Technology practice leader finds perfect fit with Milwaukee firm

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If Andy Schlidt stuck with family tradition, he’d probably retire someday as a vice president of sales.

His grandfather, Andrew J. Schlidt, started as an estimator and retired as vice president of sales with a Milwaukee construction firm. His father, Andrew J. Schlidt Jr., started as a salesman and retired as vice president of sales with Johnson Controls.

“I took my own path going into law. We had no lawyers in our family,” said Schlidt, officially Andrew J. Schlidt III, a shareholder with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC, Milwaukee.

An interest in technology is what initially set him on a path toward law. He was working years ago as a computer programmer for a technology consulting firm when he asked how the company negotiated contracts.

“They said, ‘You’re asking all the questions that our lawyers ask. Why don’t you go get your law degree and come back and join us.’”

So, that’s what he did. And despite every intention to return to that tech company, he found a new home while clerking at Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek in 1994.

By the time he graduated law school in 1995, Schlidt was an associate. He became a shareholder in 2002 and was a board member by 2009. He leads the firm’s technology team and is co-chair of the corporate practice group.

“I think I found a needle in a haystack,” Schlidt said. “It fits me perfectly.”

Today, his practice includes technology-related sales and licensing issues, dispute resolution and the ever-evolving field of regulation compliance.

And it’s got Schlidt thinking about another family tradition: spending 50 years with the same company, just as his father and grandfather did.

“I can see building a career here,” Schlidt said.

Wisconsin Law Journal: What was your most useful law school course? Why?
Andy Schlidt: For me, it was corporate law because, in hindsight, it’s formed the basis of my practice – understanding how to form a business, how they’re governed, how they operate, how to close business. It’s been the most useful.

WLJ: What is the best part of being an attorney?
Schlidt: For me, it’s the idea of continually learning more about how businesses operate. By building trust with the owners of those businesses, I’m ultimately involved in their strategic planning and decision-making to help them succeed. Seeing clients succeed is the best part of this business.

WLJ: If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what would you have done?
Schlidt: I would be in the technology field. I think I would have found my way into starting a tech company, probably a software-based tech company. I would have tried to ride this wave into the digital age.

WLJ: What profession would you not like to explore?
Schlidt: I have a notion in life that nothing is beneath me and nothing is above me. But, in terms of something I would have wanted to do or would not be good at – and I don’t mean to be silly, but I see it at our building – it’s the people who wash windows. I’m an average cleaner at ground level. And I could not do it at high altitude.

WLJ: If you could develop one CLE course for credit, what would it be?
Schlidt: I would love to develop a course on the business of law: how to run a law firm, the concept of preparing a budget and managing to a budget, hiring talented people, building and growing a business. All those things any business owners have to learn to develop are not taught in a law firm.

WLJ: What is your greatest extravagance?
Schlidt: I’d say fishing, because it’s difficult to find the time. But I grew up fishing. I spent my whole childhood fishing. There’s just a peacefulness and serenity to it. It really takes me back to my childhood, so I love to go out fishing with my kids.

WLJ: What are you craving right now?
Schlidt: It’s January, so to be deadly honest: some sun and sand. I’m looking forward to spring break in Florida. For the first time, we’re going to pack our four kids in a van and go.

WLJ: Finish this sentence: Happiness is …
Schlidt: I have to say, happiness is my family: my wife, Andrea, and my four children, who are all 13 and under. They keep me engaged, energized and well-grounded. So, when I say nothing is beneath me, those four kids have brought that into focus for me.