James Cleary was up by dawn last Friday, aiming to make a 7 a.m. appointment with his clients at Hydroflex Surfboards.

But he wasn’t headed to the company’s headquarters in Oceanside, California, or to a meeting room in San Diego, where Cleary works as an IP lawyer with Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. Cleary’s morning meeting was the beach, as it is about once a week, when he gathers with action sports industry clients to go surfing.