Comments on: Should your Startup Lawyer also be a Director?

By: Thinking Strategically

Thinking Strategically — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:46:57 +0000

You make some great points, but there is one aspect of this that I think you may be overlooking which is that companies often have in house counsel and external counsel that serve very different roles for important reasons. An in house counsel contributes more to legal strategy and an external counsel contributes to legal execution. A lawyer serving as an advisor and board member to a company has the potential to add value. Admittedly, not every company needs to be extremely mindful of legal strategy outside of CYA but the point here is that ha company might want to have a laywer wrapped up in business operations vs. an MBA type for the same sort of reasons that a company would want to have someone with a strong sales management background. Great post here and otherwise, I’ve enjoyed reading your blog.

By: Ethos Business Law » Blog Archive » Do I Really Need a Board of Directors

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:19:23 +0000

[...] Often times, a natural instinct is to add your friends and family or your corporate attorney. Here is an interesting post on why not to add the company’s attorney. I tend to agree that it is [...]

By: Ryan Roberts

Ryan Roberts — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:46:48 +0000

@ Berislav – While the angel investment might increase the reasons your startup lawyer can/should/desires to be on the board, I don’t think that reduces the potential conflicts your lawyer might face. In fact, it actually increases the potential conflicts.

@ Apollo – I think it’s possible, just rare. I think the problem is business decisions require swift, decisive thinking and lawyers typically want to sit around and analyze every angle 100 times over before making a decision. I agree on the MBA point–I have an MA in economics and it doesn’t qualify me to make predictions about the economy, etc.

By: Colleen Post

Colleen Post — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:19:35 +0000

Ryan,

Thank you for writing about this. So many entrepreneurs don’t stop to think strategically about their board make up. Most are just so excited to have board members. Great advice!!

Colleen Post

By: Apolinaras "Apollo" Sinkevicius | LeanStartups.com

Apolinaras "Apollo" Sinkevicius | LeanStartups.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:46:36 +0000

Another thing to think about, and please don’t shoot the messenger, is something my friend, an experienced lawyer, once said to me once: “Good lawyer and good business person are not possible in one person. Lawyers are taught and do think differently than business people. Even an MBA can’t cure lawyer-think. If they will try to convince you otherwise, they are full of it!”.
I worked in a law firm and I can attest to that. Every attorney who claimed their MBA made them business savvy was absolutely delusional. As an experienced business person I could not believe some of the stuff coming out of their mouths.

Good attorneys have their very deserved place as advisors in legal matters and that is it. If I want someone to cut my hair, I go to a barber, not my accountant.

By: Berislav Lopac

Berislav Lopac — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:36:35 +0000

What if the lawyer is also an (say, angel) investor?