By Dave Person
There was a time when Benjamin Norg struggled in school and didn’t entertain the thought of going to college.
As a freshman at Parchment High School, his grades, he says, were nothing to write home about.
But that all changed with the support he received from high school teachers and coaches, and today the 2010 PHS graduate has several years of schooling behind him and a career as a criminal defense attorney in Kalamazoo.
Norg says a number of educators contributed to his metamorphosis, but none so much as his math teacher, David Blough.
“Mr. Blough … cared about my well-being,” Norg says. “He … helped me realize I could do something with my life.
“He spent the first 10 minutes of each class talking about real life, nothing to do with math. … It was insightful. … It kind of changed the trajectory of where I was headed. And I definitely attribute it to Mr. Blough.”
After graduating from PHS, Norg went to Kalamazoo Valley Community College, where he earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice, then enrolled at Western Michigan University, from which he received a bachelor’s degree, also in criminal justice.
After that, he worked at the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program (KPEP) for a year, using skills he learned in college.
But Norg says he had a desire to further his education, so he enrolled at the WMU Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids.
“It was less about being an attorney, but more about continuing my education,” he says.
Two-and-a-half years later, Norg found himself with a law degree — he graduated cum laude — and a clerkship with a Circuit Court judge in Kalamazoo doing legal research and writing.
“Once I got my bar results, and I passed, I applied to the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office … and worked there for three years,” Norg says.
A little over two years ago, he went to work for Sharp & Associates Law Firm.
“I do nothing but criminal defense, everything from shoplifting to homicide,” he says.
He says he carries a heavy caseload and describes his work as stressful, but fun.
In addition, Norg, 31, a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Kalamazoo County Bar Association and the Michigan Association of OWI (operating while intoxicated) Attorneys, serves on the Michigan State Bar Character and Fitness Committee and is an adjunct Mock Trial professor at WMU.
Norg and his wife, Aubrey, his high school sweetheart, are the parents of two children, Malcolm, 5, and Josephine, 3. They reside in Kalamazoo.
His mother, Robin, father, Todd, and sister, Samantha, all live in the Parchment area, as do his in-laws, Randy and Amy Hanson. Randy Hanson also is an attorney and has been helpful to Norg in establishing his career, Norg says.
