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After partying too hard the night before and failing the certified public accounting exam, P.A. Henrichsen went to work for Allied Insurance as an underwriter when he graduated from Iowa State University in 1993. About eight years later, and with a chartered property casualty underwriter designation, Henrichsen decided get his law degree at the University of Iowa. While there, he also passed the CPA exam. Now, Henrichsen, 37, who has been with McEnroe, Gotsdiner, Brewer & Steinbach P.C. since 2003, has been named shareholder in the firm (and had his name added to the company name).

What areas of law do you primarily practice?

I do a fair amount of individual tax returns and some tax returns for small closely held corporations and LLCs. I do a lot of work for small corporations, starting them. The firm together probably represents a little over 100 small closely held corporations. I do a lot of real estate work, residential transactions. I also do a fair amount of estate planning. I do a fair amount of litigation when it comes to corporate matters.

Was there one area you were attracted to in law school?

I like the transactional nature of my practice, but I also like the diversity.

Working here since 2003, you’re already a shareholder. Is that common?

Mike McEnroe passed away three years ago this March, and that had a considerable amount to do with my book of business picking up. I was asked to pick up the slack there, so my practice changed a little bit. Prior to that, I wasn’t doing as much real estate work as I’m doing now.

Being raised in Winterset, why did you choose to live in Des Moines?

I have had plenty of opportunities to leave Iowa. “Home is where you hang your childhood,” that is a Tennessee Williams quote to steal from him, but I didn’t want to leave. I grew up in a small town, but Des Moines was our commerce center. The only downfall is people’s opinion of it from other places in the country. They don’t understand the quality of life we have.

What do you do outside of work?

I teach Sunday school for my daughter, 4. It surprises people. Then I coach soccer for my son, 7, so I try to be as interactive with them as I can. I go back home as much as I can. My father’s a farmer. I’m probably one of the few attorneys you know who have worked cattle and actually enjoy it.

Do you still have a career ambition?

If you’re alluding to politics, no. I would like to continue to build a profitable practice and help as many people as I can in the way that I do work. The legal system is there, it is complex, it gets dirtied by lots and lots of people, but there is a reason we have one of the most dynamic economies in the world. Part of that reason is the legal system, that issues are hashed out and resolved. I enjoy very much what I do. Now, some things I don’t enjoy doing. The other three partners are not transactional-business-based individuals, so I’m bringing a lot of that to the table, analyzing our own books, our own accounts receivable, our own cost structure.

Is that the worst part of your job?

In that it’s not billable. Other than that, it’s not bad. The client that’s distressed and calling and you cannot help, because you’re not going to take them on as a pro bono client, that’s difficult. There are certain types of clients that paint themselves into a corner and you empathize, but I have employees, I have rent, and if I’m doing work on a no-collectable basis, then I can’t do work for anyone. Then sometimes people have misunderstandings of the law. One time I had a call, somebody wanted to sue the manufacturer of a non-dairy creamer. What he was doing was sitting around a worktable at his office and they were dusting [the powder]. If you’ve grown up in Iowa, you’ve heard of granaries blowing up. Dust in whatever format can be explosive. So what they were doing was dusting it and moving a candle to the dust and they had ignited it a couple of times. At that point there was an event, they had a lot of dust in the air, so this dusty fireball burnt him and he wanted to sue the creamery.