World’s Most Tattooed Lawyer?

You’ve heard about people who quit school to join the circus, but Eak the Geek quit life as a Coney Island sideshow freak to go to law school! Eduardo Arrocha is now a first year student at the Thomas M Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Despite the dramatic change of direction, the jump from Coney Island to Cooley Law wasn’t a sudden move. Eak considered the profession for more than 10 years, and actually grew up with the subject in his native Mexico. Although tattoos cover Eak’s face, law is in his blood; his father is a corporate lawyer and serves as the legal director for Coca-Cola Latin America. “In corporate law, he’s as big as you can get,” Eak says proudly.

But it was the repetitive nature of Eak’s job that finally convinced him to turn to the bar – he performed the same bed of nails act at the same freakshow every day, for over six months a year.

“I was getting bored with Coney Island towards the end,” he reveals. “There’s only so much I could do with the character of Eak The Geek. My creativity was limited, and I didn’t get an opportunity to develop my act.”

And Arrocha won’t let his all-over tattoos stand in the way of his law career.

“If you’re as tattooed as I am, you’re not really a trailblazer in the sideshow,” Eak explains. “If you look the way I do, it’s no surprise you do that kind of work. That’s what people expect. But if you look like me and you’re in law school, then that’s a real surprise.”

In fact, changing that perception might be a bigger victory than any he’ll achieve in the courtroom. Once he qualifies and begins to practice as the world’s most tattooed lawyer,Eak would like to work with the alternative community and offer representation for business or housing needs. “In New York you meet so many weird-looking people who are incredibly successful, but aren’t part of the mainstream,” he says. “They get snubbed a lot.”

Link -Thanks, Kate!