Friday, December 18, 2015

In-House Counsel



A while back, I advised a chief executive officer to restrict his use of outside counsel to specialties and have an attorney on staff to handle the weekly and daily concerns that arise in a large organization.

He was convinced that his approach was less expensive. In some respects that can be correct and yet there is one area where it is grossly inferior: You want your managers and supervisors to seek legal advice as early as possible. They are more likely to do so when the lawyer is simply an employee down the hall rather than a distant figure in a lofty law firm who can only be approached after prior clearance..

Five minutes of legal advice can save millions of dollars and a bunch of heartache but it needs to be timely. Set up barriers and you may get costly delays.


No comments: