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.

Email is a powerful tool for business.  However, the ease of using email can also be a curse when mistakes are made.  In my experience, one of the most seemingly innocent, yet problematic tools in email is the ‘Reply All’ feature. (more…)

What do these three things have in common – shrinkage.  In recent weeks, there have been many stories about how manufacturers of these products, and many others, are reducing the size or quantity of their products in an effort to hold pricing steady.  This shrinkage ranges by product and category, but I have seen anywhere from 5% to 14% shrinkage in grocery items alone.  Manufacturers argue that in order to give the customer the product to which they are accustom at the same price, they must reduce the quantity.  But isn’t this just a sneaky way of raising prices?  Why don’t companies find a better, more innovative way to competitively deliver product instead of just raising prices or reducing quantity?

So what does this have to do with business and law?  (more…)

Every day business people are confronted with confidentiality agreements. Although they may seem benign or commonplace, they can have some potentially disastrous consequences if not correctly approached. What do they really mean? When are they appropriate? What should they include? What are the potential pitfalls? This Top 10 List discusses some important considerations every business person should think about when considering a confidentiality agreement. (more…)