How counsel reads a room

I used to start with the folder. Now I start with the doorway. The folder will lie for you. The doorway usually will not.

What the empty chair means

Sometimes the chair is empty because the decision-maker refused to sit. Sometimes it is empty because the team is hoping the brief will sit for them. Those are different sittings. The loom cannot tell them apart unless you say so in the first card.

Write it down: who will sign, and who is hoping not to. If you cannot, do not open Athena yet. Have the human conversation first.

Light on the table

A room with too much light wants a performance. A room with none wants a secret. Counsel wants a north window: enough to read the quarrel, not enough to stage a launch.

In practice this means: no live decks in the sitting. Paper or a single brief on the table. If someone needs a movie, they are not yet ready to sign.

After you leave

The brief should still make sense from the doorway — to a person who was not in the room. If it only works as a memory of your voice, it is not a brief. It is a performance with footnotes.

That is why we photograph the table empty in this house. The work has to survive the people walking out.