I have been practicing law in Eastern Oregon since 1993.  Prior to beginning my legal carreer, I worked as a police officer with the Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department, I attended the University of Tulsa Law School while working in the department's Special Investigations Unit.  I moved my family from Oklahoma  to Eastern Oregon when I graduated from law school.  My first job was as an assistant district attorney with the Union County DA's Office.  I gained valuable trial experience, trying cases to juries in everything from sexual abuse to attempted aggravated murder. 

In 1997 I began working in private practice;  first with Mautz Baum & O'Hanlon, and then as a sole practitioner.  In 2000 Gene Hallman and I formed the partnership of Hallman & Dretke.  Ours firm's practice is exclusively in litigation.  In the past few years I have developed a practice that focuses on nursing home abuse.  I find that taking on the corporations that own nursing homes and too often put profits before people is a rewarding experience.  Our firm has also litigated against some of the most powerful corporations around:  Ford Motor Company, Wal-Mart, and UPRR to name a few. 

My wife, Khuelien ("Lien"), is a family nurse practitioner with the Grande Ronde Internal Medicine Clinic in La Grande.  We have been married for 29 years.  Together we have raised two children, Rachael - who is soon to obtain her Masters degree and follow in her mother's footsteps as a nurse practitioner, and Tyler - who will graduate from Oregon State University in Fall 2010 with a degree in geology. 

Lien and I both stay physically active.  She runs consistently and has completed full and half-marathons.  I compete in Iron-distance triathlons.  When we are not training or working, we dote on our grandson, Ethan.