Don't Leave The Lawyer In Charge!

Too many attorneys have an over-inflated view of their own innate superiority. They believe that being an “expert” at the law automatically makes them an expert at pretty much everything else; particularly at running a business. Unfortunately, these lawyers aren't above broadcasting advertisements and making statements that browbeat already scared clients into accepting this fantasy as fact. 

Hence the jokes: 

          Q: What do you call 25 skydiving lawyers?
                  A: Skeet.

          Q: What do you call a lawyer gone bad?
                  A: Senator.

          Q: What’s the difference between a lawyer and an onion?
                  A: You cry when you cut up an onion.


Unfortunately, despite the jokes, too many managers fall for these advertising tactics; letting fear of the Law (and their attorneys) rule their world. For many, this fear drives them to give their attorneys full authority and final say on every business decision they make, whether or not that decision has any legal implication at all.

I once worked with a client who decided not to pursue a solid multi-million dollar business opportunity because his “lawyer didn't think it would work”. The lawyer objected not because it was illegal, unethical or had any legal risk, but because he just couldn't “...see how the company is going to make any money by adding another product and opening a new market." The client chose to follow his attorney's advice despite the fact that, by his own admission, the attorney had no knowledge of the client's industry, had only the barest understanding of the client's business, and hadn't even bothered to read the client's business plan that actually addressed the attorney's concerns.

Based solely on this inexperienced attorney's concern about an area in which he admitted he had no expertise, the client let a lucrative business opportunity pass him by.

Of course eighteen months later, after watching his chief competitor build a solid second business off the same opportunity; the client called to tell me how disappointed he was that I had let this huge opportunity slip by unnoticed. He then – with prompting from his idiot attorney, I'm sure – let me know that he was considering suing me for malpractice because I hadn't alerted him to such an obviously profitable opportunity.

He quieted down after I sent him copies of the memos I'd sent him almost two years earlier alerting him to the opportunity; detailing the pros, cons and possible risks of the opportunity; recommending he pursue the opportunity; and warning him that relying on the advice of anyone as inexperienced as his attorney when making critical business decisions was not the wisest course of action for the business.

While this is an extreme case I guess the point I'm trying to make here is this: Managers have a responsibility to run the business. While seeking (and heeding) the good advice of experts and skilled professionals is part of running the business, the final decision is always ours.

That means that we need to understand the capabilities and short comings of every individual advising us (including our attorneys) and weigh their advice accordingly. We need to stop letting fear of being wrong drive us into giving our unqualified attorneys rights and authority over areas where they have little training and even less real world experience. We should be as hesitant to put an attorney in charge of product design or deciding what new markets the company enters as we would be putting letting our Lead Engineer represent us in court. We need to learn to trust our own knowledge, experience and, yes, our own common sense when it comes to deciding what is best for our business.

Don't get me wrong, I encourage every client to have their attorney review the legality, enforceability and legal risk of every contract before they sign it and every major business decision before they implement it. However, I also tell clients to remember that lawyers are experts in a relatively narrow field of endeavor - the Law. Outside that narrow field, their advice should carry no more (and probably much less) weight than any other unqualified third party with an interest in the business. In this sense, attorneys are no different than experts in Engineering; Design, Marketing, or Business Management.

Every good attorney (and yes, despite the opening jokes, there truly are good attorneys) understands this and works to make sure their clients understand it as well.

So stop being afraid of your lawyer.



(All jokes quoted from http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Lawyer.htm on 13 May 2010 )