I’m a patent attorney, a former engineer, and a recovering introvert; an open source software advocate; a collector of pens, yo-yos, and fine bourbons. I can groom a dog, build a computer, write some code, and slice veggies paper-thin.
Professional: Precise – Learn
“Question everything.”
In law school, we were taught the truism that, “good facts make good law” and that “bad facts make bad law.” The unspoken corollary, though, is that once bad law is made, it can adversely impact other people and businesses for a very long time.
A litigation mentor taught me early in my career to “question everything.” Spoken language is, by nature, imprecise. It follows the ebb-and-flow of conversation, lines of thought, and it often takes tangential turns away from extremely important information. As an attorney, I take meticulous notes during my meetings and calls with clients. I highlight important facts that I need to come back to, that I need to research, or that need verification and/or supporting documents. Then, I ask more questions.
And I keep asking questions—pulling on those threads—until I have a full and complete picture of what happened or needs to happen (and why), what the client knows, what the client thinks, how this situation may affect others, causes-and-effects, and so many more things. I recognize that this is a process, and that it doesn’t necessarily happen right then, during the conversation, but over time.
With this process, I can draw out both the “good and bad” facts, and marshal those facts to inform an appropriate path forward for my client.
