Newly sworn-in, Trautschold looking ahead to long career

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Less than a month into practicing law, David Trautschold was guardedly optimistic about his career as a lawyer, thus far.

“I’m still here,” the 2012 University of Wisconsin Law School graduate said recently. “I’m still alive, so I guess it hasn’t been a bad start.”

Trautschold, an intellectual property associate at Michael Best & Friedrich, started at the firm in 2006 as a patent engineer. He worked as part of a program that trains undergraduates to draft patent applications and guide them through the approval process.

After three years of working on technology patents – everything from synchronized clocks and messaging systems for hospitals and school to electronic trackers for banking and insurance transactions – Trautschold did what he never thought he would do: He started law school.

In August, he returned to the firm as a patent attorney. So far, he’s enjoying the diversity.

“We touch so many different inventions, working with engineers,” he said. “If I were a strict research and development engineer, I’d be on one project for two or thee years. With this I can touch on five or six projects a day.”

Early into his practice, Trautschold said he’s still determining expectations.

“The biggest challenge is just trying to figure out what is expected of me now that I’m an attorney, as opposed to an engineer,” he said. “Before it was more drafting, working for attorneys and helping them out; they were in charge of the project. Now, it’s more of people throwing stuff on my desk and taking care of it myself.”

His goal, he said: “Survive the transition in the short term and eventually start building my own client base.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What is the best part of being an attorney?
David Trautschold: I’d say working on my own schedule, not having to set hours of when I have to be into the office and out of the office.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what would you have done?
Trautschold: I would be probably a research and development engineer.

WLJ: If you could be a superhero, who would you be?
Trautschold: Batman, because he’s got all the cool gadgets.

WLJ: What was your most useful law school course? Why?
Trautschold: The one I hope is going to be the most useful is my introduction to intellectual property course. But that has to be determined, I guess.

WLJ: What was your least favorite course in law school? Why?
Trautschold: It was antitrust, just because I had no idea what was going on in that class and what an antitrust violation was.

WLJ: How would your mother describe you in one word?
Trautschold: Easygoing, although I don’t know if that qualifies as one word or two words with a hyphen.

WLJ: What do you miss most about your childhood?
Trautschold: Summer vacation away from school and work

WLJ: What do you consider your biggest achievement to date and why?
Trautschold: Being finished with school — both engineering school and law school. They seemed like a lot of work at the time. They took a lot of work at the time. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it’s over now.

WLJ: Finish this sentence: Happiness is …
Trautschold: Relaxing on a lake.