DMOS, especially since he knows that the tools get the job done. As an outdoorsman that still bikes, fishes, skis, hunts and hikes, Kent says he has gotten a lot of use out of the shovel, both in moments where he intended to use it, and situations in which it saved his ass. “The shovel is perfect to have in every vehicle in snow country, all over the world”, he says. “They fit so compact into your car, and yet, when you open them up, they’re a strong, full-length shovel and handle”. Kent also says the tools are ideal for trail builders in the national forest, bicycle trail building, digging out snowmobiles or trucks that get stuck, and for campers and skiers too. “Plus”, he adds, “every law enforcement and fire department should have one under their seats, for the same reason that they’re compact, strong and super functional”.

But Kent doesn’t just praise the DMOS tools for their theoretical abilities, he speaks from experience. “This year some friends and I were on a two-track dirt road and I miscalculated a ravine that I was pulling down in through, and the front end of my truck dropped into a crevasse”, he says. “The edge of the crevasse on the front and back of the tire was too straight up and down to be able to pull out and I was sure that, even in four-wheel low, we wouldn’t be able to get out.”

However, armed with both a Stealth Shovel and an Alpha Shovel, tucked compactly in his truck, Kent and his friends were able to carve the dirt at a slope behind the front tire, put it in four-wheel low, put some rocks behind it, and back out. “I was really surprised we got out because that front bumper was nearly sitting on the ground on the other side of the crevasse”, he explains. “We celebrated afterward and we were so excited to get out that we were yelping. It was a great moment to celebrate the DMOS tools. I was super thankful to have the shovels with me”.

Kent states that, now, he never leaves the house without the shovels collapsed under the seats in his truck, whether he’s headed for the great outdoors or headed to the office to get some work done. “I hope that the DMOS company becomes a household name and that it becomes the go-to shovel for people across the world”, Kent says. “There is no other shovel that can match the DMOS shovel”, and frankly, there aren’t many people who can match the personality and positivity of Kent. “There are two mottos I live by”, he says. “First, practice love and compassion for others. And second, "Why have a bad time when you could have a good time?”

 Think you’ve got what it takes to be featured in a blog? Email Ariella at ariella@dmoscollective.com for a chance to get an interview and article on our website.