Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Legal Profession
Business Lawyers As Enterprise Architects, George W. Dent
Business Lawyers As Enterprise Architects, George W. Dent
Faculty Publications
In 1984 Ronald Gilson published Value Creation by Business Lawyers: Legal Skills and Asset Pricing. It began: "What do business lawyers really do? Embarrassingly enough, at a time when lawyers are criticized with increasing frequency as nonproductive actors in the economy, there seems to be no coherent answer." He dismissed lawyers' own answer that "they 'protect' their clients, that they get their clients the 'best' deal." He also rejected the academic literature which offered a laundry list of roles the business lawyer plays: "a counselor, planner, drafter, negotiator, investigator, lobbyist, scapegoat, champion, and, most strikingly, even as a friend." Dissecting …