Ethos Business Law

Ethos Business Law is continuing its quest to evolve business legal services by launching a new program aimed at providing businesses with a strategic and efficient tool to reduce legal risk and costs.  The General Counsel Hotline is a new, innovative solution for companies that do not have internal legal resources.  It allows clients to sign up for a low-cost, monthly fixed-fee package and receive the following benefits:

• As needed telephone consultations regarding legal and strategic business issues;
• Monthly strategic legal planning sessions in your office;
• A trusted, objective advisor available when you need it; and
• Freedom from the billable hour.

How many times have you experienced the following:

• Been reluctant to call your attorney to ask what you believe is a simple question because you are worried that you will get a $1,000 bill.
• Decided that instead of proactively consulting your attorney, you would just “wait and see” and call your attorney if or when you have problems.
• Wished you had predictability in your budget for legal expenses.
• Needed a strategic, business-minded lawyer that could help you evaluate your business in an objective manner without trying to bill hours.
• Been frustrated because your attorney doesn’t really understand your business and only speaks legalese!

The General Counsel Hotline is the solution.  Clients are embracing this new model and it just might be a perfect tool to augment your legal practices.  Contact Ethos Business Law today to find out how the General Counsel Hotline can decrease your legal risk and increase your bottom line.

I recently saw yet another example of why building and maintain relationships is one of the most important skills you must master in order to become a successful business person.  While working with a client through a complex and tricky loan restructure, one of the participating lenders was experiencing significant pressure on its business from bank regulators, unrelated to my client.  This pressure caused that lender to create problems in the loan workout.  However, the lead lender and the borrower had developed a strong relationship over many years and were able to leverage that relationship built on trust and proven execution to allow all participants to come to a workable solution.  Had it not been for the strong relationship between the lead lender and the borrower, the result would have been drastically different. Read the rest of this entry »

In an article published last week in Forbes, some experts have declared that deal-making is back, citing some large recent transactions:

• Dell’s $3.9 billion acquisition of Perot Systems in September
• Walt Disney’s $4 billion tie-up with Marvel in August
• Exxon Mobil’s $41 billion all-stock buy of XTO Energy in December
• AIG offloading its Asian life insurance business to the U.K.’s Prudential for $35.5 billion

While these deals certainly make headlines, I don’t think they do much for main street American business and more importantly, I don’t think you can declare that merger and acquisition activity is back based on these deals alone. Read the rest of this entry »

Ethos Business Law client, Risotto, was recently named one of the best Italian Restaurants by Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine.  If you haven’t been there, give it a try and be sure to order the polpettone di faggiolini (traditional green bean soufflé served with melted asiago cheese and garnished with micro greens) — it is fantastic!  Congratulations Risotto!

A recent article in the American Bar Association Journal highlights a trend in business legal services:  The Outside General Counsel.  This “trend” is nothing new to Ethos Business Law — it is the basis of our business model — our “Ethos!”  Outside general counsel services, or fractionalized general counsel, are growing in popularity as business owners realize the value they can leverage from proactive, business-focused attorneys that have in-house experience, business education and law firm training.  But how do these services work and why are they better? Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a way to increase your retirement savings? Still trying to catch-up after the “Great Recession?” Worried about your increasing tax bills that may become even more onerous over the next couple years? If so, Cash Balance Plans may be something to look at.

Some of the interesting attributes of Cash Balance Plans include:

• Are a type of defined benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

• May be well-suited for high income-earning professionals and owners of small, closely-held businesses.

• Feature deferral of more pre-tax income than 401K or profit sharing plans.

• Can often be layered on top of a 401K or profit sharing plan.

I recently saw a research article here that provided a great summary of Cash Balance Plans.  This was put together by Bernstein Global Wealth Management and was sent to me by Paul Borowski, one of their advisors (Paul.Borowski@bernstein.com).  Take a look and see if this might be right for you.

Proprietary social media research conducted by Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law is being featured this week at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting taking place through January 31 in Davos, Switzerland. The 2010 event entitled “Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign and Rebuild” has drawn an invitation-only participant list of 2,500 chief executives from global leading companies, government representatives from the world’s top 25 economies and fast-growing countries, and presidents of the world’s major universities.

Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law conducted a groundbreaking study with C-suite executives regarding corporate use of social media, as well as on the need for internal policies and training. The firms were contacted last month for permission to share key findings at the global event in a session entitled “The Growing Influence of Social Networks,” which featured the CEOs of LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning and Twitter, among others.

“Corporations need to recognize that the social Web has the potential to become a new mode of production and the new “operating system” of a business,” the Forum reported. “But companies face a crisis of leadership. Too many companies are reticent about incorporating social media into either the organization’s internal process or its customer strategy, viewing social networks instead as a threat to employee productivity, or a source of transparency for which some organizations feel unready.”

Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law have participated in numerous speaking engagements since the original research was released a few months ago. A free copy of the research white paper is available at here.

If you have ever been to Minnesota, or better yet lived there, you have probably experienced “Minnesota Nice.”  Typically, Minnesota Nice is characterized by polite friendliness, an aversion to confrontation, a tendency toward understatement, a disinclination to make a fuss or stand out, emotional restraint or self-deprecation.  What happens when Minnesota Nice enters the negotiating room?  Often times, it can lead to difficult or failed negotiations.

Unfortunately, Minnesota Nice isn’t really about being “nice” at all. It’s more about keeping up appearances and avoiding confrontation.  Moreover, it can also be used as a negotiation tool, which causes confusion, misunderstanding and frustration among other participants.  So, what do you do when you are in a negotiation and you are confronted with “Minnesota Nice?”  Here are a few tips: Read the rest of this entry »

I recently saw this article in Larry Bodine’s blog.  It is a great discussion on how attorneys can be more client-centric and service-oriented by adopting a different business model. It has long been my philosophy that attorneys must constantly redefine ways to create and add value to their clients.  There are certainly better ways of measuring value than the number of hours spent on tasks.

I find one of the best way for a client to leverage value from its corporate counsel is through regular, proactive interaction.  Simply spending time discussing a client’s business and future goals can prove quite productive.  I often work as outside general counsel for clients on a retainer basis — not by hourly fees.  This encourages clients to spend time working with their attorney on proactive strategies and removes the “time” concern.  Moreover, this fosters a better relationship between the parties and allows the attorney to have a better institutional knowledge of the client.  If you are still paying for every minute of your corporate attorney’s time, consider implementing a different business model.

As the end of the year fast approaches, our thoughts turn to holiday cheer and family fun!  However, it is also important to think about a few simple pieces of annual corporate maintenance to protect you and your company.  Two important and often overlooked items include filing the annual registration for your company and holding your annual meetings. Read the rest of this entry »