Using Law to Your Strategic Advanatage

by | January 3, 2006

A recent book called “Winning Legally: How to Use the Law to Create Value, Marshal Resources, and Manage Risk” by Constance Bagley, a professor at Harvard Business School, discusses how business can leverage the law to succeed. It describes how laywers need to be more business saavy and business people need to better understand how the law can work to their advantage. The lawyer should be a partner in strategic planning to not only keep the business out of trouble but also to take advantage of legal benefits in the areas of intellectual property, tax and contractual relationships to move the business strategically forward. In addition, when a dispute arises the business and legal teams must work together to determine appropriate next steps in the course of resolving the issues. The book focuses on larger companies with in-house counsel but the same issues exist for smaller companies utilizing attorneys to assist in start-up and growth decisions where including a lawyer in the planning phases can help you maximize the legal opportunities and minimize the risks for your business. Read an interview with Ms. Bagley in the HBS Working Knowledge newsletter.

Author: Michelle Bomberger, Seattle Business Lawyer