In the market competition, enterprises should not only pay attention to technology and management, but also have the same legal application right as competitors. Hiring a lawyer as an enterprise legal adviser reflects the foresight of enterprise leaders and the management level of enterprises from one side. At the same time, enterprise legal advisers use their professional skills to provide effective legal protection for enterprises, reasonably and effectively avoid legal risks, so that legal advisers can give full play to their characteristics and create corresponding value for enterprises. So how should the legal adviser be positioned in the enterprise? How to create value for enterprises? We interviewed Zhu Aimin, a lawyer of Beijing Hengzhuo Law Firm who has been practicing for many years, hoping to build a win-win bridge between legal advisers and enterprises.
Reporter: Hello, Lawyer Zhu! As an experienced lawyer, according to your years of practice experience, do you think it is necessary for enterprises to hire legal counsel? How should legal counsel be positioned in enterprises?
Lawyer Zhu: It has become the first choice for most enterprises to safeguard their own interests and ensure legal operation. Mr. Wu Jinglian, a contemporary economist, once vividly said: Economics studies how to make cakes bigger, while the task of law is how to divide cakes well. Without the rule of law, this cake will not only be small, but also rotten. ? As for how to position, in other words, from which aspect to reflect their own value. Lawyers, as corporate legal advisers, should first be legal workers with professional legal skills; Secondly, we should be a provider who can use legal professional skills to provide high-quality legal services for enterprises and create value services for enterprises in management and operation.
Reporter: You think that legal counsel is the provider of enterprise services, but now many enterprises recognize the role of legal counsel, but they also think that legal counsel has brought them some inconvenience and trouble and has not given them enough attention. Can you talk about the current situation of corporate legal counsel?
Lawyer Zhu: At present, many enterprises do have misunderstandings about the role of legal counsel, which are reflected in two aspects: First, they think that hiring legal counsel will lead to complicated workflow and reduce work efficiency. Enterprises often think that with their many years of business experience, they are fully qualified for their own work. Hiring a lawyer can not only create value for the company, but also make the company's management links and processes complicated, increase the company's management expenses and reduce the company's operational efficiency. Second, as a legal adviser? Fireman? . I didn't think of legal counsel until something happened. This undoubtedly greatly limits the role of legal counsel. Legal service is not only to help enterprises to go to court, but also to cost whether they win or lose. If ex post remedy can be changed into ex ante prevention, then the way to save costs and create profits is to avoid litigation in a reasonable way.
Reporter: In this case, Mr. Zhu, what do you think should be done to change the views of enterprises and get them out of the misunderstanding?
Lawyer Zhu: On this issue, I want to reposition the company's legal adviser. As operators, enterprises aim at maximizing profits. They will be more interested if there is interest. As mentioned earlier, legal counsel is the provider of corporate legal services, but this service is often a passive demand in reality. Entrepreneurs can't be blamed for this situation. Some legal advisers only focus on litigation and contract review, and only appear when there are problems in the enterprise. This requires you to actively provide legal services when you are a legal adviser. Of course, this kind of initiative is also different from meddling and bossing. The key is to let your expertise play a role in the enterprise, make up for the shortcomings of the enterprise and promote the economic growth of the enterprise. Providing high-quality and efficient legal services for enterprises and avoiding economic losses is to create benefits for enterprises. Because enterprises need to invest a lot of manpower and financial resources when dealing with disputes, if not handled properly, it will also have negative effects, thus damaging the social image of enterprises.
Reporter: As you wish, will there be high requirements for legal counsel? What qualities do you think you need to be an excellent legal adviser?
Lawyer Zhu: This really requires legal advisers not only to be proficient in law, but also to be involved in economics, accounting, enterprise management and other disciplines. Only by having a three-dimensional knowledge structure can they better serve the enterprise. In addition, we need good judgment ability and psychological quality, and we can accurately grasp and judge the problems that have not happened and have happened at critical moments. The growth experience of another lawyer is also very important to the cultivation of his quality and ability. For example, those who have been managers have more experience in enterprise management and stronger judgment ability; Those who have done trial work have a better understanding of trial procedures and judges' way of thinking, which can provide better solutions for enterprises. In a word, the experience of different positions and different industries can help a lawyer to strategize in complex practical problems.
Reporter: Having said that, Mr. Zhu, let me ask you another question: You have always stressed that legal advisers should change their position in enterprises, so what can be done specifically to promote the economic growth of enterprises?
Lawyer Zhu: This is a key issue. In order to create value and promote the economic growth of enterprises, the legal services provided by legal consultants for enterprises must have commercial value. How to provide such legal services? First of all, avoid legal risks in business operation reasonably. Enterprises will inevitably encounter some risks in production and operation. This kind of risk exists in activities such as transaction negotiation, asset reorganization and company listing. Legal advisers must personally participate in these activities, not only through other people's descriptions or only through reading written documents, but also find potential crises from seemingly prosperous business activities and plan ahead, so as to strive for more development space and time for enterprises. Secondly, improve the market competitiveness of enterprises. As the main body of market competition, enterprises not only have certain professional skills and rich business experience in business dealings, but also legal support reflects their competitive advantages to some extent. Enterprise legal advisers should not only train specialized legal talents for enterprises, but also pay attention to improving the legal level of enterprise managers, so as to improve the competitiveness of the whole enterprise. Famous for economics? Barrel theory? Tell us that we can't let legal competitiveness become the shortest plank that restricts enterprises.
Reporter: Finally, please ask Mr. Zhu to introduce how legal counsel should build a bridge to communicate with enterprises.
Lawyer Zhu: When it comes to communication, we must first establish the foundation of mutual trust. Although the relationship between legal counsel and enterprises is a contractual relationship of service provision, it can be said that they are in the same camp? A loss, a glory? . Legal advisers should firmly believe that fighting for the interests of enterprises is fighting for their own interests, and enterprises should trust and boldly hand over their own affairs to legal advisers. Secondly, we should deepen mutual understanding. Entrepreneurs and legal advisers belong to two different professions. Only by narrowing the gap between the two sides in professional structure and way of thinking can we achieve better communication effect, which requires legal advisers to have both business acumen and legal awareness, and always remind themselves to provide legal services with commercial value, so that there will be more * * * languages between them. Through past practice, when I provide legal services for enterprises, I have not only become a trustworthy partner with the managers of enterprises, but also become a good friend in life.
In short, in order to promote the economic growth of enterprises, legal advisers must be able to generate commercial value in the process of legal application, whether to avoid or reduce losses or directly promote transactions to create profits. The legal services provided by legal advisers must be diversified, dynamic and creative.
Reporter: Thank you very much for accepting our interview.
;