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Richter leaves litigation, finds home in transactions

Richter leaves litigation, finds home in transactions

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Brody Richter (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)
Brody Richter (Staff photo by Kevin Harnack)

Like the hockey players he enjoys watching, Brody Richter knows a change in direction is sometimes needed to reach the goal.

Richter first joined DeWitt Ross & Stevens SC, Madison, as a litigation attorney after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School. But within a few months, he realized it wasn’t the right practice for him.

“I had done some transactional work and enjoyed it and then there was an opening for an associate in the department so I was able to shift over and haven’t looked back,” Richter said. “I really enjoy all parts of the practice, but especially the relationships you develop with clients.”

Richter works with small- and mid-sized businesses in a variety of industries. He helps clients with real estate transactions, construction financing, mergers and many other needs.

“I like that I connect with clients pretty regularly and help them with different needs as they come up,” he said. “That doesn’t happen with litigation, where you work with a client on a case and then it’s done and you may never see them again. I enjoy forming those personal relationships with clients and doing my best to help meet all of their needs.”

One challenge when working so closely with clients is telling them advice they may not want to hear, Richter said.

“People have ideas about what they want to do and when you have to say, ‘I think it should be done this way,’ they aren’t always happy to hear that,” he said. “Open communication is the goal. You just need to stay focused on the end result.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What was your least-favorite class in law school?
Brody Richter: Torts. I’m certain that had at least something to do with the fact that the class was at 7:30 in the morning, the first semester of college. Coming directly from undergraduate where I scheduled my classes intentionally later in the day, that was quite the shock. It is funny now with a 1-year-old daughter and a work day that regularly starts before 7 a.m. to think of that as early, but back then it was.

WLJ: What career would you have chosen if you hadn’t become an attorney?
Richter: Prior to deciding to go to law school, I had intended to move to Washington, D.C., and work in politics in some fashion, so that’s my realistic answer. My dream job, however, would have been a statistician for the NHL.

WLJ: What activity could you spend hours doing outside of work?
Richter: Outside of work I could spend hours doing just about anything with my daughter. She just started walking in the last month and is a riot. Individually, I’ve been playing hockey my whole life, so really doing just about anything to do with hockey, primarily playing it, is always a welcome distraction from work life.

WLJ: What was the first concert you attended?
Richter: I’m not sure what the first concert I attended was, but I can say that the first concert I remember attending was a Phish concert in Cleveland, Ohio. I’m certain I attended shows before then, but that was the first one that made a real impression on me. I’ve since seen Phish around 20 times.

WLJ: If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Richter: Honestly, my lame answer to this question is Madison. When I moved here for law school I never had any intention or thought of staying. However, it was such an easy city to fall in love with. I’m not one of those people that hates winter, so there’s really not much about this city that I can complain about. That said, if I was forced to choose someplace else, with no strings attached, I would probably choose Mission Beach, Australia. I spent some time there between undergraduate and law school and really enjoyed the slow pace of life and the beaches are amazing.

WLJ: If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
Richter: I would choose the power to read others’ thoughts. That just seems like something that I could use both to my advantage and to the advantage of others.

WLJ: What do you miss most from your childhood?
Richter: What don’t I miss about childhood? I miss summer break. There was nothing like waking up, running outside, spending all day out there with friends, coming back for dinner, and then getting up the next morning to do it all over again.

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