I think what she said is right.
I guess: the IO first will get an impression if this guy is Niu or Not(that'
s the Overall that your lawyer means).If he or she thinks you are Niu enough
, then she will not examine individual claims. But if he or she thinks you
are just so so, then he or she will look at your individual claims and beat
you!
One of my friends has very good publication, and the citation is pretty
strong, but his review experience is not good, he only reviews several
papers for his boss(without his credits). But his case got approved. He went
to Tsinghua for his undergraduate, and Harvard for his PHD, and He is doing
postdoc in Stanford. He looks very Niu, so that's the first impression to
the IO, and then IO will approve it.