I just received news that, for the second year in a row, Small Business Monthly has awarded me the title of the “Best Patent Attorney in St. Louis."
It is a real personal honor for a couple of reasons. First, it comes straight from the hundreds and hundreds of votes from the clients, colleagues, and community organizations I serve each day. It doesn’t come from a PR department at big firm or just a few people on one magazine editorial staff. We started CreatiVenture Law when the great recession hit, and so many people were forced out on their own as entrepreneurs. I took clients whom my former large firm, where I was a partner, would not take because they were not big enough fish. I believed in them and they believed in me. I got to be involved with some real success stories, thanks to those little fish. And it turns out the bigger fish I work with love that approach too. I hope it is a reflection of who we ARE here at not just the work we do at CVL.
Second, it means we must be doing something right both with our people and our product. I suppose we were entrepreneurs when it wasn’t the trending buzz word it is today. I really like people. I really like geeking out on their ideas. Just ask my wife, who has to tell me to “put the laptop down Dennis” and take a break, when I am especially engrossed in a particular technology or patent I am writing. I care what happens to their business long after I finish the work. I can’t help myself. It is more to me than just filing documents by the hour and sending out a bill. It takes patience. It takes listening (and yes a little of that geek thing). It also takes making sure our patents, trademarks, agreements and opinions are as airtight as we can possible make them.
I have seen many clients come in the office with things not done well (at high costs) who need me to help them fix it. There are no guarantees in IP law, but I like to go to bed knowing I have done the best possible job. It makes the long hours and extra effort worth it, regardless of a title. But hey, this “Best Patent Attorney” think is pretty great. So thanks all you for believing in me!
–Dennis