User:Tristan teGroen

Tristan was born in South Africa and attended the elite Pretoria Boys High School, where he was the Head Prefect in 1980.

He studied law after high school and acquired a Bachelors in Law in 1984, an LL.B in 1986 and an LL.M (masters) degree in 1990. Loving philosophy and ethics, his thesis for his LL.B degree focused on the ethics of living and dying: euthanasia. Says Tristan, "It was a groundbreaking subject and forced me to examine everything that came before me and everything that follows. I learned about Hitler and his extermination programs.  I learned about the law in the Netherlands that permitted 'genadedood.'  Most of all, I learned about myself and what I cared for."

In 1993 Tristan commenced a course in film studies in Los Angeles, graduating with a 4.0 GPA toward the end of 1994. He was listed on the National Dean's List for 1993 and 1994. He worked for Orr and Cruikshank at the Disney Studios as well as Don Johnson in his Burbank Office - it was here that Tristan began studies for the California Bar Exam when he took his lunch late, very late in the day, to have peace and quiet in the restaurant of the office at 3400 Riverside in Burbank, Mr. Johnson's office.

Tristan took the California Bar Exam and was sworn in as a lawyer in December 1996, a title that he holds dearly to his heart to this day. He remains interested in film, philosophy, literature, law, art, architecture, photography and psychology, to name but a few of his interests.

He practices law out of an office in California. You may find Tristan or locate him through his website at http://www.tristant.net