Ignorance is not always bliss. Neither is it an excuse for running afoul of legal obligations. When it comes to a businesses’ legal risks, ignorance can be expensive — very expensive. While legal risks and their expensive consequences can never be fully eliminated, a functional legal strategy greatly reduces the risks.

What is a legal strategy for business?

Everyday businesses go belly-up because of unmitigated legal issues. Sometimes it’s major lawsuits or regulatory actions. Other times multiple small issues prevent the business from operating or turning a profit. Sure, poor decisions are likely in play, but the primary underlying cause is failing to have a strategy for preventing or addressing legal issues.

Businesses have strategies (sometimes called a plan) for most aspects of their operations. There’s the general business strategy plus marketing strategies, social media strategies, expansion strategies, crisis management strategies, employment management strategies, and so on. And, to one degree or another, these strategies are impacted by legal requirements and concerns.

A business’s legal strategy is both a solution (to a specific challenge or concern) and a framework for developing strategies, identifying money making or saving opportunities, addressing business concerns or objectives, and growing your business. It functions much the same as a business strategy with one key difference: your legal strategy also identifies and provides a roadmap for how the business will navigate legal risks to achieve the business’ goals.

Know your business’s legal risks!

The number, type, and severity of legal risks varies depending on the business. Knowing those risks is fundamental to developing a legal strategy to keep legal matters from bankrupting your business. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

Unknown legal risks are dangerous and will always exist. Laws change. People do the unexpected. But many legal risks are identifiable. Once you know those risks, steps can be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks and their associated costs.

How to choose your business’s legal strategist.

Strategy development begins with an in-depth review and assessment of the business (or area of concern) which includes identifying areas of legal risk and the costs to your business. The better the review, the better the resulting legal/business strategy.

Which brings us to the important question of who should perform the review and assessment. Should it be your lawyer? The business owner(s) or executive(s)? The company strategist(s)? It depends. The legal skills of a lawyer are necessary. But most lawyers lack strategy and business skills. The understanding of the owners or executives is also necessary. But they often lack the necessary skills and are too close to the matter under review. Of course, the skills of a business strategist are necessary. But they often lack adequate legal skills, are too close to objectively evaluate risks, or are influenced by company culture or other factors.

A legal strategy consultant delivers both business advice and an effective legal framework by working with your company’s team to fully understand the business and the industry, has the legal expertise of an attorney, plus the skills of a strategist.

When objectivity and expertise matters, businesses, large and small, hire consultants for assessment and solution development. The few thousand dollars saved today by having the wrong person develop your legal strategy may cost tens of thousands of dollars down the road.

Developing a good legal strategy is only half the battle. That strategy needs to be implemented, monitored, and updated as conditions change. Dunbar Legal Strategy has the expertise, knowledge, and skills guide your business through the implementation process and provide guidance when conditions change.