Here’s one way; shoot ’em only with a camera:
(Snapped through the window of the Wired GC offices with one of these.)
But is it the GC who is sometimes the endangered species?
Archives for December 2006
A Radical Approach to Legal Cost Control
All GCs are under pressure to control costs. One in Australia is pursuing a novel approach.
Do nothing.
According to press reports, Food service company Coles Group is taking out a meat cleaver:
But charged with cutting legal costs by 45 per cent over the next two years, Coles general counsel Richard Dammery has proposed that lawyers no longer be included in the signing-off process for new contracts unless they are specifically invited to by the business.
He also wants to eliminate all legal checks on contracts of less than $100,000.
Linking legal department approval to contracts based upon dollar amount is not news. Most have forms that can be used within certain guidelines.
What is a bit more unnerving here is some of the potential management latitude involved:
Coles insiders believe Mr Dammery’s push for a dynamic legal structure, which gives managers discretion over whether to engage lawyers on contractual matters, reduces accountability and leaves the retailer exposed to potential litigation for anti-competitive behaviour and breaches of the Trade Practices Act.
Any experienced GC or corporate counsel knows that you can’t always let the client frame the legal issue. Or whether the matter needs legal input in the first place.
Someone once said if you think preventative law is expensive, try litigation.
There are some initiatives under way to take a lower cost approach to contract approval and processing. We’ll cover some of them next year.
But until then, consider something like this for that favorite GC on your Christmas list:
Happy Birthday to GC
The Wired GC is celebrating today…
Two years flies by when you’re having fun; thanks to all who read, cite, syndicate and (especially) respond. And a big hug to Wife of Wired GC, for all the support and proofreading.
Starting today we go into a more festive mode, with a few new items between now and the New Year. (I haven’t forgotten about Friday’s promise to post about a GC’s options when responding to higher billing rates; but the subject seems to lack the requisite cheer, so it can wait a bit.)
All the best this holiday season; I hope you find your stocking full, your email in-box empty and your targets already met.
And in January 2007, the Wired GC will take off the mask. It’s beginning to itch and the suit is a bear in the summer…
HP: The GC Takes One For the Team
Being a GC can be a great job. And as ex-HP GC Ann Baskins has learned, at times it’s an extremely difficult one.
Sue Reisinger of Corporate Counsel magazine gives a very close look at the twists and turns Ms. Baskins’ role in the director leak saga. The entire article is worth a close reading.
Beginning like the first page of a novel by Dickens, Ms. Reisinger lets us know quickly who is going to take a large part of the blame:
While Baskins sat quietly, former HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and CEO Mark Hurd told the committee that Baskins was to blame for the mess. They said that she had given them bad legal advice, and that she knew about and permitted the use of “pretexting” — using false pretenses to obtain personal information about others. Even Baskins’ longtime friend and HP’s outside counsel, Larry Sonsini of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, told Congress: “I think the record has become quite clear that who was in charge [of the spying] was the HP internal legal department. They took the responsibility on, rightly or wrongly.”
So much for teamwork, which is tough to expect when you have to go through this:
(Credit: Chuck Kennedy/MCT)
A reaction from a quoted-but-anonymous GC caught my eye:
One GC who has overseen investigations for his Fortune 500 media company says that beyond the legal and the ethical issues, Baskins failed to ask the crucial question: “How will all this affect the company if it shows up on page one of The New York Times?”
Bingo. That’s a line I’ve used in every compliance training I’ve ever performed. (Note: just insert name of local paper; the Times doesn’t resonate everywhere west of the Hudson.)
At the hearing, Congress couldn’t resist the opportunity to manufacture sound bites, either. Why don’t they spend more time on issues that are truly in the national interest? Like steroids in baseball?
In fact, Congress is engaged in some pretexting itself; CEO Mark Hurd still find himself under scrutiny for stock sales at the time things were starting to unravel.
As the position of GC becomes more high-profile, risks can accompany rewards. Prof. Peter Henning has written recently about some of these GC-specific risks.
(Update: Or a GC can get thrown under the train; Amtrak has fired five and appointed a new GC.)
Sun’s GC on Reg FD and the SEC
Sun general counsel Mike Dillon extends his leadership position on the web and corporate disclosure in Business Week online.
Mr. Dillon, working with Sun’s CEO-blogger Jonathan Schwartz, were first-movers behind an attempt to again more flexibility under Reg FD from the SEC for corporate disclosures via the web. In his words,
As Sun’s general counsel and corporate secretary, I strongly support this view—and beyond just executive blogging and investor transparency. Openness and transparency are critical to conducting business in today’s global marketplace. Markets are conversations. Openness and authenticity are vital factors in the sales cycle and in bringing products to market.
Mr. Dillon’s original post on the subject is here, and Mr. Schwartz’s is here (which has the original letter to SEC Chairman Cox).
More CEO and GC bloggers will help; a tip of the Wired GC cap to Sun. And this site could handle increased readership if I could get a beta version of one of these things in my backyard:
