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Brian H. Potts
I help people.
Brian H. Potts is a partner at Husch Blackwell, a prominent law firm, where he recently joined the Energy & Natural Resources industry group in the Madison, Wisconsin office.12 He is a highly accomplished commercial litigator with a strong background in environmental and energy law.4
Professional Experience
Potts specializes in complex commercial litigation, representing clients in a wide variety of business disputes, including:
- Bank fraud cases
- Energy and environmental litigation
- Breach of contract matters
- First Amendment cases4
He has represented numerous Fortune 100 and 500 companies in contested case hearings at both state and federal levels.1 Potts has also been involved in billions of dollars' worth of business transactions and has helped clients obtain regulatory approvals for building utility infrastructure such as conventional power plants, transmission lines, wind farms, and solar facilities.1
Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Beyond his legal practice, Brian Potts is known for his entrepreneurial spirit and leadership:
- Founder and board chair of The Legal Mentor Network (LMN), a nationwide nonprofit organization that matches mentors and mentees in the legal field13
- Co-founder of several companies, including LegalBoard and Goods Unite Us1
- Inventor of the @LegalKeyboard5
- Author of "The Jobless Lawyer's Handbook"5
Mentorship and Networking
Potts is particularly passionate about mentorship and connecting people in the legal industry:
- He has personally mentored over 1,000 individuals in the past three years4
- Through LMN, he has helped match thousands of law students and newly admitted attorneys with mentors in their preferred localities and fields of legal practice13
Additional Roles and Accomplishments
- Professor at Vermont Law School5
- Has written more than 100 op-eds for major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, and Politico4
- Known for his authenticity with clients and eagerness to serve as both an attorney and a business connector4
Brian H. Potts is highly regarded in the legal community for his expertise in energy and environmental law, his commitment to mentorship, and his innovative approach to the legal profession.
Highlights
One of my amazing mentees needs your help. She graduated with an LL.M from U.C. Berkeley School of Law in May, and if she doesn’t find a job in the next few weeks, she’ll have to leave the country. She’s interested in corporate law, but she’s open to working in other areas. She speaks English perfectly, writes well, and worked for the Supreme Court of India for three years before coming to Berkeley. It’s crazy to me that she hasn’t been hired yet. And it’s also crazy to me that she’ll have to leave the country if she can’t find a job soon. If you or anyone you know is looking to hire a recent graduate, please DM me. And if you don’t have any job leads, please comment on this post, like it, and/or share it so we can collectively get her information in front of as many potential employers as possible. Thanks for your help!
Four years ago I started meeting with law students and new lawyers for free to help them. It was during the initial onslaught of covid, and it seemed like a nice way to give back at the time (and to see other humans).
About two years ago, I started doing the same thing with startup company founders, investors, business owners, and basically with anyone who wanted to meet.
I haven't kept count, but I'm certain I've met with over 1,000 people doing all of this.
And this is where you probably start thinking I'm a complete lunatic.
I admit; it sounds like a lot to take on.
It adds up to about an hour a day. Ten meetings a week.
But I get SO MANY benefits from it.
I'd say it's some of the most productive time I spend every week from a business, personal, and mental health perspective.
I highly recommend that everyone out there start doing this in your respective field ASAP.
For example, I'm a lawyer. But I'm also a startup founder. And I know how hard the startup grind can be. So, I try to make myself available to startup founders who need help, and I don't charge them anything for my time.
I'm currently meeting with, learning from, and helping company founders working on all kinds of things like laser fusion (LaserFusionX), a no-backboard basketball league (NBBL), cool AI legal tech (Alchemy Machines), mindfulness and well-being (Self-Compassion for Lawyers), and even a local handcrafted personal care products company that uses better-for-you ingredients (American Provenance).
Everyone I meet with I learn from. And hopefully they learn a thing or two from me.
Try it for yourself for a few weeks, and you'll start seeing the benefits quickly.
Just think about who you could be helpful to, reach out to those people, and offer to meet with them via video for 30 minutes to see if you can help them.
Then rinse and repeat.
