Corporate Vision February 2017

K Company: Bradshaw and Associates, P.C. Name: Drexel Bradshaw, Esq. Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.bradshawassociates.com Address: One Sansome Street, 34th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: (415) 433-4800 The Long Arm of the Law g “As I mentioned above, we have great discernment when it comes to selecting cases, but sometimes our machinery fails and we end up with unrealistic clients. I try to mitigate large swings of client emotions by managing expectations from the start, and I blunt tendencies to fictionalize outcomes. “I’ve also discovered that no matter how hard you work, and how successful you are at delivering positive results, there is a bell curve of client satisfaction. Some clients shift from wild enthusiasm during the heat of the trial, to abject rudeness when the bill arrives. My wife likens this phenomenon to the patron who dined enthusiastically on a fine meal, even compliments the chef profusely, but does not want to pay the bill. I have learned to anticipate these clients, and I let them go early when it’s clear they can never be pleased.” It’s fair to say that over the 17 years Drexel has served as a trial attorney he has seen many changes within the industry. “I have noticed a decrease in collegiality among lawyers,” he comments. “I was raised to believe that lawyers are learned professionals. It’s clients who have disputes, not the lawyers. I am an optimist, so I expect basic civility between attorneys and abhor shouting matches, ad hominem attacks, or loss of personal control. After all, it is just business. “But while lamenting a disintegration of civility among lawyers, I foster warm relationships with attorneys who share my values. I remember one case that had stalled in discovery because opposing counsel simply would not hand over a set of key documents. I was certain there was critical evidence contained within those pages, and refused to give up. When the adversarial attorney was replaced, I got a call from the new one. He was blunt. He said ‘The docs say what you think they do.’ We stopped wasting peoples’ time and money post haste and wrapped up the case. And we have stayed in touch since.” Drexel’s parting words reflect exactly what sets the firm apart from the competition in its region and sector. “We are passionate about what we do, in part because as a small firm we aren’t hogtied by politics over billable hours. We are the masters of our own fate. If you walk around our office on a typical busy day you will hear conversations that are fuelled by an ineluctable passion for the law, and for winning large judgments. We have creativity, drive and an abundantly competitive spirit.”