Straight Line Legal

Happy Star Wars day! 🚀💫

ℹ To mark the occasion I'm doing a themed post - Why Darth Vader needs a good business lawyer. Bear with me...

1. He has terrible employment practices

Darth Vader doesn't take much s**t from his staff, but we've learned from studies time and again that force choking people into submission is not a good leadership style. And of course it's in breach of almost every employment law.

A good business lawyer would have educated Vader and put in place clear HR procedures and policies to keep employees happy and minimise the risk of force-related law suits.

2. He uses dodgy contractors

We all know about the Death Star's thermal exhaust vulnerability which led to its destruction. We also now know that it was a rebel sympathiser who introduced the design flaw (Galen Erso) during construction.

A good lawyer would have helped Vader to vet his contractors thoroughly and put in place clear work / design standards, checks, and sign-offs. He could have also considered specialist planet-destroying weapon insurance, covering the risk of major design failures.

3. He can't negotiate

Everyone remembers when Vader tried to convince Luke Skywalker to join the dark side. He was so bad at persuasion that Skywalker literally chose death over accepting Vader's proposal. Not an ideal outcome.

A good lawyer would have trained Vader in effective dispute resolution and negotiation skills. He could have learned to uncover Luke’s interests rather than focus only on positional bargaining.

Maybe the saga would have ended differently...

There are probably loads more but I'm going on holiday on Monday and don't have time to rewatch everything (as much as I'd love to!).

❓ Any more reasons why Vader could have done with some good legal counsel?

As always, puns very much welcome!

ℹ️Knowing the unknown unknowns...

When it comes to better decision making in your business, the former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, probably isn't the person you'd look to for advice. But he made some wise observations!

💭 Basically, he broke information needed to make good decisions into three factors, or categories:

1. Known knowns - things we know that we know. Easy stuff.

2. Known unknowns - things we know that we don't know. Maybe how quantum mechanics works? (if you do, well done!).

3. Unknown unknowns - things we don't know that we don't know. Read it again and let it sink in...

When it comes to business legals, you'll probably encounter all three but it's likely to be the unknown unknowns that will shaft you.

❓E.g. you might know GDPR places obligations on businesses but accept you don't know enough. You can ask for help with GDPR or get more information yourself. But what about PECR, which applies to direct marketing. Did you know about that? (Again, well done if so!).

Frankly I have literally hundreds of examples where businesses have dropped the ball because a mandatory legal requirement simply wasn't in their awareness.

The great thing is this - what is an unknown unknown to a business owner will likely be a known known to a lawyer. It really is a minefield but lawyers are able to 'issue spot' so easily because we know exactly what to look out for. It's our job!

💡I offer businesses a great place to start with SLL's legal audits. They deliver a high level legal roadmap for new and developing businesses, so you can tick off the essential legal bits as you go.

Get in touch if you want to know more 📞

And remember, you don't know what you don't know!

📢 For those of you on LinkedIn, tomorrow is our first episode of 'Blokes With Beards Talking Business' 🧔‍♂️💼 ⚖️ 💰📊

❓What is it?

It's basically what it says on the tin - it's me, Chris Thompson, and Alan Broome talking all things business.

It's a LinkedIn Live event where you can ask us anything about running your business and we'll answer it. Or at least try to....

❓Who are we?

- Me: a business lawyer
- Chris: an IFA
- Alan: an accountant

(Yes I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke...)

Having experts from multiple professional fields means we're able to cover lots of different issues that regularly crop up for businesses.

We are also planning to have guests from time to time.

❓Who is it for?

It's for anyone who has a question on a legal/accounting/financial/general issue concerning their business and needs some guidance.

You can literally ask us anything! (within reason..) 💭

❓When is it?

The first session will be tomorrow (28th March) at midday. And the plan is to do it every week on a Thursday lunchtime for the foreseeable.

The first session will be 45 minutes but it may be extended or shortened in the future, depending on how much we get through (and subject to people actually turning up...).

❓How much is it to attend?

It's completely free!! 🥳 Yes, we are giving you access to a tonne of experience and knowledge for free. No catch.

❓How do we sign up?

We have created an event on LinkedIn - if you want to come along, drop me a message and I'll send you the info!

The format will be very simple: tell us you're coming, and then turn up and ask your question(s)👍

We are hoping to have a feature for people to submit anonymous questions in advance too.

Hopefully I'll see some of you there tomorrow! Any questions, drop me a line 👍