I was looking for some information on how to think like a Transactional Attorney when I ran by a blog post by Professor Orin Kerr over at The Volokh Conspiracy entitled "What Does It Mean to 'Think Like a Lawyer"? And How Does The Socratic Method Help?" While it's not directed specifically at Transactional Attorneys, I think the following quote is a good place to start:
..."thinking like a lawyer" means having a brain that focuses on what is legally relevant and that puts aside what is not. Legal thinking is a practical art that relies on a set of principles and relationships, and a person thinks like a lawyer when they master that practical art.
As a fairly recent graduate of law school, I can vouch for the fact that I learned a whole lot more about the adversarial nature of the practice of law rather than the transactional nature of the work we do here at the Studio (Doing Deals!). I discovered right away that I needed to make a seismic shift in my thinking. I had to come up with a methodology to help me approach each new deal - while this is still a work in progress, I thought I'd share a little of what I've learned so far.
- Learn about your client and your client's needs - Seems kind of a like a "No Duh!" idea, but it is really easy to assume you know what your client wants without taking the time to understand the deal in the larger perspective of the client's deal portfolio.
- Understand the transactional context - It's almost impossible to do a deal (or amendment or even a review) without having any context. Who? What? Where? Why? When? Answering these questions is a great place to start.
- Use precedents to guide your work - No need to reinvent the wheel each time you do a deal. Think about making a deal library with exemplars for common phrases that you will want to use over and over again.
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