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!)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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? (more…)

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.

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.

Starting in April of 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency will require contractors working on homes built before 1978, and all schools and buildings where kids spend time, to be certified in and use lead-safe practices.  The primary concern with construction or remodeling in buildings with lead-based paint is lead dust.  Therefore, the EPA will require contractors to wear protective clothing, work in wet and clean areas and take other safety precautions.  You can find more information here at the EPA website.

Recently, the New York Times posted a story on the new FTC regulations that as of December 1, 2009, require bloggers who review products to disclose any connection with advertisers, including receipt of free products or payment in any way.  In advancing this rule, the FTC stated that this practice frequently occurs and can be deceiving to the public.

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