Pick Your Battles. Especially in Contracts.
One of the most important things good commercial counsel can do is distinguish between the risks that actually matter and the ones that are simply part of doing business.
Of course, your company needs to be protected. A bad, overly broad indemnity, unlimited liability, loss of critical IP rights, an unworkable termination right, or significant data security obligations that don't apply to your business can create real exposure and, in the wrong circumstances, affect the value of the business.
Those provisions deserve attention.
But protecting your company also means understanding that it is a going concern. It has customers to sign, revenue to generate, products to launch and partnerships to build.
There is a cost to spending three weeks negotiating a provision that presents $10,000 of theoretical risk in a deal worth $500,000.
There is also a cost to burning negotiating capital on 25 issues when only five really matter.
The best commercial lawyers understand both sides of that equation.
Protect your company on the issues that can actually hurt it. Understand what is market. Know when you have leverage and when you don't. And recognize when the right business decision is to accept a reasonable amount of risk and get the deal done.
The goal isn't a perfect contract.
It's a protected and successful business.
Pick Your Battles: What Really Matters in Commercial Contracts