Imagine the time, energy and focus required of an elite track & field athlete intent on establishing his or her bona fides on the national and world scene.

 

Now imagine the time, energy and focus required of a young lawyer intent on, well, establishing his or her bona fides in the hyper-demanding legal community.

 

Jackson Walker need not imagine either scenario — it’s his daily life. The returned missionary and former Brigham Young University All-American is a nationally ranked decathlete and a rising litigation attorney.

 

But, like anyone else, Walker only has 24 hours to check off the boxes on his daily task list. And he is more than a  professional athlete and a lawyer. He is also a Latter-day Saint and a husband.

(His wife and fellow athlete, Avery Calton Walker, knows all about wearing multiple hats. She played soccer and ran track at BYU).

 

It is a busy, busy life — but Walker has no complaints.

“It's been a rewarding experience,” he told Church Ball Magazine.  

 

Despite his challenging training demands, Walker is grateful to have an athletic outlet from his legal eagle duties. The Utah-based attorney added he is also fortunate to work for a firm (he’s an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) that is supportive and accommodating of his athletic pursuits.

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“When I made my first Team USA last year, my firm sent out a company-wide mailer that included pictures of me competing for Team USA,” he said. “All of my coworkers have been really supportive.”

 

In return, Walker prioritizes the time he needs to fulfill his professional duties at the law firm.

 

Walker’s daily schedule is, by his own description, “less conventional” than either a typical attorney or a typical elite track athlete. 

 

“Sometimes I will have, say, a pole vault practice in the middle of the afternoon because that's when the coach is available,” he explained. “So, as an attorney, I will do what I need to do with our East Coast office throughout the morning. Then I will do a track workout. And then I’ll come back re-energized and ready for legal work in the late afternoon and into the evening.”

 

Time focused on his legal work doubles as Walker’s recovery period between workouts.  

 

Being a professional athlete/attorney is also mentally demanding. “So you’ve got to be able to compartmentalize, which is something I’ve learned very well as a decathlete where you have to compartmentalize each event.”

 

The decathlon, of course, is the storied track and field event that rewards competitors for being good at a variety of athletic feats. The competition’s 10 events include foot races of various distances, jumps, the pole vault and a variety of throwing events.

 

While competing in a decathlon and representing a corporate client in a court of law might seem like diametrically opposed activities, Walker identifies crossover skills and characteristics between his dual pursuits. 

 

Well-honed mentalization techniques, he said, can optimize one’s “performance” on both the athletic field and in the courtroom.

Additionally, both athletes and attorneys typically enjoy success following hard work, effective time management and attending to the  details. Both disciplines, added Walker, “are an art and a science.” 

 

From BYU walk-on to NCAA All-American

 

A decade ago, few would have imagined Jackson Walker one day wearing the Team USA jersey.

 

A multi-sport high school athlete from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Walker walked on to BYU’s track team in 2013. He appreciated the meritocracy of the decathlon. There was no room for politics, he said. A decathlete’s success is determined by a stop clock, a finish line and a tape measure.