The future was ahead of Central Michigan University Chippewas pitcher Braxton Markle as he took the mound against the Miami University RedHawks to secure a save for his team in 2018.
Of immediate concern was the first of several RedHawks batters Markle, a southpaw, needed to send back to the dugout. While the hitters were 60 feet, 6 inches away, Markle’s dream of becoming a major league pitcher was in the back of his thoughts as he began hurling carefully aimed balls toward the plate.
Markle, 29, says he his aspiration to become an MLB pitcher was more than a sun-dappled dream.
“I was a lefty who threw in the high-eighties and low-nineties, so I could get away with more than a right-handed pitcher,” he smiles.
Markle tallied the save against the RedHawks, but sadly, the game was his last as a pitcher.
“I tore my labrum and had to miss the rest of the season. That was hard news to hear,” he says. (The labrum is a rim of soft tissue that stabilizes the socket of a ball-and-socket joint.)
Worse, Markle’s doctors gave him a 40% chance of returning to play at the same level.
“That’s a death sentence for a pitcher,” he notes.
Although disappointed, Markle found new life in law school and, in time, developed a passion he says rivals his love of the diamond: restructuring.
“It started with my mentor in law school,” Markle says, recalling his relationship with Peter Alexander associate dean at University of North Texas College of Law. “We grew close, and he took me under his wing.”
Markle liked the subject matter and believed bankruptcy would be a crucial area of practice in the coming years, so he asked Alexander – a former bankruptcy practitioner – for work that would provide him with experience. Markle’s mentor had him assist on a Chapter 9 municipal research project.
“Restructuring is a pleasant way of saying, ‘You’re in a bit of trouble, but we’re going to get you out of it with a minimal amount of damage while you pay as much as you can to your creditors,’” Markel explains. “It’s a remedy reserved for the unfortunate but honest debtor.”
Markle’s zeal for restructuring grew as he followed law school with a job at a boutique Dallas firm, Curtis | Castillo P.C.
“Their goal was to keep businesses open and people employed,” Markle recalls. “I found a lot of satisfaction in that. I thought, ‘This is work I could get behind as a career.’”
Markle reached beyond the Lone Star State to find his next mentor. Keen to learn more about bankruptcy and restructuring without having to meet a quota of billed hours, he did a national search for a clerkship with a federal bankruptcy judge. His online queries led him to a position with the Hon. Shelley Rucker in Chattanooga in 2022.
“I wanted to dive into the material without having to worry about stacking six-minute bricks and learn as much as I could from an individual who had superseded his or her peers,” Markle clarifies. (Many attorneys use six-minute increments during invoicing.)
The opportunity to study under Rucker, an accomplished and respected judge who was approaching retirement, and to research cases from the other side of the bench led to great personal and professional growth, Markle says.
“I made a lifelong friend; I sharpened the tools I need to be an effective advocate, researcher and writer; I found a better version of myself; and I improved my legal and business acumen.”
Rucker retired April 1; Markle is now serving as a clerk under U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Nicholas Whittenburg. However, he plans to return to private practice when his clerkship ends in July.
Markle won’t be heading back to Texas but is remaining in Chattanooga, where he’s landed a position with Wright, Cortesi & Gilbreath, a business, employment and IP firm.
As a serial entrepreneur, Markle says he’s on a first name basis with the grueling nature of launching a business. (He owns a vending machine concern, a venture that earns revenue through peer-to-peer car sharing company Turo and additional enterprises.) He also knows how important it is for an entrepreneur to enjoy the fruits of their labor and protect their hard work for future generations, he adds.
For these reasons, he’s eager to begin applying his federal bankruptcy clerk experience to the patent and trademark litigation and general state cases at WCG Legal, he says.
Markle chose WCG Legal because its partners said they’re willing to help him grow a unique practice.
“I asked them if they’d be willing to build me up and then allow me to fill a hole I’d identified in the Chattanooga market so I could supplement their firm – and they said yes,” Markle says. “So, I’m looking forward to learning from more experienced attorneys and to developing my own client base. This is the team I’ve been waiting to join since I left college sports.”
Markle says he might have to temporarily pause his restructuring practice to serve the immediate needs of WCG Legal. He’s willing to do that because joining the firm is a long-term decision.
“They’re willing to invest in me and I’m willing to invest in them.”
Markle says his new job isn’t the only thing keeping him in Chattanooga; he’s also become fond of the city’s climate and people.
“My favorite thing about Chattanooga is the weather. You don’t have the Houston heat or the Michigan winter. It’s hard to beat a Michigan summer, and Tennessee has 90% of a Michigan summer and 5% of a Michigan winter, so it was an easy choice.”
A close second for Markle would be the people of Chattanooga, who have taught him the value of slowing down and saying hello.
“I need to build five to 15 extra minutes into every activity I do because whether I’m ordering food, buying groceries or pumping gas, someone is going to ask me how I’m doing and generally be interested. I don’t want to be the guy who dodges them, so I also take a moment to ask them how they’re doing and get to know them.
“In Dallas, life was ‘Go, go, go,’ and I became accustomed to that. My time here has melted a bit of my icy exterior and made me more content with my life.”
Staying is Chattanooga is another long-term decision for Markle, who hopes to someday raise a family in the city. Until then, he’ll be working to integrate himself into the community through volunteer work and association memberships, which currently include assisting with the Chattanooga Bar Association’s mock trial tournaments, becoming a member of the CBA and its Young Lawyers Division, and attending the monthly meetings of the local American Inn of Court.
If there’s one thing that could pull Markle away from the Scenic City for longer than the typical vacation, it would be the opportunity to practice law in Alaska. Or rather, to open a part-time fishing ticket firm in Alaska so he can spend his days flossing salmon out of the Kenai River.
Markle calls his Alaska dream a post-50 goal. As with his boyhood hope to become an MLB pitcher, this is no sun-dappled reverie but a future destination.
Even then, Markle expects Chattanooga to be home, he says.
“After I passed the bar, I disappeared into Alaska for two weeks with a buddy and a friend of his on a backpacking trip. Tennessee is the closest experience I’ve had to that, which is one of the reasons I love it.”