Lawyers run startups all the time. They're called law firms.
Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
21–30 of 33 posts
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#22It's weird. If you look at a lot of startups ("startups"?) in Germany & Austria, you'll find people with a law background among the founders. I haven't yet figured out why this is the case.
How different is the practice of civil law in those countries?
That assumes I know enough about law to be able to tell. :) I do know that Germany has really odd laws about cease & desist notices. (receiver has to reimburse legal costs of the C&D - even though they're probably overblown)
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#23Best story of a lawyer trying to run a software startup (Loki). http://web.archive.org/web/20020418225227/http://www.linuxan... Not for the feint of heart.
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#24Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism Barack Obama ran a very startup-esque campaign, tech development, social media strategy, wired twenty-somethings and all.
> Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism
And what a runaway success the crunchpad saga has been. Especially from a him being a lawyer point of view.
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#25Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism Barack Obama ran a very startup-esque campaign, tech development, social media strategy, wired twenty-somethings and all.
> Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism And what a runaway success the crunchpad saga has been. Especially from a him being a lawyer point of view.
Your comment is not understandable to someone who isn't already quite familiar with the topic. I don't even know if you were agreeing or disagreeing.
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#26The point is that both lawyers and clients should understand their roles. The lawyer's primary job is to explain to the client the legal consequences of a given course of action. Preferably, the lawyer will have the clients non-legal interests in mind that the same time, so that they can have an intelligent discussion about weighing the risks and benefits of a given course of action. Correspondingly, clients should u…
But that puts you in a tough spot: deciding you know a legal issue better than your lawyer. Similar to telling your doctor "OK, fat and salt are bad for me; but I like them so I'm going to keep eating them". Why did you even ask?
It's like asking a doctor, what are the health implications of eating ice cream daily? Then deciding it's worth it!
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#27It's weird. If you look at a lot of startups ("startups"?) in Germany & Austria, you'll find people with a law background among the founders. I haven't yet figured out why this is the case.
There many are more laws and regulations on businesses in Germany. You probably need a labor law specialist to keep track of them.
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#28The point is that both lawyers and clients should understand their roles. The lawyer's primary job is to explain to the client the legal consequences of a given course of action. Preferably, the lawyer will have the clients non-legal interests in mind that the same time, so that they can have an intelligent discussion about weighing the risks and benefits of a given course of action. Correspondingly, clients should u…
But that puts you in a tough spot: deciding you know a legal issue better than your lawyer. Similar to telling your doctor "OK, fat and salt are bad for me; but I like them so I'm going to keep eating them". Why did you even ask?
Maxwell Kennerly is an attorney, and thus defining his own role in legal consultations. I was at the doctor's office earlier today and made a decision about the costs and benefits of a medication which required considering the probability of side effects and the expense of purchase vs. the potential health benefits.
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#29On a related note, NEVER put a doctor, lawyer, or accountant on a board of directors. It's very tempting because they often have many of the external signs of success. But many years of indoctrination have taught them to limit risk at all cost and that is deadly -- not just for your startup but for life in general. There are certainly exceptions, but in general their very choice of profession exposes what their prior…
So you don't think anyone on a board should be primarily concerned with risk management?
Re: Why Lawyers Don’t Run Startups
#30Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism Barack Obama ran a very startup-esque campaign, tech development, social media strategy, wired twenty-somethings and all.
> Michael Arrington is/was a lawyer and runs a startup. I think his legal background has given him the confidence to pursue legally sensitive journalism And what a runaway success the crunchpad saga has been. Especially from a him being a lawyer point of view.
Cut any way you like it, TechCrunch is a success.