This piece deals with the strategic approach I offer business clients in giving legal advice.
Frequently I am consulted by clients who find themselves in a bit of a pickle. The client troubles can take a variety of shapes or forms. Perhaps it is a customer who refuses or ignores paying a bill. Sometimes it is a competitor who is behaving badly. Sometimes it is a partner who is making noises about claiming a bigger slice of the pie than they ought to. Sometimes it is a bureaucracy that has a left arm that doesn't know what the right arm is doing, or has agreed to do.
In most of these cases the client feels like they are getting the raw end of the stick. They feel that there is some fundamental unfairness. They believe or want to believe that the justice system will recognize that they are the good guys, and that with the help of a lawyer they can move to get a remedy that will be fair and legal.
If the situation has deteriorated, the client will often think that a lawsuit is the only sensible path. With a lawsuit, the Court will surely recognize the merits of my client's claim, and a judge will surely put the bad guy in his proper place. Often this is a misguided belief, (not always, but often), and following I will try and explain why.
Lawyers refer to lawsuits as "litigation". Indeed lawyers who are specialists in lawsuits are called 'litigators'. ( And they are a special breed, at least the good ones are). And for the record, I am not a litigator. Though for a significant part of my early career I did consider myself a litigator, and did handle a significant number of lawsuit files, with more than my share of successes. My strength in serving clients though, did not come through court cases. My best service, and the best value that I delivered to clients, was when we were able to avoid a courtroom battle and to find a resolution outside of the trial process.
to be continued.....
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Deception - Conundrums for Youth
What do you say to the young about deception?
Of course we start with the premise that our kids should be honest and tell the truth and not lie or cheat.
This goes triple in our view of the kids relations with us.
Never lie to your parents.
To lie to parents will trigger profound and unhappy consequences.
We tell kids that trustworthiness is a most valuable trait, and that it can be lost so easily with a seemingly simple act of deception. We tell kids that their reputation for trustworthiness has to be earned, and that without it they will have an unhappy life.
Parents tend to speak in absolute terms about truth telling.
There is no middle ground; things are black or white.
And that message is repeated endlessly, with the hopes it will sink in, be internalized by youth.
Now let us consider youth sports.
I'm thinking typically of team sports and games.
Hide and seek for openers.
This is a pasttime that is founded on deception.
If one is not deceptive, one can not do well at the game.
To do well yields all sorts of benefits to the child, and they are encouraged to be deceptive.
Think of hockey, soccer, volleyball and other goal/point scoring games.
Again, success in these sports is often dependent upon deception - either at a team level or an individual level.
So can you now see the dissonance or disconnect between the message to youth as a general rule from elders, and in a specific application like games and sports.
And my question - is how to resolve this apparent conflict in what we say to youth?
I turn to game theory ( and what very little I know about it) for a framework of analysis.
In zero sum games it is permssible to deceive.
In non zero sum games it is not permissible.
That is my tentative conclusion.
I am of the view that is best to see human lives and conduct on this planet these days as being a non zero sum situation.
To paraphrase Buckminister Fuller - we ought to think that
"this is not a you OR me world, but rather a you AND me world."
We ought to arrange our affairs that our gains are not at the expense of others.
Rather our gains should benefit not only ourselves but others as well.
Still, we will often find ourselves in zero sum game situations.
The most dramatic of these situations is War.
In the Art of War - an enduring classic from Sun Tzu written 2500 years ago - it is said
"That all war is based on deception".
While we may try to justify any participation in a war as not only for our own benefit, but the benefit of humankind (say to stop an evil ruler from pursuing an evil path), in the limited context of the fight between two factions - it is a zero sum game. One wins at the expense of the other side's loss.
Of course most team sport and recreational games will be most often seen in a zero sum perspective.
One team wins, the other team loses. The fruits go to the winners.
But what about other contests that are commonplace in our experience.
Consider election campaigns - political or otherwise.
Or how about the competitive world of business - where only one individual or company will get the 'sale' and the other will be shut out.
Surely these are in some respects anyway, zero sum games.
So the next question becomes, in these situations, - political contests, or business contests, is deception permissible, or not.
I am leaning to the response that deception is indeed permitted in these situations.
And if that is an acceptable response, then how should that inform what we say to youth?
More on this later.
For now, I close content to have introduced the topic, and in a crude way set out my own preliminary views.
Of course we start with the premise that our kids should be honest and tell the truth and not lie or cheat.
This goes triple in our view of the kids relations with us.
Never lie to your parents.
To lie to parents will trigger profound and unhappy consequences.
We tell kids that trustworthiness is a most valuable trait, and that it can be lost so easily with a seemingly simple act of deception. We tell kids that their reputation for trustworthiness has to be earned, and that without it they will have an unhappy life.
Parents tend to speak in absolute terms about truth telling.
There is no middle ground; things are black or white.
And that message is repeated endlessly, with the hopes it will sink in, be internalized by youth.
Now let us consider youth sports.
I'm thinking typically of team sports and games.
Hide and seek for openers.
This is a pasttime that is founded on deception.
If one is not deceptive, one can not do well at the game.
To do well yields all sorts of benefits to the child, and they are encouraged to be deceptive.
Think of hockey, soccer, volleyball and other goal/point scoring games.
Again, success in these sports is often dependent upon deception - either at a team level or an individual level.
So can you now see the dissonance or disconnect between the message to youth as a general rule from elders, and in a specific application like games and sports.
And my question - is how to resolve this apparent conflict in what we say to youth?
I turn to game theory ( and what very little I know about it) for a framework of analysis.
In zero sum games it is permssible to deceive.
In non zero sum games it is not permissible.
That is my tentative conclusion.
I am of the view that is best to see human lives and conduct on this planet these days as being a non zero sum situation.
To paraphrase Buckminister Fuller - we ought to think that
"this is not a you OR me world, but rather a you AND me world."
We ought to arrange our affairs that our gains are not at the expense of others.
Rather our gains should benefit not only ourselves but others as well.
Still, we will often find ourselves in zero sum game situations.
The most dramatic of these situations is War.
In the Art of War - an enduring classic from Sun Tzu written 2500 years ago - it is said
"That all war is based on deception".
While we may try to justify any participation in a war as not only for our own benefit, but the benefit of humankind (say to stop an evil ruler from pursuing an evil path), in the limited context of the fight between two factions - it is a zero sum game. One wins at the expense of the other side's loss.
Of course most team sport and recreational games will be most often seen in a zero sum perspective.
One team wins, the other team loses. The fruits go to the winners.
But what about other contests that are commonplace in our experience.
Consider election campaigns - political or otherwise.
Or how about the competitive world of business - where only one individual or company will get the 'sale' and the other will be shut out.
Surely these are in some respects anyway, zero sum games.
So the next question becomes, in these situations, - political contests, or business contests, is deception permissible, or not.
I am leaning to the response that deception is indeed permitted in these situations.
And if that is an acceptable response, then how should that inform what we say to youth?
For now, I close content to have introduced the topic, and in a crude way set out my own preliminary views.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
This makes Sense?
Earlier this weekend I purchased a new knife.
That is a pleasurable experience.
It's a tool. One that could get a fair bit of use. Though I do have 6 other knives (just in the kitchen come to think on it) that I keep in circulation, and sharpened, and use. Now I have 7.
The new one is a clever. A Butcher's Cleaver the packaging proclaimed.
Plenty of substance and heft.
A classic profile and silhouette, and a nicely ground edge.
The handle at first glance is a bit too modern.
It has a synthetic ( that is man made material) handle in a tolerable grey blue colour pattern.
The blue, mostly to the centre of the handle face, has some protruding dimples to facilitate grip, which probably will help.
Other good news: it takes a keen edge.
I sharpened it a little with a small tool, and the result was more than satisfactory.
So overall I am pleased with the exercise of the acquisition, and early use.
But this materialism comes at a cost, or price.
What cost?
Well there is the interesting point.
Two bucks. Plus the guv vigorish at 15 points.
And candidly, that don't make too much sense.
The two buck price I mean.
It hardly seems enough.
How do they ( all the theys) do it ??
The sheer number of people directly involved in the creation and sale of the product,
including those that made or sourced the materials, and transported them, and packed them and shipped them, and stored them, and marketed them, and cashed you out -
wow, that's a lot of folk.
Then think of the transportation angle - how far all of the materials traveled to end up at one spot eventually represented by the location of the final product at point of sale.
Petroleum compounds from subterranean depths, to refineries, and plastic makers, and maybe latex from rubber trees, and then the rocks also from deep, to smelters and refineries, and steel makers, and on and on. Then pause.
And reflect on the fact that the assembly took place half a world away.The Middle Kingdom as they call themselves:China.
Then they ship it to a dollar store in Sudbury.
And then I take it to its new home.
That is a pleasurable experience.
It's a tool. One that could get a fair bit of use. Though I do have 6 other knives (just in the kitchen come to think on it) that I keep in circulation, and sharpened, and use. Now I have 7.
The new one is a clever. A Butcher's Cleaver the packaging proclaimed.
Plenty of substance and heft.
A classic profile and silhouette, and a nicely ground edge.
The handle at first glance is a bit too modern.
It has a synthetic ( that is man made material) handle in a tolerable grey blue colour pattern.
The blue, mostly to the centre of the handle face, has some protruding dimples to facilitate grip, which probably will help.
Other good news: it takes a keen edge.
I sharpened it a little with a small tool, and the result was more than satisfactory.
So overall I am pleased with the exercise of the acquisition, and early use.
But this materialism comes at a cost, or price.
What cost?
Well there is the interesting point.
Two bucks. Plus the guv vigorish at 15 points.
And candidly, that don't make too much sense.
The two buck price I mean.
It hardly seems enough.
How do they ( all the theys) do it ??
The sheer number of people directly involved in the creation and sale of the product,
including those that made or sourced the materials, and transported them, and packed them and shipped them, and stored them, and marketed them, and cashed you out -
wow, that's a lot of folk.
Then think of the transportation angle - how far all of the materials traveled to end up at one spot eventually represented by the location of the final product at point of sale.
Petroleum compounds from subterranean depths, to refineries, and plastic makers, and maybe latex from rubber trees, and then the rocks also from deep, to smelters and refineries, and steel makers, and on and on. Then pause.
And reflect on the fact that the assembly took place half a world away.The Middle Kingdom as they call themselves:China.
Then they ship it to a dollar store in Sudbury.
And then I take it to its new home.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Public Service Bonanza - Comments on USA situation
From the online Reason e-zine site, this intriguing article chronicles some amazing stories of the growth and wealth of the American public service sector.
The flavour of the piece can be gleaned from the its concluding paragraph, reprinted here...
"It’s a two-tier system in which the rulers are making steady gains at the expense of the ruled. The predictable results: Higher taxes, eroded public services, unsustainable levels of debt, and massive roadblocks to reforming even the poorest performing agencies and school systems. If this system is left to grow unchecked, we will end up with a pale imitation of the free society envisioned by the Founders."
To access the full article click on Class War...
The flavour of the piece can be gleaned from the its concluding paragraph, reprinted here...
"It’s a two-tier system in which the rulers are making steady gains at the expense of the ruled. The predictable results: Higher taxes, eroded public services, unsustainable levels of debt, and massive roadblocks to reforming even the poorest performing agencies and school systems. If this system is left to grow unchecked, we will end up with a pale imitation of the free society envisioned by the Founders."
To access the full article click on Class War...
Class War
How public servants became our masters
by Steven Greenhut
Friday, February 19, 2010
Crazy Business - Legal costs for bank financing
The nub of this piece is the perverse amount of paper and the attendant legal costs involved for owners of small businesses to borrow modest amounts from banks. In a recent file involving a $50,000. loan and a $30,000 line of credit, the bank required over 40 documents to be generated, in triplicate of course, with legal costs of approximately $5,000.
Bogus Promotion - from what should be a trusted source
While waiting for the doc in a clinic examination room I stare idly at the glossy poster directly across from my perch on the examination table. It's got something to do with antibiotics and resistance. The punch line in big letters exclaims: " Inappropriate use of antibiotics can lead to resistance".
And it occurs to me that while that caption may be true, it is quite misleading. And that's sad.
And it occurs to me that while that caption may be true, it is quite misleading. And that's sad.
Why are we Northerners ?
I'm a Northerner. Most of the people I know are Northerners.What I am having trouble with is the question - why are we Northerners?
To put a little flesh on this question, it occurs to me that it might be preferable to be a Southerner. If indeed it is preferable to be a Southerner, why do we persist in being Northerners.
To put a little flesh on this question, it occurs to me that it might be preferable to be a Southerner. If indeed it is preferable to be a Southerner, why do we persist in being Northerners.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Myth Busting - driving while impaired ain't no epidemic
Let's start with a quiz. During the holiday season in 2009 police from nearby communities stopped over 40,000 drivers as part of a program to crack down and expose drinking drivers. Your question: How many drivers got charged with breaking the drinking and driving laws? Answer to follow.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Recommending an Important Read
Whole Earth Discipline: an Ecopragmatist Manifesto - 2009, composed by Stewart Brand of Whole Earth catalog fame.
This recently published book is important. It will make a difference because it will be read and acted upon by people able to influence social policy - in your community and around the world.
It is felicitously a good read. And easy to read. And chock-a-block full of neato factoids that hold attention for concentration challenged readers.
This recently published book is important. It will make a difference because it will be read and acted upon by people able to influence social policy - in your community and around the world.
It is felicitously a good read. And easy to read. And chock-a-block full of neato factoids that hold attention for concentration challenged readers.
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