Michael Best & Friedrich’s Furlow brings an insider’s perspective to outside work

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Jon Furlow has spent time on the inside and outside — as a lawyer, that is.

A partner with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in Madison, Furlow rejoined the firm in September — he had worked there from 1992 to 2007 — after spending several years in-house as the litigation and regulatory practice team manager at CUNA Mutual Group in Madison.

“When you work inside as a lawyer,” Furlow said, “you get an entirely different perspective on practicing law, how to solve problems and how to work with business people.”

Outside work, he explained, is “intensely client-focused on problem-solving for a particular case or matter.”

Furlow said he’s glad he worked at CUNA, which initially recruited him and, later, named him a vice president. The experience offered him a view of the legal world he might not have had otherwise, he said.

It was similar, Furlow said, to the way his college studies changed his view of the law by making him a better thinker. Furlow was an English major with a focus on 19th century women writers. He also studied science with a focus on foreign politics.

“Practicing law is a very creative process, and you have to understand a little about a lot of different things,” he said. “You see how things come together. When you do that, you understand a huge amount about how the world fits together.”

Furlow decided to return to Michael Best & Friedrich because it paired well, he said, with his passion for practicing law and problem solving. He also said he relished the opportunity to work with former colleagues he considers friends — giving his outside counsel role an insider feeling.

Wisconsin Law Journal: What was your most useful law school course? Why?
Jon Furlow: I was lucky enough to take a course called ‘The Art of the Courtroom’ taught by Irving Younger. He was sort of the revered genius of evidence. He was a judge. He was a great trial lawyer. He was an amazing guy. And he talked about his career and what really happened when you tried cases. The only assignment for the year was to pick four books from the reading list and write a paper. And the books were about great lawyers. His view of the world was: The only way you become a great lawyer is to learn about the great lawyers.

WLJ: What is the best part of being an attorney?
Furlow: I think it’s the chance to be creative. You can solve problems. You can deal with people on a very human level. I think it’s very interesting.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what would you have done?
Furlow: If I hadn’t become a lawyer, I would have liked to have been a professional bike racer. I love cycling. I raced bikes for years. I still ride a huge amount now, but no one makes a living racing bikes.

WLJ: What profession would you not like to explore?
Furlow: I could never be a doctor. I don’t like needles. I don’t like blood. I don’t like any of that stuff.

WLJ: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be about?
Furlow: I would put a course together about how outside counsel could be more effective working with inside lawyers. I think there is a huge gap. And, unless you’ve done both, I don’t think you’ve come close to understanding the cavernous differences.

WLJ: What do you consider your biggest achievement, so far? Why?
Furlow: My biggest achievement, which I share and only get partial credit for in my life, is making it through 20 years of practice and having a fantastic family.

WLJ: What trait do you most like in others?
Furlow: I prefer honesty, which sometimes in law is in short supply. I like people who are forthright and honest and who aren’t afraid of admitting their mistakes.

WLJ: What do you consider to be the most overrated virtue?
Furlow: This might sound a little bit odd, but the short answer is: confidence. Which isn’t to say confidence is a bad thing, but I think a lot of people who are confident really shouldn’t be confident. If you’re confident, you better be self-reflective.

WLJ: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Furlow: I wish I could play an instrument. I love music.