From a young age, Fresno State grad and 2L, Terrance Dennis, has always had big dreams journeying from professional sports to healthcare and now law school. He’s working hard to lay the foundation for a bright future that includes opening the first Black-owned, freestanding behavioral health hospital in the Central Valley. Find out how Terrance's father inspired him to open a hospital, how a judge's words in court inspired him to learn the law, and why his strong mindset is essential for persevering in law school.
Tell us about your journey to law school and what inspired you to go to law school?
In the early 90s, my father served as a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, CA. As an officer of the court, he looked to ensure fairness and uphold justice. He served as a public defender, quickly gaining recognition for his litigation skills after taking on a few murder trials and earning an acquittal. After establishing a name for himself, he opened a private firm and before he knew it, he had three law offices in Long Beach Trade Center, Van Nuys and Pasadena at 31. In the 90s, our nation collectively witnessed the harsh reality that impacted people of color. The growth of culture and entertainment in politics, the advancement of the internet, and a robust press televised the beating of Rodney King. News outlets nationally televised the mistreatment of minorities resulting in riots across the U.S. During this time, there was also a war on drugs, which mainly affected minority communities. For the first time, our nation began to question the legitimacy of justice and fairness.
According to the American Bar Association, in 2020, only 5% of all lawyers are African American, 86% are Caucasian, 5% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian and 2% are multicultural.
The vast disparity of minorities in the legal field displays the lack of diversity, inclusion and fair representation. As an attorney, my father found success; however, as an African-American male, he often dealt with internal conflicts because he witnessed corruption and the systemic inequities that affected minorities in the criminal justice system. More recently, there has been a significant shift in our nation seeking to unite and display solidarity to identify systemic inequities and attempt to support progressive change by addressing or remedying these traumas. My father was one of the young professionals who looked to ensure fairness and uphold the interest of justice. He lacked the technological advancements we benefit from today (such as camera phones, social media, etc) as tools for evidence or to utilize as a platform to draw support. He lacked support from colleagues due to the sheer disparity in representation. He put up a fight to identify the injustices he witnessed and was often minimized and siloed when voicing the need for policy change and equality. In essence, he was 30 years ahead of his time.
Unfortunately, the stress and pressure he dealt with trying to create the systemic changes we see today led to a decline in his mental health. He placed a lot of pressure on himself to use his platform as an attorney to implement change single-handedly. Thankfully, my mother's strong will and integrity allowed her to continue to help my father as much as she could, in addition to taking the reins of raising three children while bearing a financial burden with my father's decline in health.
As a youth, I took refuge in playing sports and received several football scholarships to schools across the nation. Following the value instilled in me by my father and my mother's strong will, I decided to accept a full scholarship to Fresno State, his Alma Mater, within the city my mother was born. I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in Criminology with an emphasis in Law Enforcement. I proceeded to achieve my Master's degree from Argosy University in Forensic Psychology with an emphasis in Assessment and Treatment.
With a strong desire to better understand how the field of law affects everyone's lives, my inspiration bloomed. As a youth with my father no longer being gainfully employed, my mother's limited income forced our family to regularly move throughout Los Angeles County.
Unlike many of my peers growing up in a single-parent household, I was provided the benefit of witnessing my father thrive within his legal profession. Although this rise in the legal field led to the deterioration of my father's mental wellness, I understood that no matter the circumstance, my robust and tenacious personality would offer the opportunity for a bright future ahead.
Being an athlete and the oldest male in my family, I had an outgoing personality and like me, many of my friends came from single-parent households. However, they didn't have the same opportunity to see a parent thrive in their profession. Although this luxury was limited, I cherished it because I knew that I could envision a better future for myself regardless of my circumstances at the time.
Many of my contemporaries that I grew up with either died or are serving a jail sentence. I remember when a friend of mine was sentenced, and the judge told him "ignorance of the law is no excuse." It stuck with me because it made it a reality that I would still be liable for things I did not know. With both parents respectively doing as much as they could for our family with little time to educate or teach me, if I made the same mistake as my friend did, it would’ve still cost me 5 to 10 years of my life to learn from that mistake. I couldn't comprehend how it was fair since we had both done a lot of things, but I realized my circumstances could've been very different. Even though the law affects our daily lives, most remain unaware until the knowledge of the law becomes necessary. By that time, it is often far too late, and you place your fate in the hands of a lawyer you may have only had one or two conversations with before going to court. Regardless of the type of law (criminal, property, family, etc.), I've chosen to take a proactive approach to acquire this knowledge by going to law school.
Why did you choose to attend SJCL?
I chose to attend San Joaquin College of Law because of the school's affordability and the low cost of living in the Central Valley. After much research, the overall cost of a law degree at SJCL was a fraction of the cost compared to other law schools throughout California. The Bar pass rates were also as high, if not higher, than some of the ABA law schools I researched. Additionally, I appreciated the fact that SJCL grades to a standard rather than a curve. The emphasis is on a student's understanding of the information rather than just having them compete with classmates. With most law schools being graded to a curve, you’re graded against your classmates versus how much you understand the information or topic you're learning about. However, when you sit for the Bar, you're graded on a standard of how much you know and not a curve. That's why I really appreciate SJCL grading to a standard because it ensures the students know the information that we're learning, and we're well prepared for the Bar.
How's your experience been as a law student before and during the pandemic?
COVID-19 has had an extreme impact on my law school experience. I have a very interpersonal, kinesthetic and visual learning style. So, the ability to meet or visit with my professors pre-pandemic and have them utilize a whiteboard, visual aids, or immediately interject with questions before, during, or after class was a significant factor in my understanding and comprehension. I would also regularly meet with classmates, using them as a sounding board to distinguish their interpretation of what we were learning. However, when the pandemic began, I struggled as many students were not as easily accessible as they were pre-pandemic. Many students in the SJCL population are local to the area, so they may have family they can reside with or a significant other and children. However, when the pandemic hit and the shelter in place order was implemented, I couldn't live with family since I’m not originally from here and didn't have a significant other to potentially supplement some of the financial burdens of attending law school. Prior to law school, I purchased a home in Los Angeles and being a full-time student and not having some of the same support, it quickly became more apparent I would have to move back to Los Angeles for support until the shelter in place was lifted. No longer residing locally, it made it nearly impossible to meet physically and be enrolled in night courses that end at 9:30 pm. Many classmates would log off as it was already late, and they could spend the time they missed with their families or significant others. The change made it challenging to set up virtual meetings or groups that would work with my classmate's schedules as many worked during the day or tended to their families. This taught me to adapt to the change and be resourceful, utilizing supplemental resources to ensure my understanding of the subjects with Barbri or Studicata. Although this did help visually, it still did not aid with kinesthetic and interpersonal learning.
How were you able to focus and stay productive while going to school from home?
I had to find ways to apply what I'm learning to real-life scenarios. What I will typically do is find a current event - whether it's for my Real Property or Evidence or Criminal Law class - since there's a lot of current events related to what we're learning about. In my Administrative Law class, the Supreme Court bypassed the original law and, in our class, it directly correlated to that. So, I applied some of the theories and readings with the opinions in today's events so that they would stick with me comprehension-wise. That's one way I adapted to not physically being in class and I also make sure I take 30-minute breaks in between long periods of reading.
What are some things you would advise for an individual just starting out in law school?
Prior to going to law school, find out what your 1L courses will likely be and go through a complete Barbri subject beforehand. That way, you learn the terminology and theories and when you do get to law school, you're not as lost and have a better understanding of how you're going to learn some of these things in a law class, so it gives you a good precursor.
What is something you learned about being a law student that no one told you about?
The whole process has been a learning experience and a learning curve as well. My first interest growing up was sports and while I knew I had to pass all my classes, school wasn't my number one priority. Going through this process teaches you to analyze life and that's one thing that's new to me because I look at everything from a different perspective. I say that because when you're analyzing the law and interpreting it, you're looking for different types of interpretations and including different factors that hadn't been considered prior to making your argument or decision. I feel like I'm starting to do that with my life as well. I might not be able to change prison reform and while I might be able to help one or two people as a criminal defense attorney, I can create a billion-dollar organization instead that can put people in place to change policy, and that's what's going to make a bigger change for inclusion for individuals. Finances, unfortunately, run the world and there are generally just two thoughts: capitalism and socialism. Most individuals don't think about conscious capitalism. There's nothing wrong with making as much money as you want to make, but you can also help individuals along the way. So, I'm working on a conscious capitalism idea.
With your previous experience with mental health, why is it important to take care of your mental health through law school?
I think that goes more along the lines of self-care through law school and for me, it's crucial to have a balance because law school and the information you're learning is in-depth. Being able to have balance and take time for yourself is essential. With these types of subjects, you can end up spending hours studying, reading, or looking through notes and a lot of times, it can lead to being overworked or burnt out.
What's some advice or things you do to take care of yourself while you're in law school?
For me, it was identifying certain things I was passionate about independent from law school. One of those things for me is bike riding. I purchased a bike this past summer and rode it almost 25 miles every two or three days. It allowed me to get away from reading all day and talking about the law, so I could breathe in some fresh air, listen to my music and enjoy a bike ride. That helped alleviate some of the stress associated with the pressures of test-taking and memorization for me. In addition to that, it was spending time with family, going on hikes, and making sure I was working out. With stress and anxiety, working out helps ensure you're releasing endorphins and helps you continue to stay physically healthy, which directly correlates to better comprehension and memorization.
How has your experience been with SJCL when you have questions or need guidance?
My experience with the school has been great so far, and the professors did a great job in response to the pandemic. Every school in this nation went through a learning curve and are still trying to see what works best with different individuals. As far as adapting to changes and student requests, I feel like SJCL was well-prepared and has done great in their responses and taking care of their students' needs. For example, Dean Tenerelli took time to aid me through the process on a Friday, and any classes I had an issue with allowed me to go over them with her. The ability to reach out to the Dean of Student Services on a Friday and get that support is excellent and essential.
How important is it to make connections while you're in law school?
I believe during my 1L before the pandemic, I did great at making connections. The name San Joaquin College of Law holds weight, so being able to meet individuals while I'm out and informing them of where I'm at in the process and how I'm doing in school, I've had many people reach out to exchange business cards. For example, I'm best friends with Isaiah Green, the Program Director of Fresno's new Advance Peace Program, Marcos Osorio, Program Officer at Central Valley Community Foundation, and I'm a mentee to the previous President of City Council, Paul Caprioglio. I'm also very close to Tate Hill at Access Plus Capital, which aids startups in receiving funding. In addition to that, the Equal Opportunity Commission and Tara Lynn Gray, the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce, is another great person I've met and Heather Brown, Chief Administrative officer at the EOC.
What type of law are you passionate about and did you discover it in law school?
Growing up in Los Angeles, my first thought process was that I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney, so I'm currently clerking for a criminal defense attorney, David Mugridge, and learning the process from him. From criminal defense to business law, they all go hand in hand, especially with Forensic Psychology, which is the psychology of the courts. My goal is to open a business/organization to satisfy mental health needs and aid individuals seeking treatment in lieu of prison sentences.
My business partner, Martin LaRoche, completed his doctorate in Business Psychology at Chicago School of Professional Psychology and then created MVP Consulting Group, where he and I partnered to help healthcare organizations gain licensing and third-party accreditation. I hope to utilize my law degree to strengthen my understanding and interpretation of compliance and regulation for these organizations. My long-term goal is to open a behavioral health hospital and create the policies, program statements and procedures to open a small facility with approximately 15 to 30 beds.
What led to your goal of opening a mental health hospital in the Central Valley?
Because of my father's mental health background, some childhood circumstances and my master's degree in Forensic Psychology, I had a newfound passion for mental health. I started working as a court liaison for a mental health court program in Orange County. I also worked for Universal Health Services (UHS), one of the largest behavioral health hospital management companies in the United States. Through both of those experiences, I developed another passion for administrative procedures rather than the clinical aspect of mental health.
During one of my summer courses at SJCL, I took an Administrative Law class that stapled my ability to apply law and quality healthcare delivery. I paired my legal knowledge from SJCL with prior experience and education to co-write a mental health program statement and operations plan for one of only three Fresno County facilities. After the plan was reviewed and aligned with state statutory minimums for a Short-term Therapeutic Residential Program (STRTP), the healthcare organization received its interim state license. These public social service programs governed by Assembly Bill 403 created a reform called the California Community Care Facilities Act, which required facilities to implement Continuum of Care Reform regulations for residential group home facilities. In addition to the approval, the facility I aided received a three-year accreditation from a third-party international accreditation entity for healthcare facilities (CARF).
From there, I created TransEvince Health Services to be the first Black-owned, freestanding behavioral health hospital. With the name TransEvince - the root word of Trans meaning "Beyond" and the root word of Eventus defined to reveal "Quality". I wanted to create an evidence-based mental health and substance abuse treatment center and deliver a full spectrum of cultural competence and healthcare management. With everything that's going on in the world, the goal is to transcend racial and cultural inclusion through social equity and allyship. In between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, there are currently no behavioral health hospitals at all. So, an individual suffering from a mental health crisis or placed on a 51/50 hold will likely need to be sent up north to the Bay Area or down south to Los Angeles. Many issues can arise when transferring a loved one struggling with mental health symptoms or having access to limited services, resources, family, or environmental familiarity. Let's say your loved one is on a 51/50 hold and they're sent to Los Angeles - how likely is it that a loved one from a median to a low-income household will be able to travel during the week to see them? How effective is it for your loved one not to see family while being in a completely new place isolated from anything they'd have familiarity with? Being placed on a 51/50 hold is traumatic in itself, then you couple that with not seeing your family because you're 300 miles away from home and it only adds to it.
How important is it, especially in today's climate, to have a mental health advocate during some police encounters?
I think it's a powerful facet. For one, it's about having a mental health hospital that can serve the local population and provide resources. Additionally, there is no current mental health collaborative court program here in Fresno. I previously worked for a mental health collaborative court program in Orange County and it's becoming a standard for how other mental health programs are implementing into their cities and counties. It aids in reducing the jail population and providing resources and treatment. Mental health and the jail population directly correlate and being able to provide someone with services in lieu of serving a jail sentence not only helps that individual and gets down to the root cause of the issue, but it saves taxpayer dollars as well. Suppose someone is committing a non-violent offense due to their mental health symptoms and you throw them in jail. In that case, they will have the same behaviors upon release because they haven't received any treatment or aid in modeling positive behaviors or practicing positive coping mechanisms. So, it directly correlates to the economy, the services and the demand for mental health clinicians, especially in the Central Valley.
What inspired you to open a mental health facility and turn your goal into a reality?
As an ill-informed youth growing up, my ignorance naturally caused me to lack the ability to understand my father's mental health symptoms. Naturally, when there is a lack of knowledge, we comprehend things from our perspective. I could only see what was happening to me and how it affected me. I only saw the fact that my parents were separated, and I didn’t feel supported, or from my perspective, loved by my father in the way most kids do. My misunderstanding grew to anger and ultimately led to resentment.
As I got older, I dealt with my own struggles navigating manhood and as a Black man navigating society, my father may have felt some of the things I'm feeling now and likely wanted to understand what happened. As time went on, I started learning about some of the stresses he went through that led to his mental health condition. After reconciling our relationship, I received my master's in Forensic Psychology and worked at a psychiatric hospital and a collaborative mental health court program. I learned the clinical aspect of things because I wanted to understand what happened with my dad and help him and I enjoyed learning the administrative process. I then learned that there’s only one Black-owned hospital in the United States. After researching, the U.S spends more on the healthcare industry than any other country, so I figured with my educational background and personal experience, I could fill a void in a space that is essentially a cornerstone to the U.S economy. In the 1960s, there were 500 Black-owned hospitals but since 2001, there's only one. These numbers show that minorities not only miss out but are ostracized from access to significant capital gains and social equity as well as having a place in the operation and delivery of treatment that keeps the U.S economy afloat. By establishing an organization such as TransEvince as the second Black-owned national hospital and the first to be opened in more than 70 years, African Americans will have more say in policy change since we know law and economics directly correlate. As a result, I'd like my idea to catapult other races and individuals to ensure their inclusion and equity to aid disenfranchised groups.
Where did your idea for TransEvince come from?
After working at UHS, one of the largest mental health providers in the U.S., a friend of mine introduced me to his friend, then CMO of the St. Louis Rams, Bob Reif. When I played football in college, my friend mentioned giving me a shot to play for the Rams and Bob asked if I wanted to play for or own the Rams. At that point, I'd never thought of it that way. It's a hard thing to do, but I realized that I'd been thinking so small my entire life and as soon as he said that I decided to never think small again. For example, we typically aspire to what we can see a lot of the time, and one of the things a lot of individuals see daily is sports. So, most people would rather be Lebron James or James Harden versus Jerry Buss, who owns the team. Some would rather be a doctor versus the owner of the hospital. It boils down to the fact that if you don't see it, you likely don't aspire to be it, so our ceiling and what we aspire to become is the next Lebron James or a doctor/nurse typically. That’s what led me to start thinking bigger and to the idea of TransEvince.
What's been the most challenging aspect of law school so far?
For me, it's a space I'd never been in so I'm trying to navigate the terminology and shift my paradigm on how I think about things. Doing well in law school and on the LSAT is really about how you think. You can study for it, but it has more to do with how you interpret things and break them down. Thankfully, I've been able to get this far and SJCL has been a great aid in that. That's why I did well with the interpersonal learning style before the pandemic. I could speak with other students in the school who may have understood things a little faster than I did, but I could eventually distinguish how they thought, adopt their process, and add it into my own toolbox. Now I don't have that available because we're online and it's tough because I have to actually see it being done before I can mimic it and put my own little twist on it. That's been my most significant learning curve - seeing how other individuals do it and adapting from there.
What advice do you have for future applicants?
I have ADHD, so personally being able to stick to one thing was tough for me because I'd do something for a while and then I'd get bored. They say individuals with ADHD understand the premise of things faster and because of that, they get bored with it. For me, I played football, got my master's, and I'm very business-oriented and entrepreneurial, so I wanted to do something that satisfied all of that. I realized that was law for me because the law applies to everyone's life, but many individuals aren't privy to it. Whether it's business law, policy and procedure for healthcare organizations, sports management, or contract law for athletes, it's the one field where you can kind of do anything with your degree. There's no limit to what you can do with a law degree. Once you go through law school and you're able to learn the law, you can find the field you're interested in, learn the law there and if you end up not liking it after all, you can move into a completely different space that had nothing to do with what you were interested in prior to. So, I can go from mental health to business to sports management if I wanted to. Whatever your passion is, once you know the law, you can apply it to whatever your passion is or you can create a niche that's not currently being addressed and that's what I did.
Want to learn more about San Joaquin College of Law, attend a virtual student forum or set up an appointment to discuss your law school future? Contact our Assistant Director of Admissions, Francisco "Javier" Rosas, or our Director of Admissions, Diane Steel today!