When business legal spending starts spiraling out of control it’s hard to know what to do next. Learn how your business can bring its legal spending in line with its budget and its business goals. 

Register today for the complimentary teleseminar How to Control Outside Legal Spending, on June 16, 2010 at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific when The No Nonsense Lawyer™ , Hanna Hasl-Kelchner interviews expert Rob Thomas, Vice President, Strategic Development for Serengeti Law. 

Who should attend:

•           Entrepreneurs and business owners with up to 80 employees

•           CFOs and other finance professionals interested in containing legal costs

•           Attorneys responsible for outside counsel spending.   

Lawsuits can take on a life of their own and devour precious time and resources.  It can leave you feeling frustrated, helpless and financially drained.  That’s why you’ll want to learn:

• How to align budgets with project management;
• How to find law firms that offer big city quality at down home prices;
• How defining the rules of engagement leads to better results, and
• The most common mistakes clients make in dealing with outside lawyers that can drive up costs, plus much more. 

Register by visiting askthenononsenselawyer.com and submit your single most important question about how to control outside legal spending to Hanna for her to ask Rob Thomas during their live teleseminar on June 16^th.

Rob Thomas knows legal project management inside and out.  He is the architect of Serengeti’s online matter management/e-billing system, a system that has become the most widely used and highest rated legal platform in the world.  It is currently being used by more than 100,000 legal professionals in 180 countries to efficiently track legal spending, documents, budgets, progress, and results.

More than a technology expert, Rob is also a lawyer who before joining Serengeti had more than twenty years of diverse experiences as a practicing attorney.  He worked on complex litigation and corporate finance transactions for the largest commercial law firm in Seattle.  He served as managing partner of the firm, and coordinated national projects involving teams of both in-house and outside counsel. 

Rob is also the author of Serengeti’s Outside Counsel Survey – a project that is done in conjunction with the Association of Corporate Counsel and provides an inside look at the latest trends in-house professionals use for managing work with their outside counsel.

What this means for business owners and entrepreneurs is that you’ll get a rare peek under the hood of how lawyers manage their own and you’ll develop more confidence about what you too can ask for when negotiating with firms to keep your legal costs under control too.

Register today at askthenononsenselawyer.com.

Sometimes it just doesn’t seem fair. 

Take the situation Michael Steadman found himself in.  He bought a clock on eBay for $44.  When he got it in the mail it was in three pieces that according to him didn’t fit together or even appeared to be the same model.  He got a refund, but then did what a lot of folks are doing these days on the Internet.  He left his opinion on the seller’s eBay page.  Unfortunately for the seller, it was negative feedback.

More specifically, Michael said “Bad seller; he has the ethics of a used car salesman.”

Well, it turns out that the seller was a lawyer who was none too happy about having his perfect customer approval rating dinged.  So what do you think he did?  That’s right, he sued. 

Michael Steadman’s comment was the “smoking gun” document that formed the basis of a $15,000 defamation claim.  Even if Michael “wins” the suit, he’s already spent $7,000 defending himself and the nightmare is not over yet.  That’s the problem with the economics of justice.  Even if you’re right, it can be expensive to prove.

It reminds me of the story some friends told me over dinner the other night.  Seems their adult son had invented a new sports drink favored by bodybuilder.  His name of choice for the product had a “slight” resemblance to the trademarked name of a popular beverage made by a well known manufacturer who had billions of dollars in marketing expenses invested in it.  When he received a letter from Big Food requesting that he cease and desist use of the name, he did.  He simply didn’t have the money to fight them.

In the sports drink example the company’s cease and desist letter served as a warning shot.  It gave the inventor an opportunity to see the error of his ways and change course before anyone got hurt.  I’m not sure Michael had that opportunity with his disgruntled eBay seller.

You never know how aggressive someone is going to be.  That’s why it makes sense to ramp up your legal literacy.  It improves your decision making and lets you pick your fights instead of getting picked for a fight that is expensive to win or back out of.  Legal literacy can save you money and a lot of emotional wear and tear.

Last week I wrote an article for my AllBusiness.com Business Law blog titled “How you frame the legal issue matters.”  Yesterday, I read how Joe Halderman, the TV producer who allegedly tried to extort money from David Letterman is now claiming the alleged shake down was really offering Letterman the right of first refusal to the future screen play, not blackmail.  As a result, defense counsel is claiming the case should be dismissed because it was a commercial transaction, not a crime.

It just goes to show you how there are as many sides to a story as there are people involved with it.

The court is expected to rule in January.  What do you think? Crime or deal making?

Copyright © 2009 Corporate M.O., LLC