Hi there, Reader,

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I'm a little late in getting out my February newsletter. I was in Los Angeles for almost 3 weeks cleaning out a storage unit full of furniture and closing out a 17-year chapter of my life as a West Coaster. It was emotional, to say the least, but also very, very needed. Your girl is officially an East coaster who travels to the West Coast every now and then for work and fun.

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Anyway, that's not what I want to talk to you about today. What I want to talk to you about is when the law matters and when it doesn't.

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If you've been paying attention, perhaps you've seen the powers that be playing with this concept. We have an International Court of Justice whose entire purpose is to protect the rights of humans across the globe. But what we've seen over the last few weeks, is that regardless of what that court says, the law of that court only matters if the powers that be say it matters.

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Now that's a deeply depressing and disturbing reality, one that many of us are still trying to come to terms with. On the one hand, it means that international laws written to say, prevent genocide, only matter when the powers that be say it matter. And on the other hand, it opens up a series of questions, all of which relate back to this central question:

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When does the law actually matter?

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And how do we as everyday people determine this?

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And maybe for you right now, you're wondering why this inquiry should matter at all to you and your business.

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So why don't I go ahead and tell you?

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This inquiry -- when the law matters and when it doesn't -- matters to your business because you can use it to inform risk assessment.

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If you remember my newsletter from last month about The Empire Mindset, then perhaps you also remember me talking about the number one concern people have when they come to me for help: protecting themselves from something bad happening.

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Generally, no one wants to be at risk of something bad happening. And while I've said many times before and will continue to say until my last breath on earth that the law cannot provide you foolproof protection from something bad happening, I do think that having an understanding of when the law matters and when it doesn't is useful for assessing and limiting risk exposure.

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So let's get into how this works, shall we?

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Here's the #1 (and basically only) rule: The law matters when someone has the power to make it matter. Usually, power comes in the form of money, influence, or both.

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In other words, the law matters when people have the money to enforce it. That's why I tend to ask people if they have trademark enforcement money before getting into the process of what it takes to register a trademark properly.

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But the law also matters when someone has influence, meaning they can influence the reputation of your business. When people with influence are happy, your business is fine, and can even get great referrals. When they are mad, your business's reputation can suffer. This matters because you can use the law (via contracts) to decide how you want to handle people with influence.

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Okay, so now that we know when the law matters, let's start rethinking our approach to risk.

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Here's a question: who are the people or legal entities in your business world that have the power of money and/or the power of influence?

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In all seriousness, I'd like you to make a list. I'll give you a hint: the government should be at the top of your list. And specifically, your state government if your business is registered as a legal entity, and the federal government via the IRS regardless of whether you're registered as a legal entity.

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Now the government isn't at the top of your list because they're the most threatening; they're at the top of your list because they are the most obvious. The government literally prints money and a big part of its job is to enforce the law. But the truth is that the government is also spread pretty thin, so your risk of getting into trouble is rather low. Usually, if you do the bare minimum to follow the rules, you'll tend to be in good shape.

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After that, I want you to think about your customers and/or clients.

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Do any of them have enough money to make the law matter?

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You usually won't have to guess about this. You can usually tell from the way they approach contracts and contract negotiation. If they have a lot to lose, they will have intense contracts. Large corporations with complicated procurement processes and contracts that require you to carry a $1M insurance policy just to write some blog posts come to mind.

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Getting clear on which customers/clients (and how many of them) have enough money to make the law matter will inform how you handle potential monetary liability for your business. For example, does it make sense for you to have an insurance policy, or is it enough to register your business as a legal entity and follow the rules to keep your business assets separate from your personal ones? In addition, can you limit your potential liability in your contracts?

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Once you finish that inquiry, I want you to think about which of your customers or clients have influence.

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Who has the power to boost your business's reputation or harm it? And how much power do they have? Another thing to think about is how much your business depends on referrals versus organic leads.

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This will inform how you handle customer/client disputes. Maybe you want to have disputes handled by a mediator or via a confidential arbitration so that the dispute isn't publicized. But perhaps it's enough to simply issue the customer a refund.

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Next, I want you to consider potential and/or existing collaborators and whether they have the power to make the law matter -- either via money or influence.

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This will inform how you structure your collaboration deals and specifically what happens when one or both of you want out of the deal. You can think through who owns what and who is owed what and lay out a straightforward and fair procedure for any potential breakups (because they do happen).

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Okay, those are just some basic examples, but here's the key takeaway:

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When you understand where the power is, you can better figure out when the law matters. If you know when the law matters, you're better able to understand and protect against risk.

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And when you're doing that, you're thinking like a lawyer, my friend. Because the truth is that these are all questions that I ask and consider as part of my Flat-Rate Contract Drafting Service.

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We always start with a 30-minute session where you explain to me what contracts you need for your business and why, and I ask you questions like the ones above so I can not only understand where your risks lie but also tell you what your risks are and why they matter. Then we have a conversation about ways to handle them together.

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After that, I draft your contract(s). It usually takes me a week to 10 days to get your contracts back to you depending on how many you need. The goal of this service is to provide you with the customized contracts you need (and that you'll use over and over) to run your business.

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The pricing starts at $530 and increases depending on how many contracts you need. To book the service, click below. If you need a payment plan, reply to this email, and I can set it up for you.

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I hope this email was helpful to you. If it was feel free to reply to let me know. I'm thinking about doing a "How to" workshop series this year on different legal topics. There is already high demand for one on trademarks, specifically how to do an initial assessment of whether to consider registering a trademark. If you're interested in that, please let me know. If you have other ideas for "how to" workshops, let me know that too. :)

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Until next time, wishing you good health and prosperity,

Brionna