The Lure of the River. "Clients are friends I go fishing with." Ron Clausen

My wife and I had the pleasure of Joining Ron and Kathy Clausen at their home last night and enjoy the camaraderie of the "clients" that Ron talks about in this article from the University of California Davis Alumni Magazine.

Montana Extravaganza 2007 http://montana2007.blogspot.com/ exemplifies the value of using Montana’s natural resources as an economic development tool whether you live here full time or not. Protecting these valuable resources in their natural state is near and dear to his heart as witnessed by the efforts he’s undertaken to preserve the quality of life near his Montana home as the volunteer attorney for the Rock Creek Protective Association "Planners pan Rock Creek subdivision" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/05/18/news/top/news01.txt

Congratulations and thanks to Ron for his leadership and innovation in protecting and promoting that which makes Montana such a unique and rich state. His creative use of the elusive trout is probably more cost effective than all the tax incentives or marketing in the world. His "Extravaganza" helps people appreciate what is great about Montana. You never know when one of his happy quests will talk to someone who’s looking for the opportunities and quality of life for their company or startup that are available in Montana.

Thanks Ron

Russ Fletcher

***

The Lure of the River http://clausenlawgroup.com/html/the_lure.html

They say Rock Creek is an angler’s dream. One of many
tributaries to the Clark Fork River in western Montana,
its glacial waters tumble out of the Anaconda-Pintlar
Wilderness, flow past rocky bluffs and lush-green valleys,
then narrow through the steep, forested canyons of the
Sapphire Mountain Range, until joining the confluence of
the larger river 20 miles east of Missoula.

The water runs cold and clear, and
the trout—rainbow, cutthroat, brown,
and bull—are abundant. Boulders, log
falls, sharp bends, and side channels
provide pool character, while the fish
feed on abundant hatches of salmonflies,
golden stones, drakes, PMDs, caddis, and
hoppers. Here, in “God’s backcountry,”
as Ron Clausen calls it, both seasoned
and novice anglers match wits with
these wild and clever fish that wait for
the insect hatch along the seams of the
nearly continuous riffles.

A Day on the Water

Ron has a mountain retreat near
Rock Creek, and every year since 2002,
he and his wife, Kathy, have hosted
fishing expeditions for his clients. These
events are called Extravaganzas, and
that is exactly what they have become.
Originally, only a few clients were invited,
then 27, 30, 40. This year, over 65 clients
will fly into the Missoula Airport for the
experience of a lifetime. http://montana2007.blogspot.com/

A client who attended last year says,
“For us city dwellers, who have never set
foot in a boat, let alone handled a fly rod,
Ron has provided vast opportunities to
explore new vistas and, certainly, to tap
into an aspect of our personalities we
might not have known existed.”

Ron takes great care in organizing
these trips. Planning starts a year in
advance. With the skill of a master
facilitator, he provides a structure, a
purpose, and a process so that each
individual within this large, diverse group
will come away renewed and energized,
which in turn, benefits the synergistic
relationship he values with his clients.
He deals with all the little details, one
of which is to book the river guides and
drift boats.

Grizzly Hackle http://www.grizzlyhackle.com/ is the outfit
of choice, and Ron spends countless
hours handcrafting each group so that
clients are matched with others who may
personally and even professionally open
doors to new ways of seeing the world.
The boats, when launched, fan out across
three or four rivers in the area, oared by
Grizzly Hackle’s famed water readers.

A newcomer introduced to the sport
of fly fishing on a previous Extravaganza
says, “I’ve seen fish rise, made countless
bad casts and a couple of good ones,
hooked a fish that had to be almost
two-feet long, and enjoyed the rush of
trying to land a mayfly in just the right
place with just the right drift in an effort
to fool one of those wily fish.” She now
realizes that this is all part of Ron’s plan.
“He envisioned me fly fishing before I
could envision it myself.”

Working with the River

Ron’s law firm is the Clausen Law
Group http://clausenlawgroup.com/ , based in Point Richmond,
California. His business logo, a line
drawing of three birds flying out of a
box, represents the three lawyers in his
office and their desire to always come
up with creative, even unusual, ways to
craft good deals. The three birds also
represent a trinity of sorts, in both a
religious and nonreligious way. Ron
says he lives by the Golden Rule. “We
do unto our clients as we would have
them do unto us,” he says. “We are very
committed to supporting the people in
our community.”

His practice focuses on corporate law,
with an emphasis on emerging growth
companies, venture capital financing,
and mergers and acquisitions. He
takes an entrepreneurial approach to
the practice of law, always looking for
creative solutions to maximize his clients’
business opportunities.

He is a deal maker in the world of
high-stakes business. A client calls him a
genuine, natural force of nature—“smart
as a whip”—who has solved problems
that seemed insolvable. “I met Ron, and
he changed my life.”

Story after story testifies to this
man’s keen business sense. CEOs of
large, international companies, as well as
family-owned boutique businesses have
benefited from the “Clausen Way.”

He’s developed innovative strategies
for acquisitions and buyouts that involve
little up-front monies or huge taxable
income called “The Popeye Plan.” He
developed a key business strategy for a
client, jotted down on a cocktail napkin,
which resulted in a real estate deal that
has appreciated in value more than five
times without any down payment.

Another client, previously a construction
superintendent with very limited
assets, now owns all the stock of three
corporations that last year grossed over
10 million.

“Great deals for great people,” is Ron’s
motto. And he truly enjoys making deals
for his clients because he considers them
friends—and they him.

“Ron doesn’t just make clients or
business associations,” a client said.
“He makes dear friends of just about
everyone.”

So how does Ron manage to surround
himself with grateful clients, wonderful
friends, and a whirling dervish of positive
feelings?

He releases 10 percent of his clients
every year.

Ron says, if you’re a pain in the neck,
demanding, decide not to pay, rude to his
employees, or dishonest in any way, he’ll
fire you. It doesn’t matter if you’re the
head of a Fortune 500 company or even
a relative. You’ll get a call from Ron.
And that’s not all. He cut his rates.
In 2001, he was at a large law firm in
a high-rise in the Bay Area collecting
$500 an hour and billing out well
over a million dollars a year. He had
too many demanding clients who
were eating up his time. He knew
that when a call came in from one
of them, it would mean more
money, more billable hours, but
his life would be hell. Then 9/11
happened. “It was a watershed
day,” he says. “The business
world came to an abrupt halt
and all the money changing
stopped.” Business law firms
raised fees on their struggling
business clients to recoup
losses. That was Ron’s
epiphany.

He gave notice at the large law firm
above the skyline in San Francisco. He
sunk what money he had into a Rocky
Mountain retreat in Montana and started
his own law firm back in California with
his remaining liquid assets. “It felt like I
jumped off a cliff without a parachute,”
he says.

Trout Rising

Today, Ron’s office is on the second
floor of his family-owned office building
that overlooks Brickyard Cove in Point
Richmond. He charges $324 an hour—
prepaid or $425—if you want to be billed.
Most, if not all, gladly prepay. Ron’s
never been happier. Neither have his
clients.

“I don’t like billable paperwork,” he
says. He likens this innovative business
law practice to filling up at the gas station.
“You prepay for your gas or services,
drive around a bit, refill, drive some
more, but you never drive on empty,”
he says. “It’s a win-win situation.” Not
burdened by enormous overhead, he now
has the time to focus on what he truly
enjoys—looking for solutions to complex
problems for his many friends.

His revolutionary billing process allows
him more time in Montana. He has an
office in his log-crafted home that is
nestled in the fir trees on the banks of
Rock Creek. When not on the water
fishing, he spends mornings on the
deck with his wife, Kathy, listening to
the osprey call overhead and the creek
wind. As the sun rises, the hazy sky turns
luminous in Montana, and the scent of
water rises with the air.

Friends say Ron has a heart as big and
wide as all of Montana.

Ron just wants to share a secret: listen
to the river, and you will learn all you
need to know from the trout.

20 Counselor • Spring 2007

http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/publications/files/counselorS07.pdf