公司法务危机管理反思

2017-06-07 10:28 来源：http://www.ceo315.org/ 阅读：次

Attorneys must be prepared to not panicupon realizing that the curveball is not going to drop into the strikezone.

当意识到事情并非按设想轨迹进行时，法务必须做好不惊慌的准备。

I learned two life lessons from myparticipation in the “The Fifth of July” (affiliate link), a play by Lanford Wilson. One was during myfirst-ever male kissing scene. I learned what actresses go through with piggishactors who decide to “go for it” when the lights come up; we’ll leave it atthat. And two, I learned that when required to wear short shorts as part ofyour costume, you should always —always — wear underwear if you’re ever going to besitting down during your scenes.

我从兰福·威尔逊的《七月五日》这部剧里学到了两个人生教训。一个是在我首次看到的男性接吻场景中。当灯亮起来贪心的男演员决定要接吻的时候，我能感受到女演员的尴尬；这件事暂且不讨论。第二个是如果要穿超短短裤演戏，一定一定要穿内衣，尤其是如果你要在演戏时坐下。

I relay those two lessons tongue halfin cheek. They relate to in-house work in the sense that while preparation iskey, when the spit hits the fan, you need to first “grab the canoe”….

我讲这两个教训其实是另有用意。它们都和法务工作有关，这个联系在于虽然提前准备很重要，但当事情要发生严重后果时，你要先“抓住独木舟”……

See, one hot summer day, my then-fianceand I went for a canoe trip on some unremembered Northeast river. The water wasnot deep, but the water was flowing swiftly. Somehow, we tipped the canoe, andshe began to panic. As the canoe began to float away from us, I told her to “grab the canoe.” This wasimportant because without our boat, we’d be up a creekholding only paddles. That phrase has become a code for us when things goquickly awry.

一个炎热的夏天，某一天我当时的未婚妻和我去某条东北部河流划独木舟。河水不深，但是水流很急。不知怎的，我们把独木舟弄翻了，她开始慌张起来。独木舟开始越漂越远，我让她“抓住独木舟”。这很重要，因为如果没有船，我们就只能拿着船桨走上小溪。现在当事情不顺利时，那个短语已经成了我们的处事原则。

First, you must “grab the canoe” and get back tofloating; only then can you assess what else might be wrong (missingpossessions, food, wet socks, etc.). Things are going to go screwy during yourtenure as an attorney — they just will. You cannotpossibly plan for everything, but you can remember the mantra of “grab the canoe.” The canoe is a metaphor forthe stasis that usually surrounds your job. You are first and foremostrepresenting an entity. Chief Justice Roberts argues the fiction that theentity is somehow a person, but I digress. The entity is what keeps you and theother employees afloat. During a crisis, all of the happenings within theentity are to be worried about after first taking care to right your primaryclient, the business. Some things that occur in an emergency, or a quicklymoving negotiation, can be left behind, such as obsolete contractual language.Other issues are absolutely necessary in a publicly traded company — reporting requirements, for instance. And in the time it takes toread this column, some of these issues can overturn your company’s sense of balance, and leave you drifting.

首先，你必须“抓住独木舟”回去接着漂；只有那样你才能判断有什么其他问题（丢失了财物、食物以及袜子湿了等等）。你做律师的时候，事情也会出错—就是会出错。你不可能计划好每件事，但是你可以记住“抓住独木舟”这句咒语。独木舟是对你工作不顺的一个比喻。你首先是代表一个企业。首席大法官罗伯茨认为，企业从某种程度上是个人，但是我不同意。正是这个企业让你和其他的员工生存下去。在危机中，在小心安抚主要客户（业务来源）后，你要关注企业内发生的所有事情。发生在紧急情况下或快速进行的谈判中的有些事情可能会被遗漏，例如过时的合同用语。发生在上市公司中的一些问题一定要关注，例如报告的要求。另外，在你阅读这篇专栏的时候，这些问题可能严重影响公司，让你深陷危机。

I have written before about thenecessity of contingency plans, but what if there is simply no time to pull outthe book and turn to page 63? You are in a state of emergency, your stomach isin a knot, and the CEO is asking you some very difficult questions. Grab thecanoe. Take a breath and do your best. Put the issue of staying afloat at theforefront of your analyses. You may come up wrong, but you’ll likely surprise yourself. When I was brand new to law,I used to become easily awed by elder attorneys who could argue severaldifferent points of a legal issue, seemingly all at once. I wondered how theydid it, and despaired that I would never be that smart. It is not always “smarts” that gets you through, but theability to think quickly, act decisively, and rely on experience. There is nobetter teacher than failure. Those same attorneys who seemingly have theanswers to every turn of an issue will be quick to inform you that their “expertise” is largely borne of experience — especially when the canoe overturns.

我以前写过关于应及计划必要性的文章，但如果你就是没有时间拿出书翻到第63页阅读呢？如果你处于紧急状态下，你心里七上八下，而且首席执行官在问你一些难题，那就抓住独木舟，深吸一口气，努力做到最好。分析问题时，把生存下去的问题放在首位。刚开始你可能出现错误，但是你会让自己感到惊讶的。在我完全不懂法律时，当我看到一些年长的律师似乎可以一次性辩论一个法律问题的几个不同点时，我经常感到很惊奇。我想知道他们是如何做到的，但同时又感到很绝望，因为我永远也不能变得那么聪明。能帮助你成功的并非是“各种小聪明”，而是快速思考、果断行动并且利用经验的能力。记住没有比失败更好的老师。那些似乎能够对一个问题的任何一面都应对自如的律师很快会告诉你他们的“专业技能”大部分来自经验——尤其是出现危机时。

That is what makes our professionspecial. Of course we are not saving lives, or curing dread disease. Wepractice law. The key is in the word “practice.” As you practice, answers become ingrained, and your expertisebegins to grow. After years of “practice,” you enable yourself to right tipped canoes, and assist stressedCEOs quickly, efficiently, and appropriately. But in the recesses of your mind,you must always be aware of the possibilities for crisis. Remember that in themoment you will rely on what you know and keep the primary focus on stayingafloat. You can allow yourself to let the what-ifs creep in once you are pastthe crisis and are happily ensconced at the third seat at the bar, with amartini safely in hand.

这就是让我们的职业变得特殊的地方。当然，我们没有挽救生命，或者治愈可怕的疾病。我们是做法律实务的。关键在于“实务”这个词。做实务时，解决问题的方法会在你的头脑里根深蒂固，你的专业技能也会得到加强。在做几年“实务”后，你就能解决危机，并且快速、有效并适当地帮助紧张的首席执行官们。但是，在脑海的深处，你必须意识到危机发生的可能性。记住在危机发生的那一刻，你会依靠你知道的东西并且专注于生存下去。一旦你度过危机并且手里拿着一杯马提尼高兴地安坐在酒店的第三张椅子上时，你就可以允许自己想想特殊状况。

By David Mowry作者：大卫·毛瑞