* eat reasonably
* drink responsibly
* exercise regularly
* don't smoke
That's it. Simple. Intuitive. Obvious. And you know it would work wonders. But not easy.
Likewise preventive law. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. Although widely embraced and religiously practiced by big companies, small business hasn't gotten the memo.
Professor Louis Brown coined the phrase "Preventive Law" In his 1950 book of the same title. A genuine thought pioneer, he delivered the core message persuasively in the very first sentence: "It usually costs less to avoid getting into trouble than to pay for getting out of trouble."
Ah, but therein lies the rub. You have to recognize trouble in order to avoid it. Like Wesley in the fire swamp in the cult classic "The Princess Bride," once you learn to identify the hazards you can easily avoid them.
When life collides with law, you land in the lawyer-infested toll thicket and own a crisis. When law comes to life, you avoid needless entanglements and create opportunities.
Lawyers didn't deliver that message to big business. Big business demanded that service from lawyers. Architect or fireman? Prevention or remediation? A simple choice. And it's easy, too.
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