The origin of corporate legal counsel

Many developed countries in the world are fully aware of the important role of legal advisers, and employ a large number of corporate legal advisers to provide legal services for the operation and management of their companies. From the formulation of the company's development strategy, business and management decisions to the management of the company's documents, it is necessary for legal consultants to review and provide legal advice, and lawyers and accountants become the company's right-hand men. For example, General Electric Company of the United States has more than 800 corporate legal advisers (employees) and its headquarters keeps 80- 100, ExxonMobil Company has more than 700 legal advisers and its headquarters has 17, Siemens Company of Germany has more than 400 legal advisers all over the world, and Elf Oil Company of France has more than 500 legal advisers all over the world. Boeing has 232 legal advisers, accounting for 46% of Boeing's senior management. The duty of the legal advisers of these large companies is to provide legal advice for various legal affairs of the company, help prevent, control and evade the legal risks of the company, and help the company realize the standardization and institutionalization of production, operation and management, which may be an important reason for the rapid and lasting development of these large companies.

On the contrary, due to the slow start of China's lawyer system, the role of legal advisers has not been fully recognized. Many people think that lawyers help people with lawsuits, and only when there is a legal dispute will they think of lawyers. Based on this understanding, many companies and enterprises do not hire lawyers as legal advisers. Their production, operation and management are all based on their own experience, and they often have to be handled by the company boss himself. When dealing with legal issues, it is often because they love face too much to tear it down, and put the gentleman in front of the villain, thus burying legal risks and eventually leading to legal disputes.

In fact, the handling of legal disputes, like the treatment of diseases, is also a process of going through hidden dangers in advance, development in the process and treatment afterwards. For example, legal risks have the same causes, disputes have the same symptoms, and solving legal disputes is the same as treating diseases.

The importance of preventing, controlling and avoiding legal risks can be inspired by Bian Que, a famous doctor in China. King Wen of Wei asked the famous doctor Bian Que, "Your three brothers are all good at medical skills. Which is the best? "

Bian Que replied: "The eldest brother is the best, the second brother is the second, and I am the worst."

King Wen asked again, "Then why are you the most famous?"

Bian Que replied, "My eldest brother treated me before I got sick. Because most people don't know that he can eradicate the cause in advance, his fame can't spread, only our family knows.

My brother treated this disease at the early stage of his illness. Most people think that he can only cure minor illnesses, so his fame is limited to his own village.

And I, Bian Que, treated my illness when it was very serious. Most people think that my medical skill is brilliant and my reputation is famous all over the country when they see me bleeding through the puncture needle on the meridian and applying medicine on the skin. "

What I want to say here is that, as a matter of fact, for lawyers, they should, like Brother Bian Que, help clients handle legal affairs and provide legal advice for decision-making, so as to prevent, control and avoid legal risks. Litigation, like medical treatment, is a last resort, because there is no winner in litigation and both parties lose. This may also be an important reason why developed countries attach so much importance to legal counsel.