legal complexity: the problem with lawyers (or is something else going on?)
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Charlie Wunsch, General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary for Sprint, and John Parker, Vice President of Epiq Systems, discussed lawyers and complexity during a presentation at the 2014 Chief Legal Officer Leadership Forum in Chicago on Sept. 17. In the presentation, Wunsch pointed out lawyers and customers often believe general counsels make things more complex, but general counsels who understand the sources of problems can eliminate any confusion. According to Wunsch, the ability to cope legally with various issues is slipping away. However, he noted complexity cannot overwhelm legal professionals if they understand all of a problem’s components. Wunsch pointed out complexity can drive up an organization’s costs, but general counsels can learn about myriad issues to help an organization better manage its resources: “As a general counsel, one of the things that I emphasize to my team is that they can’t know everything, but they need to learn a lot about most things if they can. In particular, they have to be able to spot issues in areas outside their expertise, and that’s the area that I’m struggling with a lot in terms of trying to get folks to be able to identify those issues.” Understanding the risk tolerance of clients to complexity also is vital for general counsels, Wunsch said. If a general counsel educates clients, Wunch noted, he or she can minimize risk and eliminate complexity: “We have to educate our clients. We’ve got to help our clients better understand what it is exactly we’re doing as lawyers and why the world requires complex solutions sometimes. I think we do a pretty poor job on that lots of times, and that’s why our clients get frustrated.” - See more at: http://www.argylejournal.com/general-counsel/2014-chief-legal-officer-leadership-forum-charlie-wunsch-general-counsel-senior-vice-president-corporate-secretary-sprint-and-john-parker-vice-president-epiq-systems/#sthash.K38k0E1c.dpufTRANSCRIPT
Legal Complexity: The Problem with Lawyers (or is something else going on?)
Charlie WunschSprint
Sound Familiar?
“lawyers make things complicated”
“lawyers don’t do simple”
“we had a simple idea until the lawyers got involved”
Source:Common Law
Source: Legislation
January 1st 2010 saw 40,627 new laws on the books in the USA and its overseas territories and protectorates.
Source: Technology
800 Patents
Source: Government and Business Institutions
Source: History
Source: More of something
Internet 2010:Brighter the point, the more connections
Complexity
More Items To Handle
Higher total cost
Limits on full understanding
of item
More Mistakes
More time spent
Who connects
all the pieces?
Consequences of Complexity
Complexity
specialization
ExpertiseIn X area
Higher cost than generalist
LimitedScope of Expert
Quick Answer
Need more
experts
More time spent
Who connects
all the pieces?
Consequences of Complexity
You can't learn everything you need to know legally.John Irving
Coping: Educate Client on Legal Realities
BUT, Lawyers can learn what they can . . .
. . . AND, educate clients on key items.
Antitrust
SEC Rule FD
Contracts
FCPA
Distribution
Advertising
Labor Law
Trademark
Low Risk
Coping: Understand Client’s Risk Tolerance
No Risk
Lawyers are here,
while Clients are here
FormsForms
Coping: Think Ahead
Play books
Contingency Plans
BizSolutions
LegalSolutions
Where lawyers should be thinking
Coping: Focus on realistic solutions
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Coping: Concise Drafting
Where are the “Whereas” clauses? Where is the passive voice? Is this legal?
It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood. James Madison