Brian Baxter: Legal Assistant at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC, in Washington, DC
by Charisse Dengler
Brian Baxter
"My parents have influenced my life greatly," he said. "Just a few of the things they have imparted to me that I constantly draw on are 'always do a great job,' 'be professional,' 'there are no dumb questions,' 'be prepared,' 'keep trying,' [and] 'be responsible.'"
Baxter's favorite part of his job is working on the different aspects of preparing patents. He enjoys the fact that there is always room to grow in the area of patent law, and he likes learning new things every day. However, he did say that sometimes his job can be difficult, especially when he's given a project that is due right away.
"These are always the hardest because you never know if you've missed something," he said. "The clock is against you, and sometimes you are not sure if you were expected to find anything. Sometimes it's a search to confirm that nothing exists."
As for some of his biggest triumphs, Baxter said he has enjoyed the two times he has gotten to go to trial—times during which he worked "like a dog" but got to be there to celebrate the wins. He said another emotional highlight was the first time he saw a product that he had gotten a patent for hanging on a rack in a store; it helped him to see the end product of his hard work.
When asked what he felt helped prepare him for the legal assistant profession, Baxter said it was the prior experience he acquired working in public libraries and law firm libraries that helped the most.
"The research and exposure to the many resources have greatly helped me in my day-to-day tasks," he said.
In addition, he feels that being part of a legal assistant association can help a legal assistant gain skills and further his or her career.
"You never know it all, and it helps to learn from other people's experiences," he said. "The legal assistant profession is so broad, and it is helpful to have a good idea of your options in your work and to have a broad scope of your job in the context of what others do at other firms."
Baxter's advice to aspiring legal assistants is to be resourceful, ask questions, and be open to new opportunities. In his own career, if he hadn't been open to new opportunities, he wouldn't be where he is today.
"I've had a unique path that I didn't really plan, and I am not sure if anything needs to be changed or altered," he said. "I am pretty satisfied with the way things have gone for me."
Q.
What do you do for fun?
A.
Play and watch sports, projects around the house.
Q.
What CD was most recently in your CD player?
A.
Earth, Wind & Fire.
Q.
What's the last magazine you read?
A.
This Old House.
Q.
What is your favorite TV show?
A.
I am not a big TV-show person. Aside from sports, I am probably a news junkie and enjoy PBS specials.
I really liked LawCrossing. The service is great, especially the mail alert feature. Sandy J.
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LawCrossing Fact #150: We have hundreds of employees working hard to keep our job list up to date!
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