Ethos Business Law

“One really good attorney essentially takes the place of three outside counsel.”

This view was expressed by the Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Best Buy Enterprise Services Inc. in the May 2010 issue of Inside Counsel.  “Their ability to triage, to understand an issue as it’s coming in, can save me immense amounts of outside counsel fees and in-house resources.”  But why is this approach reserved only for in-house counsel — it is not.

Perhaps the distinction is not whether an attorney works in-house or outside, but whether the company has found the right attorney.  Companies must seek out counsel that understand what it is like to live with decisions in a business environment — not those who just make insulated and unpractical recommendations.  The difference between a really good attorney that can triage issues and solve problems and “outside counsel” is not the location of the attorney, but their skill, experience and approach.

The General Counsel Hotline provides a business-centric, proactive tool to allow clients the luxury of in-house counsel at a fraction of the cost.  See how this program can turn three of your outside counsel into one.

Here is a follow-up report by CBS News on the hidden dangers of digital copiers.  The original report is here.  Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey called for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission — concerned most Americans don’t know their information can be compromised.  “We have to do a lot more to insure that the public and corporations know this,” Rep. Markey said, “and that absolute security is applied to copy machines across our country.”

What do you think?

(Hat Tip: Michael Mason Norman, ED.D. — Thanks!)

Did you know that most digital copiers have a hard drive?  Did you know that every copy on these machines is recorded and stored on that hard drive.  So, what happens when that copier (and hard drive) leaves your office?  Take a look at this CBS News report:

Bottom line:  make sure you take appropriate precautions to erase the hard drive when you get rid of your digital copier.