Howard Anawalt was an incredible mentor. I chose to attend Santa Clara to concentrate on intellectual property law and he was the biggest proponent of IP at Santa Clara, so it only seemed natural that I would end up working for him as a research assistant while I was in law school. I felt lucky to have had so many amazing discussions with him when he had me work on constitutional & IP issues as part of the work that I did as his research assistant.
I also had the opportunity to work with him on law review. He was always ready with a kind word and inquisitive line of questions. He wasn’t as Socratic as other professors and I was thankful for that. You could actually have a discussion with him without feeling like an idiot or without him making you feel like an idiot!
My experiences on law review and as an RA aside, my favorite mentoring opportunity with him was in our student government as a 3rd year class rep. I think this learning experience was what started me down the path of board work and my interest in running for office. At the time, Santa Clara was trying to get an intellectual property certification program off the ground. Although we tried really hard to actually launch this certification program, it happened shortly after I graduated. When I returned many years later to lecture at the invitation of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association, I had the chance to visit with him. He was the same as ever!
One of the things I learned working with him is related to my work style. I had a very enlightening discussion with him about work styles and he asked very pointed questions about it. I had to admit that I was bursty – I liked to work in bursts. I would procrastinate some times, but then I would get a lot done in a short period of time. Then I would go back to contemplating things and thinking about things, sometimes this can be seen as procrastination, but it is actually rumination or incubation of ideas and organization of thoughts. I realize over the years that I do this at home or with work. But, fundamentally, it is my preferred work style. He wanted me to see that and to see that it may work sometimes and in some situations but that unless it was compatible with the desired deadlines, something had to give.
Unfortunately, Howard Anawalt died on August 6th, just a week after George Alexander. Santa Clara University School of Law lost two great, long time professors, who happened to be my two favorites. Rest in peace Professor Anawalt. Thank you for being such a great mentor.
