The Truth About Lawyers

Those of you reading this article looking for thesecond opinion as there are very few stock answers
latest lawyer joke will likely be disappointed in theto a legal issue.
text that follows. This piece is not meant to be yet2. A lawyer is no different than any other vendor or
another bashing session directed at the legalsupplier and they should be put through the same
professional, but rather to give you solid informationlevel of scrutiny (in my opinion a higher level of
on how to avoid the common mistakes that evenscrutiny) as anyone else in your supply chain. I
the brightest and most seasoned executives make inadopted the practice quite sometime ago of putting
attempting to successfully work with and managemy legal work out to bid through a managed request
attorneys.for qualifications (RFQ) and request for proposal
I grew up in a legal family, have been a managing(RFP) process. I assess my needs, identify my
director of a law firm, recruited and managed legalrequirements and seek to find the best
staffs as a C-suite executive and have dealt withrepresentation possible by having attorneys compete
many an outside counsel as an entrepreneur. I havefor my business on my terms.
both sued and been sued, and suffice it to say I3. General Counsel is fine, but only if they are
know the good, the bad and the ugly about the legalmanaging the right specialist. A generalist cobbling
profession.together documents by pulling a template down from
As with any other profession there are excellenta Westlaw search is a far cry from having true
practitioners, middle of the road journeyman, wellsubject matter expertise. All attorneys are not
intended light-weights who try hard but consistentlycreated equal. Hire the right lawyer at the right time
find themselves in over their heads, brilliant academicsfor the right reason.
with no practical experience or common sense, and4. Along the lines of number three above, a smart
yes, there are a few rouges and scoundrels as well.attorney doesn't necessarily translate into a good
The reality is that most people that have a negativeattorney. Just because someone possesses a J.D.
experience with the judicial system blame the lawyer.doesn't mean they have any practical experience.
If the plaintiff or the defendant doesn't achieve theMost lawyers don't graduate from law school with
expected outcome it must be the attorney's fault,any formal business training and fewer have any real
right? Wrong...If you retain the wrong lawyer that isworld business experience upon graduation. It is
not the lawyers fault, if you place yourself or yourimperative that you select counsel who is not only a
business in harm's way because you didn't recognizesubject matter expert in his/her practice area, but
or manage risk, that is not the fault of the attorneythat also has very sound business acumen. If an
who tries to help you and if you don't manage theattorney is not fluent in my business they won't be
legal action and/or the attorney with the sameretained by me to represent my business...end of
attention to detail you manage other areas of yourstory.
business that is not the attorney's fault either.5. The best way to manage your legal risk is to be
Think about this...If you found out you had anproactive not reactive. Assess your legal risks and
operable brain tumor, but decided not to do anythingtake aggressive and proactive measures to mitigate
about it until you actually started to observesaid risks. I developed the shortest legal mission
diminished capacity and then sought out the cheapeststatement on record and require any attorney who
doctor you could find (an experienced brain surgeonrepresents me to use it to as their operating mantra;
would be far too expensive) to conduct theit simply states: "anticipate and insulate". The best
operation how do you think you would fair? OK, it isdefense is a great offense when it comes to legal
a given that no reasonable person would handle thework.
aforementioned scenario as described, but when it6. At the end of the day you must take an active
comes to legal work I can't even begin to count therole in managing your legal affairs. As a principal
number of times I've witnessed someone wait tooowner or senior executive the buck stops with you.
long to act or react and then rush to retain anYou need to manage the attorney and the process
attorney based upon little more research than theto the best possible outcome and this cannot be
scrutiny of an hourly rate.accomplished with a passive management style. You
It is this author's humble opinion that the truth aboutcan either manage the legal process or let it manage
lawyers is that most people frankly get what theyyou.
deserve. However if you adhere to the followingAs a consumer of legal services the phrase "Caveat
best practices when entering into and managing anEmptor" (Let the buyer beware) applies in spades. If
attorney client relationship you will fair better thanyou take an informed and proactive approach to
most.managing your legal risk you will fair better than
1. Hire the best legal counsel you can afford, not thethose who don't. A plus might just be that if you hire
cheapest you can find. As with any profession therethe right attorney for the right reasons you may in
is value in experience and knowledge as well as afact end-up developing a strong personal and
competitive advantage to be gained with talent,professional relationship that won't end-up as subject
reputation and connections. Never hesitate to get amatter for a lawyer joke.