That’s right, curiosity it is.

Any obscure acronym, any accounting definition, any strange formula, any technical description, any reference to a foreign law, should not be overlooked by the lawyer who deals with contracts for you.

From a certain point of view, lawyers are, in essence, risk managers. Otherwise a nice handshake would do the job, right?

Now, if your lawyer is not aware of the business technicalities underlying a contract, he cannot foresee the potential risks. If he does not see the potential risks, he cannot figure out the legal consequences. If he does not figure out the legal consequences, he cannot provide remedies.

“I am neither clever, nor specially gifted. I am only very very curious”. Albert Einstein

Typically, incidents with contracts happen in the annexes. Annexes are the realm of “this is too technical, let’s leave it to the technical guys to review and negotiate”. Recipe for disaster.

Of course, nobody expects a lawyer to have the same degree of knowledge of the technical guys. Nonetheless, curiosity is the quality that leads him/her to visit technical websites, grab the information start-pack and then sit at the table with the technical guys to review the annexes from a combined technical and legal angle.

Combination of competences is key to successfully serving clients.

Curiosity opens the way. Even on Mars.