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As a quiet leader, Christensen listens

By: Alison Henderson//February 16, 2017//

As a quiet leader, Christensen listens

By: Alison Henderson//February 16, 2017//

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Craig Christensen - Habush Habush & Rottier
Craig Christensen –
Habush Habush
& Rottier

“I would characterize Craig as a quiet leader,” said Sandy Drexler, vice president of resource development at United Way Fox Cities. “He gets stuff done, but doesn’t necessarily like the recognition for it. He just steps up.”

Craig Christensen, managing attorney at Habush Habush & Rottier’s Appleton office, has worked with Drexler in several different capacities at the United Way, where he volunteers on a leadership committee.

“He is always willing to step up and go the extra mile,” Drexler said. “He’s been very dedicated and will a lot of times take on the tough assignments that will take a long, concerted effort, and he’s willing to do that.”

This applies to Christensen’s professional life, too. The 58-year-old has been at Habush Habush & Rottier since 1988. Much of his time there has been spent helping plaintiffs in personal-injury cases. He also serves on the firm’s executive committee and has maintained his Civil Trial Specialist certification for the last 18 years.

“Craig has been an integral part of the litigation team of every major case that has come through the Appleton and Green Bay offices for over 20 years,” his colleagues said in a statement. “Craig’s effectiveness before a jury has been demonstrated repeatedly over the years.”

Since 2005, Christensen has been commuting from Appleton to Madison every week in the fall to teach trial advocacy at University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. Subsequent years have seen him arguing against roughly five former students who were representing parties on the opposite side of his cases.

“It’s rewarding to see that they followed the path that was kind of set for them in law school and now they’re doing what hopefully I helped teach them to do,” he said.

Christensen said he believes that to do well in his line of work, it requires success at trial. But that’s not all.

“It’s also about what somebody gives back to others, whether it’s being a mentor or a teacher or somebody that’s involved in the community,” he said. “It’s the whole combination. It’s the ability to really listen to people and understand what they’re saying — both in terms of clients and learning from other lawyers. I think a lot of my success is probably a function of having good mentors and having the ability to listen to what they have to add and being willing to accept advice from others.”

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