For these reasons, among others, clients can greatly benefit from having an attorney who already does or can quickly understand their business. The attorney must have a firm understanding of competitive and industry analysis, organizational management, and the close connection between business strategy and legal strategy. The business lawyer should possess a firm grasp of the client’s business and industry, its strategy, and management practices. In an earlier post titled Why Business People Get Frustrated With Lawyers, I offer some explanations for the disconnect between business people and lawyers.

In my experience, startups often need strategy advice. For instance, I have personally found that many cleantech entrepreneurs come from a technical background and understand that they need good strategy advice. Emerging companies often hire, with the blessing of their investors and boards, strategy advisors of various types. However, strategy advisors lack knowledge about the legal implications of strategic decisions. Business strategy and legal advice results in wasted time and money. An integrated approach to business and law gives clients confidence that your advice is relevant and contextually informed, not just legally competent. This approach therefore provides a way to add value to clients.

I will elaborate on these issues in future posts.