Seeing Problems as Opportunities: How to Solve Problems for Hopeful Clients

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Plaza B

Floor: Lobby Level

Lawyers do not often employ a hopeful attitude, in part due to our formal legal training. We are taught, and as law faculty and clinicians we teach others, to “think like a lawyer” by dissecting a set of facts and spotting issues (problems). This is, after all, an essential skill fundamental to assuring bar-passage and competently representing a client. However, this mindset runs counter to that of an entrepreneur, inventor, or business founder, who are some of the most hopeful and optimistic people in the world. We therefore find ourselves, as business and IP transactional clinicians, having to teach students how to be more hopeful when working with their business clients. The goal of the session is to provide multiple examples of how transactional clinicians teach students how to employ a problem-solving mindset when dealing with business clients, embracing the client’s problems and injecting hope through problem solving techniques. The session will explore techniques for approaching client interviewing with empathy, understanding the client’s perspectives and priorities, and developing creative solutions to client problems. Although this session will be structured as a panel of clinicians from business and IP transactional clinics, the techniques and takeaways discussed and materials provided will be useful for all types of client representation scenarios.