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Technology-driven Vasquez interested in how things work

By: Jane Pribek//July 25, 2011//

Technology-driven Vasquez interested in how things work

By: Jane Pribek//July 25, 2011//

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Staff photo by Kevin Harnack

Milwaukee attorney Francisco Javier Vasquez is always looking (and thinking) forward: both on the job and while leading the Construction and Public Contract Law Section of the Wisconsin State Bar.

Vasquez is senior group counsel at Johnson Controls Inc., Glendale, a global diversified technology and industrial company. He supports the company’s Global Energy Solutions business, which focuses on energy efficient construction projects for public and private sector customers, as well as renewable energy solutions. The projects employ a variety of project delivery models that include performance contracting, often with guaranteed savings, power purchase agreements, engineering procurement and construction agreements, and public-private partnership agreements.

Working in-house for a technology company resonates with Vasquez, he said, because he’s always been interested in construction, technology and how things work.

Looking forward to the next year with the Construction Law Section board, Vasquez said, the group’s working to increase programming, with an eye toward developing the next generation of construction lawyers.

The Daily Reporter: What do you consider your biggest career achievement to date and why?

Francisco Javier Vasquez : Developing my own personal style of practice. It was liberating to realize that there are multiple paths to the same end result, and that let me practice law in a way that feels more authentic to me.

TDR: What is the number one legal issue construction firms need to be aware of today and why?

Vasquez : Overuse of indemnification in our contracts. I seem to find them buried all over the place in contracts these days, and covering topics – like performance of the contract itself – that leave me scratching my head.

TDR: What is one thing attorneys should know that they won’t learn in law school?

Vasquez : Good clients don’t need to be told what to do. All they need is guidance on options so they can make informed business decisions.

TDR: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Vasquez : I can’t think of any, although my wife might offer a different perspective.

TDR: What was your least favorite course in law school and why?

Vasquez : Federal Jurisdictions; a really bad combination of early schedule slot and abstract subject matter

TDR: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what career would you have chosen?

Vasquez : The default choice was going into journalism and being a sports reporter since my undergrad degree is in journalism. When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be an architect since I enjoyed looking at coffee table books about tall buildings, reading all the amazing statistics about them and then trying to draw my own “masterpieces.” I think my career in construction law has been fun because I like the industry we serve, and perhaps, it takes me back to something I liked as a child.

TDR: Who are your heroes?

Vasquez : Professionally, I’d have to say retired Judge Neal Nettesheim from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. I clerked for him as my first job out of law school for two years. He had a love of the law and the courts as an institution that was inspiring, and photographic recall of published cases. He approached his job with a level of professionalism that ensured that his personal views or politics never became part of the judicial process.

TDR: Where would you like to live?

Vasquez : The present. Just kidding. I’ve lived in the Milwaukee area for more than a decade now. I think it affords a good overall quality of life — although I might have had a different answer back in May when we had that stretch of rainy days with highs in the 40s.

TDR: What piece of new technology could you no longer live without?

Vasquez : I’d love to live without my BlackBerry.

TDR: What is your definition of success?

Vasquez : Making time for personal happiness each day. As I get further along in my career, I find myself having to consciously remember to unplug and unwind a little. You need to recharge the batteries, or you’ll burn out.

TDR: What are your words to live by?

Vasquez : “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” — John Wooden

TDR: What book is sitting on your nightstand?

Vasquez : “2666” by Roberto Bolaño. I’m Chilean, and he’s a Chilean author. The book was published posthumously in 2004, as a three-book set. I’d describe it as a crime drama and social commentary. He has a frenetic writing style that’s both interesting and exhausting at the same time.

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