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.

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The articles generally discuss how a law degree does not provide attorneys with much, if any, business education.  “Basically you spend three years [in law school] reading appellate court opinions and you don’t learn anything about building a clientele,” said an Illinois business development consultant.  In law school, attorneys never get the chance to learn about important business topics, such finance, accounting, marketing, risk analysis, organizational behavior, strategic management and leadership.  Without training in these areas, attorneys speak a different language than their business clients, which can present barriers and impede the best representation.

A director of professional development at a large East Coast firm was quoted as saying “[w]e realized our associates don’t have an inside view of how our clients work.”  Another partner at a major East Coast firm noted that “[w]hen you have the kind of challenges we have right now, (you need) really well-trained, smart managers talking the same language.”  Finally, the head of client development at a large international firm said “[l]awyers are business solutions and to be able to be that, you must have an understanding of business dynamics.”

It seems clear that for attorneys who represent businesses, especially on transactional matters, finding an attorney who really understands your business is vital.  This understanding may come from an MBA, other training or just experience — but it must be there or you are not hiring the best resource.  Next time you call your attorney, ask yourself, “does he or she really understand my business?”  If not, look for an attorney that does.

There has been a proliferation of legal self-help websites that offer all types of legal documentation, from wills to divorces and from incorporations to bankruptcy. These sites offer “solutions” to your legal problems at rock-bottom prices. But just what do they really do and are they an acceptable replacement to an attorney?

The disclaimers read something like this: The information provided on this site is not legal advice. This service is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. This service cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction. And they go on for pages from there. So, it is clear, these companies are not offering legal advice, but instead are offering documents that attempt to solve general legal problems, based on your direction. The important decision of whether the documents work in your circumstance (and what documents you need) is left solely up to you. The problem is that most times, you are not sure what the issues are and don’t know if the provided documents really satisfy your issues – or worse, raise more issues. This is the central problem with legal self-help.

I am not suggesting that self-help legal sites are evil or should be avoided. On the contrary, if you know exactly what you need, know the surrounding issues and know how to use the appropriate documentation, these sites offer a very convenient and inexpensive solution. However, for the majority of situations, I believe the insight of a skilled attorney can help flush out what the real issues are and how to solve them. Moreover, if something is done incorrectly in the beginning, it is typically far more expensive and complicated to fix later.

So, go to the legal self-help sites when you know exactly what you want and how to do it. However, if you have any uncertainty or question make sure you seek advice from a competent attorney. The time and money spent will be a good investment in your future.