Special Report
3 Questions
Harvey Oringher, chairman and CEO, Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman PC
Smart Business Orange County | November 2009
Harvey Oringher is the chairman and CEO of Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman PC, where he focuses on managing the firm from both a strategic, long-term perspective as well as on the day-to-day aspects. Oringher understands the firm’s business clients and constantly strives to add the most value to their services.
Q. How can following legal advice save money for a company?
Regular communication between legal counsel and the client will allow for substantially lower legal bills and also will allow dramatically more time for business executives and other officers to devote to their business without being bogged down by legal issues. Early and frequent communication with counsel will allow for the resolution of business disputes before they become larger, more costly issues. Establishing this kind of relationship serves both to avoid current problems as well as help the owners anticipate and avoid future problems.
Q. When should a company seek legal counsel?
A company should seek counsel before it is needed. Unfortunately, most companies avoid seeking legal counsel unless and until it is a necessity and, by doing so, fail to address problems at the outset when costly errors could be avoided. Ideally, the company establishes a relationship with counsel at the beginning, perhaps negotiating a relationship that allows the attorney to provide useful input in exchange for the opportunity to be compensated when the legal tasks require more acute attention. This does not mean that the attorney determines the course of the company, but management can use counsel to weigh in on the potential risks inherent in any corporate decisions and actions.
Q. Can a company negotiate a flat rate for some legal services?
A company may seek a flat-rate retainer that covers some of the day-to-day types of circumstances that come up in the company — issues that can be handled through a quick phone call or e-mail, where the counsel can quickly get the client on the right track. Both our attorneys and our clients have found in the long run that this arrangement dramatically reduces legal fees because the clients are using us more regularly to quickly deal with issues before they are faced with problems that can result in costly litigation.
