“Aaaaagh!”
Being responsible for making legally based decisions can be very daunting for anyone who is not a lawyer. The fear of ‘have I missed something’, the frustration of too much detail, the worry of ‘I don’t know what I don’t know’ are all too familiar with those business owners and senior executives who are ultimately responsible within the business for the contracts getting closed.
The pressure of the buck stopping with you is often compounded by the burden of being the business “bottleneck” between lawyers, other departments, and the Board to get the contract over the line.
Even if you have lawyer support, that means another call, something else to read, more jargon and a budget to manage.
This is often exacerbated by the assumption that contracts will always be a nightmare to deal with because it’s not possible to properly deal with contracts because only lawyers can!
It doesn’t have to be this way…
Businesses can deal with contracts without being beholden to lawyers! Let me explain why:
It is simply not the case that you have to be a lawyer to ensure you have a contract in place that protects your business. It is true that for some contracts, businesses engage lawyer support, but most large businesses have systems in place (usually designed by lawyers!) that allow pre-dominantly non lawyers to handle and negotiate contracts that protect the business. In large businesses, contracts are treated like any other aspect of the business, where the principles of people, process and paperwork are applied. In-house lawyers are just another support function, but because they are an expensive resource, there are less of them. Processes are set up to make sure their time is spent wisely, hence the systems are built around filtering what gets through to the lawyers whilst still protecting the business.
For further information, contact Tracey on 01202 729444 or e-mail tracey@law-point.co.uk.
