Skordas thrives on challenges

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 2, 2004 by Bob Bernick Jr. Deseret Morning News

Greg Skordas likes balance in his life, whether it's weighing work and family or balancing on two wheels, like a road-racing bike or motorcycle.

But you can keep your balance while seeking new challenges, too.

And so, after years of being encouraged to seek political office, this year Skordas finally jumped in.

He's running as a Democrat for attorney general, trying to unseat GOP AG Mark Shurtleff.

Skordas, 47, knows it won't be easy -- a sitting Republican attorney general was last defeated in 1988.

But apparently not satisfied with just running for statewide office, three weeks ago Skordas also agreed to be defense co-counsel for embattled Salt Lake County GOP Mayor Nancy Workman, taking up even more of his time and confusing his Democratic supporters as well.

The first-term Republican county mayor is fighting two felony charges of misuse of public funds, charges brought by Democratic County Attorney Dave Yocom, Skordas' admitted "good friend" and his old boss.

Though trailing in the AG polls and fund raising to Shurtleff, Skordas is hopeful yet realistic.

"I've always planned to get back into being a public attorney. If it doesn't happen this time, I'll do it later," perhaps in some appointed position, says the man who once served as Yocom's chief deputy.

But if you know Skordas, friends say, you know he doesn't turn down a sincere plea for help, whether it comes from the well-known and well-heeled or an average Joe who just needs a good criminal attorney.

Former law partner Elizabeth Dunning recalls: "I've called him when personal friends or family have problems with juveniles or the criminal justice system. He's unfailing generous with his time and expertise. He never says, 'Can I get a client out of this?' or anything like that."

A friend called Dunning several months ago, she recalls, who had a relative sitting in the Salt Lake County Jail over a weekend. She didn't worry about what to do. She just dialed Skordas. "He didn't know these people; he went down on a weekend to help get the person out. That's Greg."

But, she adds, unlike many successful criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors -- he's been both -- Skordas doesn't let the law take over his life.

He keeps his life balanced, she said. "He makes time for his family and other interests, like skiing and bikes," says Dunning.

Indeed, he does.

Skordas has an old "chopper" motorcycle he still rides -- a partial fee payment from a member of the Sundowners motorcycle club he represented in a criminal case. He has a newer Harley Davidson and a garage full of skis and mountain and road bikes, some of which are for his kids and wife, corporate attorney Charlotte Miller.

This summer Skordas finished 16th place in his age classification in a bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole, Wyo.

And for two decades each Sunday he's climbed into a car with friend Bruce Hancey to drive up to Park City Mountain Resort for a long day of ski patrolling. "For 25 weeks a year, for 20 years, I've driven up and down the canyon with that guy. I think I know him," says Hancey, owner of Founders Title Co.

"Greg loves people. He likes to train them. (The pair have instructed several generations of ski patrolmen.) He likes to help them when they are hurt."

Skordas' life is full today, varied in the past.

The grandson of Greek immigrants, he was raised in the Murray area (where he resides today), graduated from Cottonwood High School (where he wrestled at 119 pounds "and learned the discipline of not eating") and went to the University of Utah where he got a degree in metallurgical engineering.

"Yeah, I was a geek in high school and college, a guy with a calculator on his belt."

He would have actually liked to get a job in his engineer field, but the nation and world were in a mining slump when he graduated in 1978, and the only jobs "were in the middle of nowhere."

He applied to a few graduate schools in different disciplines, including the U.'s law school, and was accepted to several. He picked law.

While in law school he worked part-time for Yocom in his mentor's private criminal law practice.

"We defended Joseph Paul Franklin, who shot the African-American kids" near Liberty Park. Almost immediately, "I was hooked on criminal work. I loved it."

After law school and passing the bar, he worked in the Legal Defender's office -- long hours, low pay and hundreds of cases.

In 1986 he went to work for Yocom, now the county D.A., starting with misdemeanor cases. He worked his way up, ultimately prosecuting some big cases, including the kidnapping/murder at Alta View Hospital.

His first marriage, ending in divorce, produced son Nic, now a junior at the Air Force Academy. While it may sound hokey, says Nic, "My dad is my best friend. I can talk to him about anything, and so can other people."

Skordas tries to find the best in any situation, says Nic, like the time Skordas took his son and half a dozen teenage friends on a boating outing on Utah Lake. "Our boat wouldn't start. A wasted, frustrating day? No. Dad struck up a conversation with a guy at the dock who actually let us take his boat out. It was great."