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June 18th! Has it really been two whole weeks since my last post? Er, well, one year and two weeks to be exact. That’s a serious case of writer’s block… We can blame that on ramping up at the new job, some time consuming responsibilities with my church group, some new responsibilities with the UVU Alumni Association, and me just liking to spend the little free time that is left over with my family. However, the kids are in bed, my wife is in the other room painting, and I decided that there was no time like the present to try and make an effort to jump back in the saddle.

I have read/am reading some very interesting books over the last year. I finished Atlas Shrugged, which just blows your mind these days if you chase each reading session of the book with a session of the national news. Scary in its accuracy. I’ll try to put together a post on the book later like I have done for my other reviews, but it is a pretty long and complicated book, so I’m not sure how it’s going to come out. I’ve also been reading The E-Myth and the 5000 Year Leap. I’ll do separate posts on each of them when I’ve finished. I also think I’m going to dare to delve just a little into the political realm here as a means of exploring to refine my own philosophy and viewpoints, hopefully through a little interaction and discussion with readers.

I think I’ll close out today’s post with a little nugget on lawyering as a corporate attorney. Educate your business people on the ins and outs of contracts. Challenge them on their understanding and take time to explain the impact of specific language, provisions, and terms. Most importantly, find a way to do this in a way that is very relevant and clearly valuable to them. Even though you are in-house, you still have a client and you’ll get less resistance from them if they are confident that you fully understand their pressures and objectives, and if they fully understand the value of what you are protecting with your changes. Often the value you are preserving is only visible in the medium to long term, so it takes a kind of constant dialogue to help keep that notion in the forefront of the business mind. If you are a small business owner dealing with attorneys, take the time to really own your agreements by going over them until you understand the anatomy of an agreement and the effect of each part. Don’t be afraid to ask your attorney questions. As much as you can, try to compile and/or use use standard agreements from your attorney. That will not only decrease review time for your agreements, it will also help ensure that you are bound by terms you feel comfortanble with.