Business Assessment | Contract Review and Improvement
We: (1) Learn Your Business; (2) Improve Your Contracts; (3) Resolve Problems.
Step 1: We learn your business by your contracts. We improve your contracts if needed, and include agreed mediation and mandatory arbitration clauses. We continue to learn your business and your contracts over time. We modify or adjust your contracts to respond to problems or business developments. We are always on-call. We don’t charge hourly (it’s undignified). With us on your side, at our pricing, you can afford to pursue or defend disputes you might not otherwise afford, and you can assert positions you might not otherwise assert because of expense. Our goal is to leverage the economics of dispute resolution, and to place you on the better side of attrition wars, which is what conflict resolution often is.
Step 2: When problems arise, you call us. We listen. Is the problem resolvable? Most are. We can ghost write letters, write them directly, or speak with your clients or customers. We help you resolve problems without mediation or arbitration.
Step 3: If necessary we commence a 2-Hour Online Mediation.
Step 4: Failing mediation, we commence an arbitration under contractually agreed rules and we submit the matter in writing only, for resolution.
CONTROLLED COSTS: Step 1: One-time business assessment fee. Steps 2 – 4: “On-call” monthly fee. Must we be your advocates when problems arise? No. Use anyone. Must you pay monthly? Only if you want us on-call, any time, to continue learning your business, and to resolve as many problems or disputes as you may have.
Must a lawyer represent your business in a mediation? NO. In an arbitration: it depends on governing law and how the arbitration clauses is drafted; but mostly, NO.
Will your existing lawyer or law firm do this for you at similar cost? Maybe. If “yes,” that’s awesome. We’re happy if we gave you a better way to work with your existing lawyer or law firm.
Thinking about rights
Lawyers aren’t the only people who think about rights.
Business people think about rights all day long. Sometimes they just don’t know it; because as they should, business people think about rights in a different way: how to monetize their rights and protect profits and your company’s future.
Lawyers think about rights you do have, rights you want or should have; rights you can and can’t have or get or give to others, and what you can and can’t do with other’s people’s rights, and why.
When you work with us, we blend our disciplines to optimize your rights by ensuring your contracts best suit your business to make and protect profits, growth and the future.
Warranty process, claims and defenses
Has a customer ever claimed the goods arrived damaged, but you know that’s not true? Has a customer ever misused a product and blamed you? And then refused to follow your warranty process stated in your contract?
We’ll help you deal with it.
Contract analysis and improvement
Most businesses have a core group of contracts they use daily: sales agreements, purchase agreements, service contracts, futures contracts, option contracts, supply contracts, insurance policies (yes, those are contracts, too), etc. It’s almost endless.
The best contracts can always improve, and are modified or altered to adjust from experience, to learn from mistakes, and sometimes just to incorporate new ideas or methods to address new and different ways of doing business.
We feel we can be the best advocates if we understand your contracts, because we have analyzed them and helped to make them excellent.
We do not believe we should modify your contracts on principle. They may be superb. However, we feel our relationship should begin with a studied approach to understanding your business by understanding your contracts.
Collections
Sometimes, people just owe you money and won’t pay. We’ll get it for you, even if we must commence an arbitration. Arbitration awards are confirmable in court so they become judgments, just as if there had been a prior trial or court ruling.
Breach of contract
Too many people in business sign contracts without reading them. In the press of buying, selling and making a profit, time is of the essence and we make assumptions about what contracts say or mean. We take the boiler plate for granted as “standard verbiage,” when often the Devil in those details. And we put the contract ‘“in the drawer,” assuming both parties understand the contract the same way, and that both parties will abide by its terms.
Then, something happens. A part breaks, or was defective – maybe. A delivery is late. The cascade of consequences begins. The claims start. Fingers point. And where is the contract? In the drawer.
Many breaches occur without intent, but intent doesn’t matter when there is a breach and damages ensue. We are committed to educating you about what your contracts say and mean, and protecting you from breaching contracts that you sign, and protecting you when others breach your contracts.
You can keep the contracts in the drawer. We keep them on our desk, front and center.
Social media abuse and protection
Social media abuse is 21st Century commercial terrorism. We have developed contractual provisions intended to thwart online attacks on your business, which provisions impose steep financial penalties on offenders. Provisions like this beat the pants off suing for defamation, where all you do is put yourself on trial.
