Personal
Many times a client wants to know more about the attorney than just what is on his or her record. Who is the attorney that I want to represent me? Will he be responsive to my calls, and my questions? Will he or she be someone with whom I feel comfortable in discussing my case? Therefore, I thought it important to provide some background on just who is Rivers Morrell.
The Story of My Parents
The story of my parents may also help you understand who I am. My father grew up during the depression, having been born in 1913. His father was a somewhat wealthy farmer, who owned hundreds of acres in the San Fernando Valley. With the depression, all of this was lost. My father was not able to continue at USC, but was able to get an appointment to the US Naval Academy. He was an All American Football player there, and upon graduation joined the US Marine Corps as a fighter pilot. He married my mother, and for the next 25 years, we traveled around the country, living at various military bases.
World War II and Guadalcanal Diary
My father was in World War II, and the Korean war. He was mentioned in the highly acclaimed book, “Guadalcanal Diary”, thought to be the quintessential book on World War II. He appeared many times in the Los Angeles Times, and the scrap book that his mother maintained is unbelievable. He retired as a Brigadier General to the City of Laguna Beach. During my pre high school years, we lived in places such as Hawaii, North Carolina, and Alexandria, Virginia (when my father worked at the Pentagon).
Laguna Beach Childhood
I attended Laguna Beach High School. I was an All Orange County Football player, and was accepted to UC Berkeley.
I attended UC Berkeley during the radical years of the mid 1960s, and majored in Economics. Upon graduation I enrolled in Law School.
Family Life – Married with 4 children 
I am married to Nancy, and we have 4 children. Our daughter has now graduated from Law School, and is a practicing attorney. Two of our children are in their last years of college, and still reside at home. For many years, during the summers, we traveled to a small resort south of Mulege, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez, at Conception Bay. We took down a ski boat and Sea Doos and built wonderful memories of great summers with the family. The two children who live at home, still use the boat for water skiing, and wake boarding.
Our Home
We built our current home, located on 5.5 acres, located in the mountains of San Juan Capistrano. The contractor who built our home was a 65 year old, short, overweight, Lebanese woman, who, to say the least, was quite a character. I can still see her on the job site, yelling at the subcontractors, even though they all loved her. She did a tremendous job, and we remained friends until she passed away many years later. We still keep in touch with her daughters, who are also quite a story, and successful.