Fall, 2004
Attorney David Olan is Featured in Being Magazine
David Olan
In the fall of 2004, attorney David Olan was featured in Being magazine. Being is a lifestyle magazine devoted to celebrating the comfort and balance of life. David Olan was featured discussing how he combined his professional work with his love of surfing by founding The Association of Surfing Lawyers.
Pacific Heights: Coastal comfort means combining work, play and ocean conservation, all within sight of the waves. Surf’s up!
–Christine Lennon
David Hits the Waves
It’s a 77-degree, vividly sunny day in Malibu. A barely
perceptible breeze floats up the steep cliff side from the
Pacific and rustles the purple jacaranda tree that shades
David and Sharon Olan’s restored and whitewashed
1950s ranch house.
“Work is so stressful that I need a sanctuary,” says
David, an attorney in private practice. “Comfort, I think, is
an internal thing. It’s happiness. But the real lifestyle evolution happened when Sharon and I came up to this house. Everything I want is here; we can go mountain biking, walk the dogs, play guitar, surf. It’s such a beautiful feeling.”
As a California native, Olan had always wanted to live near
the water, particularly in Malibu, a coastal area boasting
spectacular scenery. For Sharon, an Australian who grew up in New Zealand, living in America had been her dream since she was a child. Now, it seems, the two are living that dream—in a pretty enviable fashion. Yet they are a part of a generation of professionals for whom the line between work and play is blurred. They do just enough of one to really appreciate the other, and none of it would be satisfying if they didn’t find a way to express gratitude for their lifestyle. The Olans have found that outlet through a non-profit organization they’ve founded called Surfing Lawyers.
“My passion is surfing and my profession is the law. I’ve
always found that there was a certain nexus between those
two things,” says David, who surfs nearly every day after
work. “You need to challenge yourself in the water the same
way you do at work. And it’s my greatest relief after a day
spent in often adversarial situations.”
About five years ago, Olan started to pay attention to how
many of his peers were in the lineup, jumping out of the justice system frying pan, and quite literally into the cold water, as a way to tune out one world and turn on another. A few numbers were exchanged. A few casual breakfasts were organized. And the seed for Surfing Lawyers was planted.
At the time, Sharon was working as an events and publicrelations coordinator for Olive Crest, a non-profit organization for abused children, and she knew a good story when she saw one. “David would tell me about these lawyers he met in the water, and I immediately thought, ‘Wow, as a group together, the power they would have with environmental work, focusing on clean water issues, would be immense,’” she says. That was a little over two years ago.
Now, with approximately a hundred members of all ages and
both genders, the group travels to famous breaks around the world, offering lectures and seminars that provide mandatory continuing education for practicing attorneys, in between high tide and mai tais. Strong friendships have evolved. They’ve taught underprivileged children to surf. And soon, they’ll determine how to harness all of that legal expertise and focus their environmental efforts.
It’s nearly impossible to ignore the ecological problems
in Southern California. It’s where topography and traffic
collide, and a vast expanse of water meets droughtparched
mountains. But for surfers, concerns about pollution
are especially urgent. So much of their lives are spent
in the water, and often, after a significant rain, waiting to
get back in (because of sewage runoff and pollution, people
are advised to wait 72 hours after a storm to go out).
So through Surfing Lawyers, a new group of philanthropists
was born. Sharon is in the process of sorting through
several requests for pro bono work on behalf of organizations like Surfrider Foundation, a surfing-focused oceanawareness non-profit with a chapter in Malibu. David is a member of its advisory board.
“If there’s ever a project that’s threatening our ocean,
we’ll take action,” says David, returning to the couple’s own
private oasis after a sunset session with the surf group. “To
really enjoy your life, I believe you’ve got to do things that are right and that are good.”
