it’s a bountiful life
Living by
Interview by Kevin Hecteman • Photos courtesy of Howard Sagaser
Ranch life, scholarships yield satisfying career for attorney Sometimes a little financial boost makes all the difference for a college kid. Such was the case for Howard Sagaser, a rancher’s son from Kings County who figures he owes his legal career in part to the California Farm Bureau scholarships he received while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In that career, he helps farmers and ranchers keep producing food and farm products by representing them in employment matters. The Farm Bureau scholarship helped Sagaser graduate from Cal Poly with a degree in farm management (now called agricultural economics). After considering his options, he pursued law school. While attending the University of California Hastings College of the Law, he had the chance to work as an extern for California Supreme Court Justice William P. Clark Jr. Sagaser earned his law degree and now is a partner in a Fresno law firm, where he devotes most of his energy to practicing on behalf of agricultural employers. “I jokingly tell people when they ask what type of law I practice, ‘I represent endangered species,’” Sagaser said. “When they ask why, I say, ‘It’s California employers—I think they are almost an endangered species.’” Ian Wieland, one of Sagaser’s law partners, describes his colleague as “very aggressive, but also well-mannered,” adding, “You’re never going to out-prepare Howard Sagaser. Over the years, he’s been a workhorse. Doesn’t matter if it’s for a hearing, for an arbitration, for a trial— he’s always thoroughly prepared. He knows the case inside and out.”
Howard Sagaser credits Farm Bureau scholarships in large part with enabling him to earn his undergraduate degree and eventually become a lawyer.
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September/October 2021
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