Sean Butler, Founder
In private company, I will eventually admit to being a lawyer though not without some lingering fear of being chained to the bottom of the ocean. Growing up in Silicon Valley it was largely a foregone conclusion that I would end up in the technology industry, and as a former philosophy major who got tired of asking ‘would you like fries with that,’ becoming a technology lawyer seemed a logical choice (at the time, anyway).
But law school and over a decade of practice as a corporate lawyer never diminished my interest in questions of meaning, human identity, and a heartfelt connection with the natural world. Becoming a husband, father, and member of a community further cemented my conviction that the fate of humanity is inextricably linked to the health of our surrounding environment. However, I have also realized that building and supporting sustainable environmental systems inherently requires a sustainable approach to the economy–and vice versa.
I created Terrain in order to weave together these various threads from my personal and professional lives in hopes of creating new avenues for engagement on these topics. And although I like to refer to myself as a reluctant lawyer, I believe that responsible, creative lawyers have an important role to play in driving innovation both in Silicon Valley and the environmental movement.