Why Form Legal Aspirin?
Simply stated, Legal Aspirin allows me to fulfill my professional goal of understanding, and serving, the wants and needs of my clients.
That statement probably requires some explanation. Prior to founding Legal Aspirin, I spent 15 years working in the transactional group for one of the largest law firms in the country. During that period, I learned first hand that clients benefit from the creativity that comes with experience. But I also came to understand that most lawyers just aren’t all that creative. Common Lawyers rather handle each project using the same approach and structures as they used with their last client.
For some lawyers, this has to do with being in a comfort zone. Others are compelled by their firm’s financial models, driven by ever increasing billable hour requirements. The obligation to bill 2000 hours each year (whether explicit or implicit) simply doesn’t allow time for the casual, but meaningful, conversations that cultivate the understanding necessary for inspired strategy.
As the founder of Legal Aspirin, I don’t have absurd billable hour requirements. This allows me to get to know my clients, apply creative solutions that directly address their needs and desires, and obtain better results more efficiently.
About Dave
I grew up in a middle class suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. My father was a social worker and my mother was a nurse. In high school, I was a two-way starter on the football team and ran cross country. My grades and standardized test scores allowed me to attend college on a full scholarship. While in college, I was a two-time president of my fraternity and chairman of the inter-fraternity counsel. As a junior, I met the woman who would become, and still is, my wife. We have two boys – the oldest loves Legos and the other is obsessed with baseball.
I graduated with a major in history and a minor in psychology, which meant that my immediate career options were limited to law school. Although lucky enough to get another scholarship, I worked as a lobbyist for the state’s largest catholic hospital system and as the assistant to the CEO of a community hospital.
I was hired into an AmLaw 100 law firm out of law school, working first in Houston and then transferring to the Denver office. I stayed with that firm, working my way up to partner, until leaving to form my own law practice. The name “Legal Aspirin” actually dates back to my second year with the firm. When asked to write up a marketing plan, I decided that I wanted to be like aspirin – it didn’t matter where my clients hurt, I just wanted to cure the pain.
