Israeli companies today, more than ever, becoming aware of the drastic escalation in the amount of worldwide legislation and regulations that directly affect their income, along with increased penalties for infractions and third party claims

Executives are beginning to understand that this expansion of legal influence in their business domain has also created vast opportunities to create economic value. In order to seize the vast potential, each company must craft its own unique legal strategy and to use the law to establish both risk management and value creation

The Risky Present

Many executives consciously choose to disregard the legal consequences of their actions in the – oh – so common belief that it is more important to achieve short term objectives than to worry about the future legal consequences later

This uncommon way of doing business might be appropriate in niche areas, but in areas where governmental involvement is increasing, this can be a highly perilous strategy, especially when audits and enforcement actions are on the rise resulting in costly outcomes

The Safe Future

The creation of strategic opportunities by using the law usually involves various areas of a company’s operations. Accordingly, the people in charge of shaping the business activity must be more involved with the lawyers on a strategic business level, and the lawyers need to be more appreciative and engaged in making the law work for the interests of the business folks. This inherent communication is crucial for evaluating and crafting a suitable legal strategy

Proactive risk management creates financial value for a company, by reducing the cost of doing business and preventing the waste of valuable management resources

One example is to establish and implement company policies and processes that will decrease the number of claims brought against a company. This is done by actively analyzing why claims are made and by whom, a sort of vise-versa process of analyzing the potential claimer as opposed to analyzing who the target market of the product is

Quite often, substantial savings can be achieved by changing internal company accountabilities and the manner in which these matters are handled

Thinking Outside the Box

Proactive enforcement of legal rights is another method where the law can be used to achieve a competitive advantage. This is one activity where the lawyers and the business folks are required to holistically together since actions of this nature can affect different aspects of the business

Whether it is the enforcement of contractual obligations, the assertion of patent rights against alleged infringers, patent licensing, or aggressively defending lawsuits, companies can create competitive advantages and substantial income in many areas

Conclusion

Every company operates in a different environment and there is no one true path to find the right legal strategy. By performing an in-depth legal strategy analysis, a company can assess the vast potential for cost savings and revenue creation within its organization

By doing so the company can create a concrete program with achievable goals designed to increase its bottom line and competitive abilities in the growing globalized market

Want to learn more about how to structure and design a legal strategy that will give your company the competitive edge? Contact us (details below) to set a free introduction meeting

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* Adv. William Weisel heads the division of Strategy & Consulting for Legal Departments and Companies at Robus

* William served as GC and member of senior management of four publicly-traded, multinational, hi-tech companies over the past two decades, and he is a lecturer at the Haifa University Graduate School of Management and teaches a course entitled – Business and Law Convergence