Law and business are not separate from one another. There may be times when they are opposite sides of the same coin. However, they should work symbiotically with one another to make businesses better.
Business leaders need to shed the traditional thinking that what you should get when you hire an attorney is boilerplate legalese, or a lawsuit. Law and business are so incredibly intertwined that thinking about legal work this way can and will seriously stymie your company’s growth.
Law and business are not separate from one another. There may be times when they are opposite sides of the same coin. However, they should work symbiotically with one another to make businesses better. The majority of lawyers would probably think they are “strategic” attorneys because they know how to maneuver within the legal system and contract law. In reality, a business's general counsel should be strategically thinking about competitive advantages and advising the management team to better maneuver their business. General counsel should be working with the CEO and leadership team assessing long and short term goals to gain competitive positions as well as mitigate litigation and other legal risk.Business clients want their lawyers to tell them what they can do more than what they can't, the job of good general counsel is about the possibility. Lawyers by their very nature are risk averse, and business people by nature are risk tolerant. A good business attorney should temper business leader’s risk tolerance, but should be active in finding solutions to move a company forward. Your business attorney should be not only familiar with your business, but also where your business is headed.
General counsel attorneys should be a trusted strategic advisor, they should be active in the direction of your company, and should avoid being the “deal mitigation” department. The worst thing an attorney can do is tell their client “no” without another acceptable course of action meeting the businesses objectives. Your general counsel should be riding shotgun to your business actively advising on course corrections which can avoid legal pitfalls while at the same time looking for legal advantages for your business. In addition, business leaders should never be hesitant, due to billable hour considerations, to pick up the phone and talk to their counsel.
A lawyer’s tangible work product, such as contracts, are a great starting point to show the difference between a contractor for hire, and strategic business counsel. A good contract creates the framework for any deal, it provides not only the structure and the deal terms but also language for when things do not go as planned. General counsel attorneys often help negotiate and assist with closing contractual relationships as well as assist with maintaining good relations with partners. Commonly business deals can stray from the original plans and contracts originally discussed. From scope creep, to change orders, to business changes over the course of a contract, having a not only a great agreement, but also an involved attorney can be the reason both parties remain working well with one another. Your tangible contract is only a small part of the work your strategic business attorney should be doing. The intangible of their assistance with something as simple as relationship management is crucial for long term business success.
In the big picture leadership teams work hard to develop and set corporate strategy, from mapping out the destination, to setting the roadmap to get there. Strategic general counsel should understand the corporate strategy and its legal implications as well as add valuable contributions to the overall strategic direction. Being proactive with client’s needs will serve them better as they will be anticipating legal issues, instead of waiting for a legal question to arise. As business leaders know being proactive and forward looking will bear much more fruit than being reactionary. Company counsel should be equally as proactive.Business and legal landscapes are vastly different than they were just 10 or 20 years ago, stemming from globalization, the regulatory environment and technological changes. As a business owner, having a business savvy general counsel attorney can be a gigantic asset. Gone are the days when an attorney was simply a contract and lawsuit machine. Instead business leaders should search for a general counsel attorney to be a business counselor, and strategic advisor, in addition to serving the businesses need for contracting to further a business’s goals.
Auxana works with businesses to help them find just this kind of counsel to work closely with management teams.
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