The Lawyer As A Portal

Robert M. Bovarnick — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 23:07:14 +0000

I was recently talking to a client. I said I was going to start blogging and wanted to know if there any topics he thought would be interesting. I assumed he would want to know about some fascinating aspect of the law, such as confidentiality agreements. What he said is that what he is currently working on is finding working relationships with the right company to assist his business. What does that have to do with a lawyer? Plenty, actually. First, a corporate lawyer can help the client in drafting an agreement setting up the relationship, whether it is a joint venture, an independent contractor or anything of the sort.

But there is a second value add and that is what I call the law of the rolodex. For those of you who are too young, the rolodex is something that, back in the day, everyone had on their desk. This was your contact list. My view is that when I made a contact it increased my contacts by not only the new person, but all of their contacts. This is something that is useful today. If you are a business and have a need to locate another type of business, it makes sense to cal your lawyer. Since this is not case related, you should not be getting billed. And the fact is that business lawyers, by the nature of their practice, know a great many people.

By the way, this works both ways. Recently I was preparing to meet a potential new client. I wanted to go in with some potential business for this person. I called one of my clients to see if they knew of anyone who might want to use the service of the potential new client. As it turned out, my existing client had the need. I went into the meeting armed with potential business for this new client. I ended up with a new client, the new client ended up with new business and the old client ended up with something they needed.

Robert M. Bovarnick, Esquire

Bovarnick and Associates, LLC

Two Logan Square, Suite 2030

100 N. 18th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

(215) 568-4480

(215) 568-4462 (fax)

www.rbovarnick.com

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The Pre-Agreement Agreement

Robert M. Bovarnick — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 22:05:58 +0000

Imagine sitting having drinks with someone you’re thinking of doing business with… you’re having a great time, thinking you’ve got a great connection with this person, the ideas are flowing back and forth, you have a similar approach to business and it’s clear there’s the potential for the business relationship to be productive.

How do you go about formalizing a relationship like this? One of the ways we do this is through a memorandum of understanding, aka an “MOU”. An MOU is sometimes referred to as a letter of intent, or an “LOI.”

Generally speaking, an MOU is not a binding agreement. It is simply a document that describes the basic terms of the agreement between two or more parties. It expresses the mutual understanding of what both or more parties are interested in doing with one another and sets the stage for the legally binding commitment. In rare cases, an MOU can constitute a binding contract. This can be found where the MOU is so detailed and contains all of the elements of a contract that it looks like the parties intended for it to be bindingIf you’re considering entering into an agreement with one or more people, you might want to consider having an MOU prepared as the fist step. Bovarnick & Associates, LLC., focuses on helping individuals and companies in their business dealings.

If this is something that might be of benefit to you, please give us a call at 215.568.4480 or email us at info@rbovarnick.com. One call can get you on your way toward a productive business relationship with your future partners.