BradPatrick

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This user has been on Wikipedia for 18 years, 7 months and 5 days.

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This user toots on Mastodon/the Fediverse as @BradPatrick@esq.social on Mastodon

95	This user misses the way the Internet used to be back in 1995.

This user is a lawyer.

BradPatrick is, in fact, a user. If you took the time to find this page, you probably already know who I am. If not, I'm a lawyer who lives in Florida. I used to practice law with several private firms in Washington and Florida; I now have my own law firm in Tampa. I have the distinction of having been the interim Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation as well as its inaugural General Counsel. I announced my resignation March 22, 2007, effective March 31, 2007. I have an older page of answers to frequently asked questions here. I am active on Mastodon over at https://esq.social/@bradpatrick.

Burning Bright - in memory of Aaron Swartz

I knew Aaron during the time he had taken a shine to Wikipedia. We met in Boston at Hacking Days prior to the 2006 Wikimania conference in Cambridge. There, at MIT, we spent a few days running through the strengths and weaknesses of MediaWiki. Here he was, vacuuming up the technical aspects of what ran Wikipedia, and trying to keep up in his own mind with the millions of ways this flavor of “open” could be improved, strengthened, and deepened. Some of us went out for drinks, and he tagged along, quietly following the conversational points, but he was clearly not in his element, and underaged.

Later at an infamous party, he was part of a game of pitchmanship, in which Samuel “SJ” Klein, me, Benjamin “Mako” Hill, and Aaron tried to sell our idea to Mitch Kapor, Brewster Kahle, and Stephen Wolfram. Our 1-800-Internet.com pitch didn’t win (Ross Mayfield did), but Aaron delivered our bit in spectacular fashion, and to uproarious laughter.

What I will remember most clearly about Aaron is the multiplicity of his mind. I don’t think he ever had one thought about anything. He had a half dozen. And another half dozen he didn’t mention. What evolved in his thinking beyond the brief time I knew him was that he began to recognize in more detail the root of corporate, political and social structures which were relevant to his chosen areas of activism. He wrote his famous statements about the Wikimedia Foundation and learned a lot in the process of running for the Board. He tackled politics head on. He began constructing an ethos that he would push forward the rest of his life. Would that we could have had the benefit of decades more of his thinking.

As a lawyer, I am disgusted by the overreaching and utter lack of prosecutorial discretion addressed fully by Lawrence Lessig. At the time the charges were announced, I read them in detail, and had handicapped the outcome as being predictable: a slap on the wrist, some contrition, some minor plea to satisfy a batting average, and we would all move on. It hadn’t occurred to me that he would become ensnared in a tar pit, and that it would drag him under. Cooler heads will prevail, I thought. Eventually the prosecutors will relax, I thought.

Now he is gone. Much too soon. His star will always be burning brightly in my mind. --Brad Patrick (talk) 07:05, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

In memory of Mr. Dennis Banks

When I was in high school, I was the drum major of one of the best marching bands in New England, at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Connecticut. Today I learned of the death of one of the people who was most influential in my development as a young leader, on and off the field, Dennis Banks. He was 59.

When we came back the next fall ('84 - the first year we performed Stravinsky's 'Firebird'), we knew band camp was going to be different, with the "drum corps" style. We didn't really know what to expect. This guy gets up and Mr. Mancinelli our band director says a few things about how he has been with some of the top corps in the country, he deserves our respect, looks forward to welcoming him, and introduces Dennis Banks. His words were few, and direct. His "it's up to you" speech was basically, "I can take you as far as you want to go. I want to win. If you want to be the best, do what I tell you, we will all work our butts off, and we will be champions. It's up to you. Any questions?"

Anna Notation '86, a bookish flautist and sci-fi geek with a heart of gold, raised her hand and asked, "What should we call you? Are you Dennis, or Mr. B, or what?" He stared at her (with that stare of his), paused for about five or six seconds and said quietly, with a steel tone, "You will call me Mr. Banks."

Our jaws dropped. We were in a new universe. When we went outside and marched down to the practice field and *heard* him for the first time, really letting us know what it was going to be like, we got it. And from that point forward, the future of the CHSMRB was set. He set the tone by simply telling us who he was.

As a drum major for two years, I got to see him outside the lines, as it were. He was a very generous person who truly loved seeing kids grow beyond themselves and relished the success that came from hard work. He never faulted people for making mistakes when learning a show. He faulted people for making the same mistakes again. You learned not to do that. :)

He was always Mr. Cool after we had performed at a show, before the scores were announced. He enjoyed strutting around after we had put it all out on the field, cigar at the ready. The smiles he flashed at us when we nailed it were genuine, hard fought, and deserved. When we won the EMBA Championship in '88 (with my brother Mark as drum major), setting a then-high score and sweeping everything, we understood what Winning It All meant, at last. That he was able and willing to inspire thousands of students over the years to work hard and feel the singular pleasure of a perfect show is a testament to his character and love of students. What an incredible gift.

I never knew his family. I hope to convey to them the enormous effect he had on those of us who had the pleasure of working with him. He was a great influence on my life and many others in the band for which I am grateful and proud. --Brad Patrick 20:27, 14 June 2007 (UTC)