In Partnership with the Client

For the future, I think we will continue to see corporate consolidation. As long as the antitrust rules remain as relaxed as they have been, we’re going to continue to see it – not just here, but internationally, with increasing consolidation of large multinational companies. I have concerns about that on a number of levels. [...]

Trends in business are inevitable. As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, businesses and industries will experience ups and downs. While it is impossible to predict these trends with certainty, being able to recognize where we are in a particular cycle is highly important. A significant part of my practice in recent years has [...]

I am a firm believer in the old adage “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” The most successful companies, and frankly the most successful people, are those willing to take risks. It’s important to have a hedge, though. In other words, while it’s okay to be aggressive and enter into speculative transactions, it’s only okay if you [...]

In preparing for negotiations, before I make that conference call or participate in an all-hands meeting, I spend a lot of time learning about my client’s objectives, if I don’t fully understand them already from past projects. I also do my homework on the other parties. What are their backgrounds? What are the personalities of [...]

Dedication to clients is the key. You need to have the mindset that what you do is not just a 9-to-5 job: It is your career and it defines you professionally. It’s relationships with clients – the way clients feel about you and how you feel about them – that really matters. In my view, [...]

Another aspect of being a good business lawyer is knowing when and how to match two clients, or one client with a third-party, in a way that results in something good for them, even if there’s nothing foreseeable in it for me. That happens all the time. I have a company that’s looking for money, [...]

Being a successful corporate lawyer is more than being a capable legal technician or someone who documents a company’s transactions. It’s more than understanding a set of laws and regulations that govern a client’s business. In my experience, being a successful corporate attorney must be far more collaborative than that. Although my involvement with clients [...]