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If you have to ask the litigation department if something’s okay, it is probably not okay.: Difference between revisions
If you have to ask the litigation department if something’s okay, it is probably not okay. (view source)
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# Customers who are actively pursuing you through the courts to enforce what they believe to be their rights — whether they are ultimately mistaken about that or not — tend not to award as much business as those who are not. | # Customers who are actively pursuing you through the courts to enforce what they believe to be their rights — whether they are ultimately mistaken about that or not — tend not to award as much business as those who are not. | ||
Here we call to attention our old friend the [[commercial imperative]]. Commerce is a [[Iterated prisoner’s dilemma|long game]], friends. There very few cases indeed where the short term benefit of winning on this point, now, outweighs the longer reward of ongoing revenue, gladly imparted, by a happy customer. These rule-proving exceptions come about where (i) you don’t particularly care for the customer, though even here, there are more effective ways of declining to do business with it; or (ii) customer, though hitherto valued, wanted and cared for, owes you a lot of money, and is midway through a swan dive whose outcome seems certain to involve burrowing into the side of a hill at which point all that money it owes you will go up in smoke. | Here we call to attention our old friend the [[commercial imperative]]. Commerce is a [[Iterated prisoner’s dilemma|long game]], friends. There very few cases indeed where the short term benefit of winning on this point, now, outweighs the longer reward of ongoing revenue, gladly imparted, by a happy customer. These rule-proving exceptions come about where (i) you don’t particularly care for the customer, though even here, there are more effective ways of declining to do business with it;<ref>For example, ''by declining to to business with it''.</ref> or (ii) customer, though hitherto valued, wanted and cared for, owes you a lot of money, and is midway through a swan dive whose outcome seems certain to involve burrowing into the side of a hill at which point all that money it owes you will go up in smoke. | ||
===Exceptions to the rule=== | ===Exceptions to the rule=== | ||
Because the [[litigation department]]’s frame of reference is “what will the outcome be if this is litigated?” — whereas any sensible person’s perspective is “how, humanly, can we ''avoid'' this being litigated?” we can see that any answer you get from the litigation department will be tainted by the [[agency problem]]. Litigators want [[litigation]]; they ''like'' it. [[Litigation]] is what they do. [[It is in my nature|It is in their nature]]. | Because the [[litigation department]]’s frame of reference is “what will the outcome be if this is litigated?” — whereas any sensible person’s perspective is “how, humanly, can we ''avoid'' this being litigated?” we can see that any answer you get from the litigation department will be tainted by the [[agency problem]]. Litigators want [[litigation]]; they ''like'' it. [[Litigation]] is what they do. [[It is in my nature|It is in their nature]]. | ||
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Rule and corollary therefore: | Rule and corollary therefore: | ||
*Rule:{{maxim| | *'''Rule''': {{maxim|If you have to ask the litigation department if something’s okay, it is probably not okay.}} | ||
*Sub-rule: | *'''Sub-rule''': If something ''is'' okay, and you ask the litigation department if it is okay, they will say it is ''not'' okay. | ||
*Meta-rule: ''ask a silly question, get a silly answer''. | *'''Meta-rule''': ''If you ask a silly question, you will get a silly answer''. | ||
{{sa}} | {{sa}} | ||
*[[Relationship contract]] | *[[Relationship contract]] | ||