There is always a price to clients for going to the law department for advice and counsel

Any businessperson who contemplates checking with the law department knows there is a price to pay. The cost is at the least additional calls, meetings or e-mails, some delay, and possibly serious obstacles. There’s no way around this for law departments; it is always, to some degree, an aggravation to run something by the law department.

Obviously, the benefit to the business executive is avoidance or reduction of risk, possibly business ideas and perspectives, and perhaps compliance with a corporate mandate to obtain legal’s approval. But every time they run something by the law department, executives feel they pay the piper. There’s obviously an upward limit on client satisfaction.