Successful partnering between inside and outside counsel

• Published in: The Journal record (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• Main Author: Kenneth N. McKinney and David R. Steward
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oklahoma City, Okla BridgeTower Media Holding Company 07.06.2001
• Subjects: Attorneys; Bids; Commercial real estate; Enforcement; Litigation; Mediation
• ISSN: 0737-5468

Some of the techniques and procedures are more relevant to the Fortune 500 companies, with general counsel and entire legal departments, and others useful to smaller companies, possibly with one or two in-house counsel. The concepts important to selecting the best lawyer for the job may be equally enlightening to the owner of the small business, being the person who hires the lawyer, without assistance from an inside counsel. Interestingly, the authors recommend that the decision to engage counsel be made by the internal lawyers and not the company's executives or senior management. The importance of consulting with management is emphasized to ensure the proper level of confidence and good chemistry exists, but it is felt the selection requires exercise of knowledge and judgment within the expertise of in-house counsel and should reside with them. Like the other articles in this treatise, this article is supplemented with several forms that are contained on a four-disk collection accompanying the treatise. One such form that supplements this chapter is a 66-point checklist for due diligence in the proposed purchase of commercial property. The checklist encompasses questions on the history of the property, prior owners and operations, and enforcement and remedial activities. Additionally, various sections of the checklist address specific questions that are necessary to ask at different levels of investigation. Overall, this is a thorough checklist for counsel to analyze and advise a client during the purchase of commercial property.