PR vs legal

We've had a bunch of interactions recently with lawyers that have left me truly scratching my head.  Like the troubles in the Middle East, you can see the reasons for both sides to be angry, but ultimately, nothing gets accomplished.
For example, we were recently negotiating with a content provider who was promising to provide us with clips from a wide variety of sources. They came highly recommended, have an impressive client base, and offered us a very reasonable deal. We were all set to go. Then I read the contract which said in part:
The xxx company:

• makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the content or the suitability or reliability of the Services;
• is not responsible for the timeliness or otherwise of the content or any Services being made available to Customer; and
• is not responsible for the timeliness, deletion or failure to store any user communications or personalisation and website customisation settings.

Wow, why didn't I think of something like that -- that would absolve me from any responsibility for being accurate, timely or reliable?

So the question is, are these people really that bad that they need lawyers to protect them from their shoddy work? Or are the lawyers being overly vigilant and getting in the way of a good relationship?

My hunch, is of course,that it is the latter. All to often these days legal departments are putting up barriers between organizations and their customers -- be it by banning blogging or social media participation, or with contracts like the one quoted above.

Sometime, and I'm predicting sooner rather than later, Communications, Marketing and Sales people are going to need to stand up to these relationship inhibitors and point out the damage they're doing to their reputation. 

Comments

[edward2020]

RE: to the poster who said "So, why can't law schools require their students to take a course or two in marketing, or at the least, customer relations?"

You do realize that most lawyers have nothing to do with marketing? If, God-forbid, one of your loved ones ever has a run in with the law - do you really want their legal council to have spent 3-8 course hours in law school learning about public relations and customer relations? Or, when you have a will made up?

Perhaps lawyers which work for the marketing field should be chosen b/c they have undergraduate or further graduate study in that field. Lets not make lawyers crappier than they are.

Signed,
Lawschool Dropout

[Ali Behnam]

Happy new year Katie,

For amusement purposes, this link is the terms and conditions for a web analytics product that competes with Google Analytics: http://www.networksolutions.com/legal/static-service-agreement.jsp

If you just copy and paste the agreement into Word you end up with 152 pages.
Yes, sometimes lawyers, in their attempt to save the client end up hurting them more.

[Jim Lane]

Many years ago, I used to photograph concerts simply on a verbal agreement and a handshake. When it progressed to the point where I needed three attorneys (one for the record company, one for the management group and one for the tour operator) I got out.

[Andrew Careaga]

When I was studying journalism as an undergraduate (many, many years ago), I was required to take a course called Communications Law. It was a tough course, taught by one of those curmudgeonly, scholarly old guys John Houseman's "Paper Chase" character must've been modeled after. The course was tough, but taught me a lot about the ambiguities of law and, I believe, made me a better, more thoughtful journalist (and later, PR person). So, why can't law schools require their students to take a course or two in marketing, or at the least, customer relations? Maybe it would help them write better contracts and better appreciate the stumbling blocks they lay along our paths.

[Jim Lane]

Legal will make sure your campaign won;t get you sued, but then, it won't work either.

[Mark Story]

Thanks, Katie.

And trust me - it will be a cold day in hell (colder than New Hampshire, my home state, BTW) before I let a legal eagle wear me down.

THEY cringe when they see me coming!!

Mar

[Katie Paine]

Thanks for the thoughts, Mark. and Good on 'ya for reading my book. I have a very smart lawyer who counsels me all the time, that the problem with lawyers is that they want to win, they make money by going to court, and the longer it drags out the more money they make. Nowhere do they get compensated for solving a problem.. that’s the inherent problem. So keep fighting the good fight!

[Mark Story]

Katie,

I work in an unnamed government agency during the day (you may have seen us in the headlines of late) that is ruled by lawyers. Lots of lawyers. Over the years on the agency side (15 of them), I saw a drift away from being reasonable and planning for legal Armageddon, attempting to protect organizations from *any* legal trap.

My two cents is that it is this sort of thinking that scraps more deals than about anything else. Who wants to start doing business with someone when the first document that you see is "we're making sure you don't screw us - EVER. It's like starting a marriage with a pre-nuptial agreement.

And my final note is, despite that I am a lone wolf for new media in a building full of lawyers, I usually begin most conversations not with "Can I do this?" but "How can WE do this." Big difference.

Thanks for the post - and am beginning my second semester at Georgetown using "Measuring Public Relationships" as a required text.

All the best,

Mark