If you are currently in the market for legal services, you have likely talked to friends or colleagues seeking referrals. You might have looked on Google or other search platforms using some keywords related to your situation and immediate needs. Hell, you might even consider attorneys on the other side of deals you have had in the past who seemed competent.
One thing I bet you didn't do with all of those conversations or searches: Find out if the attorney adds value to your organization rather than simply performing a service for a fee.
This is the difference between an attorney and a strategic counsel. Attorneys are essentially the same as a plumber, electrician, or carpenter. At the end of the day, the law is a trade, just one that has a 7+ year school component before you can be licensed. You give an attorney a contract, they look it over and provide feedback. You hire them for a case, they do the work to get the best outcome they can for you and charge their fees.
Strategic counsels are looking to expand the pie rather than take a slice. What does this look like in practice? Here are some examples of strategic work I have done for clients in the past:
Performed a full regulatory compliance audit of existing operations, identified risks which could result in thousands in fines if not rising to license suspensions or revocations, preparing new standard operating procedures and trainings to ensure employees understand how to avoid future violations.
Review regulations for grey areas in the law that could present competitive advantages. For example, finding gaps in marketing regulations that reach eyes the team did not know they could access or imprecise zoning requirements that allow for a store to be built somewhere previously considered non-compliant.
Review operations for inefficiencies and/or redundancies to save money and improve operations. This sometimes looks like physically auditing employee functions and performance and sometimes looks like reviewing financial records for overlap or unnecessary spending.
Identifying merger and acquisition (M&A) options or expansion strategy for efficient growth. Some businesses can grow quicker by buying an existing competitor, others benefit from organic growth based on their existing blueprints. Each business will have its own goals for growth and path for success.
Now, you might look at a few of those examples and think that doesn't seem like legal work. To that I would say, you are correct, but I would also say that a seasoned general counsel is a not only capable of each, but highly suited to each. Corporate attorneys are required to focus on the success of the business while also worrying about compliance, licensing, ever-changing regulations, and strategic planning for the future.
Do you trust your Director of Marketing to look over 200 pages of regulations and find the gaps without also exposing your business to a dozen other sources of liability? Do you trust your Director of Retail to properly review local, state, and federal requirements for siting a new store? Do you trust your head of HR to know if employees are redundant or inefficient?
Many businesses see legal as a cost center. Something that cuts into the bottom line and profits. And for many attorneys, I would agree with that characterization. However, a strategic counsel is there to increase the bottom line and profits by either reducing costs or exposures or by identifying opportunities for growth.
Comments