Proactive Law for Managers: A Hidden Source of Competitive Advantage

George Siedel · Helena Haapio

Apr 2016 · CRC Press

About this ebook

Savvy managers no longer look at contracts and the law reactively but use them proactively to reduce their costs, minimize their risks, secure key talent, collaborate to innovate, protect intellectual property, and create value for their customers that is superior to that offered by competitors. To achieve competitive advantage in this way managers need a plan. Proactive Law for Managers provides this plan; The Manager's Legal PlanTM. George Siedel and Helena Haapio first discuss the traditional, reactive approach used by many managers when confronted with the law, then contrast it with a proactive approach that enables the law and managers' legal capabilities to be used to prevent problems, promote successful business, and achieve competitive advantage. Proactive Law for Managers shows how to use contracts and the law to create new value and innovate in often neglected areas - and implement ideas in a profitable manner.

About the author

George J. Siedel is Williamson Family Professor of Business Administration and Thurnau Professor of Business Law at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. He has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Siedel worked as an attorney in a professional corporation and has served on several boards of directors and as Associate Dean for Executive Education at the Ross School of Business. He is the author of numerous books and articles, and his research interests relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Siedel's research awards include the Hoeber Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. His research has been cited by appellate courts in the United States and abroad, including the High Court of Australia. Siedel has been elected a Life Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. As a Fulbright Scholar, Siedel held a Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Helena Haapio works as International Contract Counsel for Lexpert Ltd (www.lexpert.com) based in Helsinki, where she helps corporate clients become more successful in cross-border contractual ventures. After completing legal studies at the University of Turku and Cambridge University, Haapio served as in-house Legal Counsel for Wärtsilä Group in Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States, and for three years as General Counsel for one of the Group's Divisions. She was nominated "Export Educator of the Year" by the Finnish Institute for International Trade. Haapio's current research focuses on proactive contracting as a means to bridge business and law. She is an author and editor, and her articles have appeared in several professional publications. She is actively involved in the development of the Nordic School of Proactive Law (www.proactivelaw.org) and of the ProActive ThinkTank (www.proactivethinktank.com) and acted as Expert in drawing up the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Opinion on the Proactive Law Approach. She acts as arbitrator in cross-border contract disputes.