Tanya S Osensky
What kind of business lawyer is best for your company?
There are two types of business lawyers: litigators and corporate lawyers.
Litigators spend their time arguing and defending lawsuits. Corporate lawyers work outside the courtroom, on things that usually involve contracts.
Some lawyers do both, but these two areas require very different skill sets. For a lawsuit, being competitive and adversarial works best. For business transactions, being good at explaining issues and a win-win approach is needed.
Every business needs a corporate lawyer, one who understands the business, can spot risks and steer the business around them. As a corporate lawyer, I’m the quarterback of my client’s legal team. I’ve drafted and negotiated just about every type of business contract.
For help with routine legal matters, a business might consider both litigators and corporate lawyers, but a corporate lawyer would be the best fit. What traits do you think make a good business lawyer?