Thinking and Acting Strategically
Dean’s foremost priority is to develop and implement a strategic, business oriented plan that is rooted in a “top-down” approach.
Preoccupation with an area of specialization has a strong and dangerous tendency to impair strategic judgment. Undue technical analysis can lead to a narrow, limited response to a matter that requires broad based evaluation.
Dean concentrates on strategic assessment at the macro level instead of technical assessment at the micro level. He steps back from the legal intricacies, and adopts a holistic approach, to arrive at a comprehensive 360º solution. This technique is particularly suited to relatively complex, challenging cases that go beyond the norm- what the profession refers to as “hard cases”.
Taking an Interdisciplinary Approach
A business problem or opportunity rarely falls squarely within the four corners of a discrete practice area; the problem or opportunity typically encompasses multiple- and sometimes diverse- practice areas.
It can be necessary, therefore, to take an inter-disciplinary approach in the pursuit of a strategic plan- one that cuts across practice areas in business law and other professional fields. The key is to synthesize the underlying technical inputs drawn from the applicable practice areas. The ultimate objective is to deliver an integrated appraisal that is more than the sum of its parts.
In many cases, non-legal issues of a commercial, reputational or political nature are inherently intertwined with legal issues. Under these circumstances, the strategic solution incorporates input from the relevant professional fields such as public relations, public affairs, political risk assessment and business consultancy.
Collaborating With Technical Experts
Dean regularly collaborates with competent specialists in law and other disciplines in the process of developing a comprehensive 360º solution. Dean can quickly acquire the requisite expertise by drawing on his global professional network that spans a broad range of professional disciplines and practice areas.
Ensuring Strategic Coherence
Strategic coherence is a necessity whenever specialists work on the client’s behalf. Strategic coherence will not be attained unless the client appoints lead counsel or strategic counsel- an individual who will ensure that the specialists function on a coordinated basis and integrate their collective input.
Dean has extensive experience acting as lead counsel and as a consultant supporting the efforts of others. He is content to serve in any capacity that makes best use of his strengths and serves the client’s best interests.
Acting as Strategic Counsel
With years of inter-disciplinary and collaborative experience, Dean is often asked to serve as lead counsel or strategic counsel.
When acting in this role, Dean takes a “hands on” approach. He hand picks the technical specialists most suited to the task and interacts closely with them on an ongoing basis to ensure strategic coherence.
In complex cases that require ongoing input, Dean has extensive experience assembling and closely managing a small team of technical experts through the process of developing and implementing the strategic plan. Dean also takes an active role in setting the course and navigating towards the most favourable strategic outcome.
Acting as a Consultant
Lending expertise from his core practice areas, Dean frequently acts in a supporting role when contributing to a wider team effort.
Whether working directly with a client, law firm or other professional organization, Dean fully respects existing relationships. He tailors his expertise to best serve the overriding objectives of the client or lead counsel.
Participating on an Undisclosed Basis
Dean has had the honour of participating in some very high profile cases on the public record. He has also participated in cases on an undisclosed basis- even in scenarios that have been prominent and well publicized.
Under these circumstances, he engages in the same type of work behind the scenes as he would in any other scenario. He assumes a lead role or a supporting role depending on the client’s needs. He has often worked confidentially to script out a strategic plan and oversee its implementation by other team members or by the client’s representatives.
Utilizing Innovative Practice Techniques
In difficult cases, deployment of traditional practice techniques may not be sufficient to achieve the optimal result. Under these circumstances, Dean has developed and utilized novel methods to arrive at a strategic solution. His approach to advocacy demonstrates this.
By conventional standards of legal practice, a lawyer should not be seen or be heard in any forum other than a legal forum- a civil court, an administrative tribunal or privately appointed arbitral body. Dean rejects this traditional premise. If it serves the client’s best interests, he advocates in any forum that can result in a favourable outcome.
It may be imperative, for instance, to advocate in unconventional ways when there are non-legal implications behind the problem or the opportunity- when there are underlying commercial, reputational or political interests at stake. The classic and tragic strategic error is to win the battle on the legal front but lose the war on the commercial, reputational or political front.
Dean employs various forms of “public advocacy” when the circumstances dictate. This approach may be used to supplement, or substitute for, traditional forms of legal advocacy.
In certain cases, Dean will publicly address a governmental forum- a state ministry or agency that may be responsible for policy development or regulatory oversight. In other cases, Dean will draw on his extensive experience in media advocacy to make his case before the ultimate “court of public opinion”
Dean has substantial experience working as strategic counsel on public campaigns that are custom designed to promote a client’s cause. This kind of public campaign can be mounted to reinforce the client’s position in parallel legal proceedings. If legal recourse is not available, this kind of campaign may serve as the only viable alternative for advancing the client’s cause.
Engaging in Unique Practice Areas
Dean’s strategic mindset has led him to engage in practice areas that are not typically associated with traditional legal practice. Dean’s substantial experience in government relations, public relations, reputation management, crises management and political risk assessment is globally recognized.
In such cases, Dean often works in tandem with public affairs and public relations organizations that lack legal expertise. Dean’s expertise compliments the skills of these organizations and contributes to the development of an authoritative message for two basic reasons:
- Dean’s legal and strategic training gives him the unique ability to construct the public narrative in a way that is based on a solid legal foundation. In our highly legalistic society, every matter of public policy or public relations is ultimately governed by a set of laws and a specialized regulatory regime
- The skills associated with legal advocacy can be effectively deployed, with the appropriate modifications, in the field of public advocacy.
Taking Preemptive Action
Professional representation- however sound- is worthless if it is carried out on an untimely basis. Dean strives to be as proactive and agile as the circumstances dictate at every stage of his engagement- especially when the problem has hit crises proportions or the opportunity has to be seized immediately before it is lost.
Dean has the know how and the resources to take preemptive action with a view to solving an existing problem or curbing anticipated risk. Dean’s capacity to take proactive measures is based on his hands-on approach. He assumes personal control over all strategic steps and ensures that those steps are effectively taken at the appropriate time.
Nimble professional representation necessitates ongoing client communication, collaboration and instruction at each strategic stage. To this end, Dean ensures that he is constantly accessible and looks to his client to be available when the need arises. It is part of Dean’s professional routine to take a call in the middle of the night or jump on a plane at the last minute.
The intensity of Dean’s strategic counsel often cultivates the formation of a long-term client relationship- one that goes beyond the conclusion of the original assignment. Dean generally comes away from the initial matter with a broad-based understanding of his client’s business. This puts the client in the position of being able to efficiently draw upon Dean’s assistance on matters that may arise in the future.
Delivering Crisis Management Advice
More often than not, the client seeks advice after the damage has been done. Occasionally, the client turns for advice when damage is imminent- in the midst of a crisis. Dean has worked locally and internationally on some of the highest profile, and most complex, cases of this nature.
In this kind of scenario, it is essential to develop and implement a strategic plan on an emergency basis. Specialized input must be obtained and absorbed without hesitation. There is no margin for seeking perfection or second-guessing.
Crisis management work demands a willingness to take calculated risks and an ability to make on the spot judgment calls.
Delivering Preventive Advice
Dean has acquired the know how to anticipate, detect, and mitigate against a potential problem before its manifests- even in a context in which the client seeks to capture a business opportunity. This anticipatory instinct has grown through years of global interdisciplinary experience- especially in cases that involve crisis or reputuational management.
Consider the classic situation in which a multinational is on the verge of making a core investment in an emerging market. The legal and political systems in this kind of market are rarely stable. They are highly susceptible to manipulation by political elites. Substantial investment in this market context carries material legal, political and reputational risk. The multinational is vulnerable to unfair treatment or expropriation by state authorities and/or competitors that target the foreign investment.
In this scenario, Dean offers preventive advice that is designed to manage the inherent risks. By way of illustration, here are two techniques that Dean deploys from time to time:
- Assist the client in building a local professional infrastructure- a small team of in country specialists that work with Dean to constantly monitor the investment environment and make recommendations for ongoing protective measures; and
- Formulate customized compliance programs that go well beyond the conventional, standard form checklists.
Defending Commercial Interests under State Pressure
Dean’s his work on behalf of international business has often thrust him into the position of defending entrepreneurs, commercial enterprises and industries against state interference. Dean has been compelled to confront all forms of government interference in many regions of the world- from one extreme to the other. He has faced down over-regulation, illegal regulation, unjust treatment and outright theft of commercial interests at the hands of the state.
Dean’s work on cases of unjust treatment and outright theft invariably arise in developing nations where corruption is rampant and rule of law is virtually non-existent. When Dean takes on an assignment of this nature, he does not rely exclusively on conventional legal advocacy as it is practiced in the developed nations. This approach is never sufficient to serve the client’s best interests. This is attributable to the fact that the client’s so-called “legal problem” is rarely just that. It is fundamentally “political” as opposed to “legal”- a situation in which political elites manipulate the local legal system as a pretext for abusing the fundamental rights of commercial enterprises, entrepreneurs and executives.
Under these circumstances, Dean typically works out a multi-faceted “legal/political” solution to the “legal/political” problem. He engages in “political advocacy” in conjunction with traditional legal advocacy at the local and international level.
Dean’s political advocacy entails an outreach to any in country constituency, third party state, NGO or other strategic ally possessing the capacity to influence the conduct of the local state authorities for the client’s benefit. At the same time, Dean presses the client’s case in the local and international media- the ultimate “court of public opinion”. Although the local media is rarely free from state intermeddling, any form of in country coverage that shows defiance against the state misconduct has the potential to erode the confidence of the responsible authorities.
Dean’s legal advocacy encompasses in country opposition to the arbitrary misconduct despite the fact that the local “legal process” amounts to a sham- a legal cover for state illegality. Although resistance of this nature does not change the predetermined outcome of the legal process, it exposes flagrant due process violations. This serves to delegitimize the attack against the client in the eyes of objective observers.
Legal advocacy may also be pursued outside the country- before any international tribunal or national court where the rule of law governs. The objective here is to engage any independent adjudicative body that will give the client a fair hearing.
When advancing his case in a court of law or the court of public opinion, Dean goes well beyond the strict legal arguments. He does his best to strip away the legal pretense and uncover the underlying political realities- the implicit political opportunities, motives and consequences that lied behind the “legal case”. Dean often draws on expert evidence to demonstrate that the predicament encountered by the client has been directly or indirectly caused by larger, systemic problems in the developing country.
Identifying with the Entrepreneurial Mindset
Dean co-founded his own law practice right out of law school- an unconventional career path for law graduates. He closely identifies with the entrepreneurial mindset and subscribes to the core principles that shape this mindset: creativity, independence, willpower and risk tolerance.
Dean adheres to these principles when counseling his commercial clients. He attaches special importance to his professional independence. This has afforded him the intellectual freedom to deliver up a unique brand of service that is specifically designed to address the needs of the global business community.
Dean is constantly inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of those who he has been fortunate to represent He has had the privilege of giving strategic counsel to highly successful entrepreneurs in many parts of the world-often on mission critical matters. He has been grateful for the opportunity to be of service to such extraordinarily talented individuals. His active participation in this form of assignment has given him extensive exposure to complex commercial matters from the top down- from the executive level, where the plan is designed, to the operational level where the plan in put into effect.
This is not to say that Dean’s practice is confined to the representation of leading entrepreneurs or multi-nationals enterprises. To the contrary, Dean regularly acts on behalf of start-up operations and commercial enterprises engaged in the small to mid market sectors. Dean’s strategic counsel is particularly valuable to this kind of enterprise since it typically lacks in-house counsel. In this scenario, Dean functions like an outside general counsel that guides the enterprise through the process of clarifying its fundamental objectives, prioritizing these objectives and mapping out the best way to reach these objectives.
Maintaining Professional Humility
Dean will not succumb to professional arrogance. His clients- and the professionals with whom he collaborates on the client’s behalf- command his full respect. Dean’s attitude is not merely based on the fact that he is in a service industry and bound by codes of professional conduct. His professional humility is more deeply rooted in his extensive experience working closely with highly talented and accomplished executives, entrepreneurs and specialists around the world. This rare privilege has been an extremely educational, rewarding and humbling experience that has profoundly influenced the way he interacts with business clients and professional colleagues.
Professional humility has nothing to do with submissiveness. To the contrary, Dean, feels professionally compelled to give the client his genuine assessment of what needs to be done to solve a problem or capture an opportunity- even when Dean suspects that his business client may disagree with his opinion. Dean never tells an executive or entrepreneur what he wants to hear; he only tells them what he honestly believes they need to hear based on their best interests and his best professional judgment.
Conveying The Bottom Line in Direct Business Terms
The way Dean communicates his advice is as important as the way he develops it. There is no point in coming up with sound professional advice unless it is presented in a way that the client can fully grasp and exploit. Here are Dean’s basic tenets for communicating in a clear, business friendly manner:
1. Avoiding Technical Jargon
While technical language is essential for precise communication within the professional community, it has little meaning to the business community. When Dean conveys his advise, he puts aside the legalese or technical jargon. He expresses himself in the straightforward language of the commercial world. His responsibility is to translate his technical thinking into words that an executive or entrepreneur can absorb on the run.
2. Getting to the Bottom Line
In the commercial world, the client must make hard decisions and take risks when confronted with a business problem or opportunity. This is the point in time at which an executive or entrepreneur turns to a lawyer for bottom line recommendations on what to do.
In the professional world, it is rarely possible to give the business client a simple answer that is absolutely right or absolutely wrong. Business law is not a scientific or quantitative exercise. Dean nevertheless makes it a top priority to deliver up clear, definitive recommendations based on his best professional judgment.
In Dean’s experience, there is nothing more frustrating to the business community than a legal opinion that is couched in unnecessary qualifications or disclaimers that obscure or undermine its benefit. The classic form of excessive qualification is the claim that a lawyer does not render “business advise”- merely “legal advice”. From Dean’s standpoint, this is an overused distinction without a difference.
Dean goes out of his way to convey his conclusive view on a timely basis at every stage of an engagement. He has the strength of his convictions and ensures that the client always knows precisely where he stands at all times.
3. Reconciling Technical Complexity to the Bottom Line
There appear to be two basic reasons why some lawyers adopt the practice of hedging their advice. In some cases, a lawyer may get too bogged down in undue technical analysis and fail to formulate an overarching strategy based on that analysis. In other cases, a lawyer may use qualifications and disclaimers to avoid making a definitive proposal. In the latter scenario, the lack of clarity may be driven by concerns over legal or business risk.
Dean does not have a problem reconciling his qualifications and disclaimers with the expression of his bottom line recommendation. From Dean’s perspective, his direct approach does not carry any legal or business risk. Even if does, it is an inherent risk that he must accept. It goes with the territory. Dean believes that his foremost responsibility is to provide his client with his best professional judgment- a strategic assessment of what action should be taken after weighing and reconciling all the pros, the cons, the competing factors and the alternative options.