 While in the United States Air Force, he was an F-86 pilot in the 59th Fighter Interceptor Squadron stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador from 1950 to 1954.He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1955 and the University of Utah Law School in 1958 and was Editor in Chief of the Utah Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.His first job after law school was as a litigation associate at Chadbourne & Parke in New York City.