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Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP
Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 2000
Why did you decide to enter the legal profession?
I’d been practicing environmental compliance in a wastewater treatment plant and decided that the profession needed more lawyers that could understand on-the-ground needs while also explaining legal requirements. After one particularly trying call, I signed up to take the LSAT in a fit of exasperation.
If you hadn’t pursued a legal career, what would you be doing?
I’d be an engineer, and I’d probably have been turning the same valve for the last 30 years. I’m so much happier with this choice where I get to learn new things every single day.
Who is someone who has inspired you in your career?
Sue Shadley, our firm’s founder, taught me that you have to understand a client’s business to understand how we fit into it. They have many day-to-day issues, and environmental and legal issues are only a small part of that, so make sure you’re always advancing the client’s overall interests.
What makes a good lawyer/judge?
Someone with empathy who realizes people come from all different places and understanding. As soon as you start making assumptions about the other side, you’ve already started to fail.
What is something you wish people knew about lawyers?
The extent that most lawyers continue to educate and improve themselves after graduation. It’s not like anyone just stops learning once they’ve passed the bar.
Tell us about a “lesson learned” moment you’ve had in your career.
I’ve learned that details really matter and you must check even your client’s memories against the details and documents. It’s not that people are lying to you—it’s just that after years memories can be shaped and outcomes are often determined by the smallest details.
Tell us something surprising about you.
To relax, I spend quite a bit of time quilting—although I rarely finish an actual quilt. My children claim my hobby is constantly sewing but never finishing a quilt.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The most important person in the world is the person in the mirror. Can I, in good conscience, face that person?
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