legal constraints to problem solving

I say begin. Because there was something missing.

That missing something? Human centered design.

Why human centered design?

As this post is not intended to be a detailed explanation of what human centered design (also often referred to as "design thinking") is, you can go here for a great introduction to the process and its purpose. (You also can peruse the Resources section of this site for much more information on the process of design thinking.)

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

— Tim Brown / IDEO

At essence, design thinking is a process for creative problem solving. And as such, I posit that human centered design is critical to both how we solve legal problems for clients and how we deliver legal services to clients, especially at this juncture in the evolution of our profession.

At the center of our professional obligation is THE CLIENT. Human centered design puts THE CLIENT at the center of how we do our work. Quite simply, it is the heuristic that has been missing from both legal education and legal practice.

As I explained to LPS students on day one, in law school you are given a primary tool: you are taught (via the case method) to "think like a lawyer." I call it the hammer. Have a legal problem? Use the hammer. And the hammer comes in very handy to solve many legal problems. But. You can't solve all problems with a hammer. Not every legal problem is a nail. And you need more tools than just one.

To "think like a lawyer" means adopting an emotionally remote, morally neutral approach to human problems and social issues; distancing oneself from the feelings and suffering of others; avoiding emotional engagement with clients and their causes; and withholding moral judgment. To think like a lawyer one must be dispassionate in analyzing a client's legal problems and options, and in developing a legal strategy for achieving the client's goals.

– Stephen Wizner, Is Learning To "Think Like a Lawyer" Enough?

Especially in this day and age, when it's quite apparent that clients are rejecting the hammer as the sole tool . And the now-irrefutable evidence that the hammer-wielding lawyer alone can't serve all of the legal needs that go unmet each and every day in this country .

Yes, to solve legal problems, a lawyer must think like a lawyer . But guess what? Thinking like a lawyer requires you first to think like a client . Because until you understand where the client stands, and have a holistic view of the depth and breadth of the problem, you cannot provide the best solution. (See Einstein quote at top of post — the best solutions come from thinking more about the problem.)

And this is what the problem-solving process of human centered design requires. It requires you to first THINK LIKE A CLIENT in order to more fully understand the problem, before you engage in problem-solving. To BE CURIOUS about the client's situation and needs. To come from a place of empathy, and do a deep(er) dive into context and understanding. BEFORE you wield the hammer.

And now, back to why "Legal Problem Solving."

The course name — Legal Problem Solving — wasn't my first choice. I view this course primarily as one in human centered design, and how this heuristic can be applied to three aspects relevant to a legal education:

#1 How to design better, more effective legal services that serve more people; 

#2 How to better solve legal problems — or, client problems that happen to have a legal component (which I believe more accurately describes most client problems); and

#3 How to design better professional journeys through the legal profession — some would call this designing a better legal career.

The name was "suggested" because (a) it fit within the ABA's course name guidelines, and (b) it was unlikely to raise suspicion among those who would question a course in human centered design or "legal design" (which apparently was important in order for the course to be approved and added to the schedule).

So, for bureaucratic and political reasons, Legal Problem Solving it was.

And as I embraced the name and the initial constraint I felt (yes, it aptly described aspect #2, but not really #1 or #3?), and simultaneously thought more broadly about what it means, I realized that it's quite perfect.

Because here's the thing: ALL of the aspects of this course deal with solving problems we face in the legal profession. ALL are part of the larger, more holistic view of what it means to do legal problem solving.

Starting with #1 , we have a HUGE access to legal services problem in this country. This is spelled out quite clearly in many places — for a good overview, read the ABA's 2016 Report of the Future of Legal Services . Serving the 80% of people in the U.S. who have a legal need but don't have legal help? And might not even realize they need legal help? This is a level-one problem our profession MUST solve for. We're not doing a good enough job at solving it right now. We need different, better, tools.

And those who we're already serving? Well, they aren't happy, either. Go here and here and here for the latest reports on how well the traditional BigLaw services delivery model is faring. Hint:

It has been a difficult 10 years for law firms in many respects, and looking ahead, significant long-term challenges remain,” said James W. Jones, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession and the report's lead author. “Actions that have helped sustain firm financial performance over the past few years, such as expense controls and reducing the equity partner ranks, are not likely to be as effective in the future. Firms need to embrace a longer-term, fundamental shift in the way that they think about their markets, their clients, their services, and their futures.

— The “2017 Report on the State of the Legal Market” Finds 10 Years of Stagnation Changing the Industry; Says Innovation Key to Law Firm Success

Moving on to #2 , it's incumbent upon lawyers to find better ways to solve clients' problems that have a legal component. Clients do not have legal problems in isolation. For 18+ years, I helped my business clients solve  business problems that often had a legal component (but not always). Clients of divorce attorneys have personal and/or family and/or financial problems that have a legal component. Perhaps most importantly, with issues of civil liberty involved, we must view clients of criminal defense attorneys has having a larger set of problems, within which the legal problem exists.

Clients from many parts of the legal services spectrum are telling us that we do not do a good job responding holistically to their problems. We often use only our hammer — when the hammer might not be the best (or even appropriate) tool. (Guess what? Not every legal problem requires — or is even best-served — by a purely "legal" solution. Just ask any really good mediator.)

We also tend to work in isolation, focusing solely on "legal" issues instead of taking an integrative approach that more fully considers a client's situation. A classic example here? The rising chorus of general counsel pointing out how little their outside counsel know about the actual business of the companies they represent.

When it comes to being great lawyers, we must add more tools for solving clients' problems with a legal component. And this doesn't even begin to take into account the impact that increasingly sophisticated and effective technology will have on much of the work heretofore done by lawyers .

And #3 . This is one of my personal missions. To insure the positive growth and transformation of the legal profession, we MUST do a better job of preparing law students to craft intentional career paths that empower them to both successfully navigate a rapidly changing legal landscape AND participate meaningfully in shaping this landscape's future. Traditional core curriculum courses are not enough. Clinics are not enough. Frankly, not even PoLI (in its current form) is enough.

You don't have to fully embrace that the billable hour is dead , that the traditional law firm model is dying , that technology may soon render many lawyers obsolete , that the market lawyers serve is shrinking , or that the opportunities for associates are declining . But only a luddite will disavow that the business of law has changed for good, and there is only one thing of which we can be certain — it will continue to change and evolve in the face of economic, technological, and other forces.

So how do we prepare future lawyers to enter into this new world? And take an active role in shaping the future for the better? By giving them more, and better, tools than just a hammer. Yes, by teaching them how to think like a lawyer. AND by encouraging them to be endlessly curious. By using pedagogical methods that encourage creativity instead of hampering it. By modeling empathy and embedding it into how and what we teach.

I began this post with an oft-cited Einstein quote, one I've had on my office desk or wall for nearly all of my 18+ years in legal practice. My experience and observation over these nearly two decades continue to confirm that good legal problem solving first and foremost requires legal problem understanding – and that understanding requires much more than performing the traditional legal analysis we are taught in law school. As our world and our profession become increasingly more complex, this becomes even more important.

And this is precisely why the mindsets of human centered design — empathy , creative confidence , learning from failure , embracing ambiguity , optimism , iteration — deserve a place in the law school curriculum and in the toolbox of new lawyers. These mindsets help us dive deeper into the understanding of problems, in ways that the solely "thinking like a lawyer" simply can't, to help us find better, more creative, and more innovative solutions to the challenges that our clients and our profession face.

And this is why I'm teaching a course called Legal Problem Solving. My students will leave this semester having been exposed to the mindsets and tools of human centered design, and it's my hope and belief that they will be better prepared to go forth to more intentionally and successfully shape both their own professional journeys and the course of our profession.

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2.2: Three Frameworks for Ethical Problem-Solving in Business and the Professions

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• Page ID 20497

• William Frey and Jose a Cruz-Cruz
• University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Module Introduction

In this module, you will learn and practice three frameworks designed to integrate ethics into decision making in the areas of practical and occupational ethics. The first framework divides the decision making process into four stages: problem specification, solution generation, solution testing, and solution implementation. It is based on an analogy between ethics and design problems that is detailed in a table presented below. The second framework focuses on the process of testing solution alternatives for their ethics by deploying three ethics tests that will help you to evaluate and rank alternative courses of action. The reversibility, harm, and publicity tests each "encapsulate" or summarize an important ethical theory. Finally, a feasibility test will help you to uncover interest, resource, and technical constraints that will affect and possibly impede the realization of your solution or decision. Taken together, these three frameworks will help steer you toward designing and implementing ethical solutions to problems in the professional and occupational areas.

Two online resources provide more extensive background information. The first, www.computingcases.org, provides background information on the ethics tests, socio-technical analysis, and intermediate moral concepts. The second, onlineethics.org/essays/educa.../teaching.html, explores in more detail the analogy between ethics and design problems. Much of this information will be published in Good Computing: A Virtue Approach to Computer Ethics, a textbook of cases and decision-making techniques in computer ethics that is being authored by Chuck Huff, William Frey, and Jose A. Cruz-Cruz.

Problem-Solving or Decision-Making Framework: Analogy between ethics and design

Traditionally, problem-solving frameworks in professional and occupational ethics have been taken from rational decision procedures used in economics. While these are useful, they lead one to think that ethical decisions are already "out there" waiting to be discovered. In contrast, taking a design approach to ethical decision making emphasizes that ethical decisions must be created, not discovered. This, in turn, emphasizes the importance of moral imagination and moral creativity. Carolyn Whitbeck in Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research describes this aspect of ethical decision making through the analogy she draws between ethics and design problems in chapter one. Here she rejects the idea that ethical problems are multiple-choice problems. We solve ethical problems not by choosing between ready-made solutions given with the situation; rather we use our moral creativity and moral imagination to design these solutions. Chuck Huff builds on this by modifying the design method used in software engineering so that it can help structure the process of framing ethical situations and creating actions to bring these situations to a successful and ethical conclusion. The key points in the analogy between ethical and design problems are summarized in the table presented just below.

Software Development Cycle: Four Stages

(1) problem specification, (2) solution generation, (3) solution testing, and (4) solution implementation.

Problem specification

Problem specification involves exercising moral imagination to specify the socio-technical system (including the stakeholders) that will influence and will be influenced by the decision we are about to make. Stating the problem clearly and concisely is essential to design problems; getting the problem right helps structure and channel the process of designing and implementing the solution. There is no algorithm available to crank out effective problem specification. Instead, we offer a series of guidelines or rules of thumb to get you started in a process that is accomplished by the skillful exercise of moral imagination.

For a broader problem framing model see Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases, 2nd Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000, pp. 30-56. See also Cynthia Brincat and Victoria Wike, Morality and Professional Life: Values at Work, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Different Ways of Specifying the Problem

• Many problems can be specified as disagreements. For example, you disagree with your supervisor over the safety of the manufacturing environment. Disagreements over facts can be resolved by gathering more information. Disagreements over concepts (you and your supervisor have different ideas of what safety means) require working toward a common definition.
• Other problems involve conflicting values. You advocate installing pollution control technology because you value environmental quality and safety. Your supervisor resists this course of action because she values maintaining a solid profit margin. This is a conflict between a moral value (safety and environmental quality) and a nonmoral value (solid profits). Moral values can also conflict with one another in a given situation. Using John Doe lawsuits to force Internet Service Providers to reveal the real identities of defamers certainly protects the privacy and reputations of potential targets of defamation. But it also places restrictions on legitimate free speech by making it possible for powerful wrongdoers to intimidate those who would publicize their wrongdoing. Here the moral values of privacy and free speech are in conflict. Value conflicts can be addressed by harmonizing the conflicting values, compromising on conflicting values by partially realizing them, or setting one value aside while realizing the other (=value trade offs).
• If you specify your problem as a disagreement, you need to describe the facts or concepts about which there is disagreement.
• If you specify your problem as a conflict, you need to describe the values that conflict in the situation.
• One useful way of specifying a problem is to carry out a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder is any group or individual that has a vital interest at risk in the situation. Stakeholder interests frequently come into conflict and solving these conflicts requires developing strategies to reconcile and realize the conflicting stakes.
• Another way of identifying and specifying problems is to carry out a socio-technical analysis. Socio-technical systems (STS) embody values. Problems can be anticipated and prevented by specifying possible value conflicts. Integrating a new technology, procedure, or policy into a socio-technical system can create three kinds of problem. (1) Conflict between values in the technology and those in the STS. For example, when an attempt is made to integrate an information system into the STS of a small business, the values present in an information system can conflict with those in the socio-technical system. (Workers may feel that the new information system invades their privacy.) (2) Amplification of existing value conflicts in the STS. The introduction of a new technology may magnify an existing value conflict. Digitalizing textbooks may undermine copyrights because digital media is easy to copy and disseminate on the Internet. (3) Harmful consequences. Introducing something new into a socio-technical system may set in motion a chain of events that will eventually harm stakeholders in the socio-technical system. For example, giving laptop computers to public school students may produce long term environmental harm when careless disposal of spent laptops releases toxic materials into the environment.
• The following table helps summarize some of these problem categories and then outlines generic solutions.

The materials on moral ecologies come from Huff, C., Barnard, L., and Frey, W. (2008). “Good computing: a pedagogically focused model of virtue in the practice of computing (parts 1 and 2)”, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Volume 6, Issues 3 and 4: 246-316. See also, Michael Davis, Thinking Like An Engineer, Oxford, 1998, 119-156.

Instructions for Using Problem Classification Table

• Is your problem a conflict? Moral versus moral value? Moral versus non-moral values? Non-moral versus non-moral values? Identify the conflicting values as concisely as possible. Example: In Toysmart, the financial values of creditors come into conflict with the privacy of individuals in the database: financial versus privacy values.
• Is your problem a disagreement? Is the disagreement over basic facts? Are these facts observable? Is it a disagreement over a basic concept? What is the concept? Is it a factual disagreement that, upon further reflection, changes into a conceptual disagreement?
• Does your problem arise from an impending harm? What is the harm? What is its magnitude? What is the probability that it will occur?
• If your problem is a value conflict then can these values be fully integrated in a value integrating solution? Or must they be partially realized in a compromise or traded off against one another?
• If your problem is a factual disagreement, what is the procedure for gathering the required information, if this is feasible?
• If your problem is a conceptual disagreement, how can this be overcome? By consulting a government policy or regulation? (OSHA on safety for example.) By consulting a theoretical account of the value in question? (Reading a philosophical analysis of privacy.) By collecting past cases that involve the same concept and drawing analogies and comparisons to the present case?

Moral Ecologies

• "Moral Ecology" refers to the organization in which one works. Calling this organization an "ecology" conveys the idea that it is a system of interrelated parts. These "ecologies" differ depending on the content of the organization's central, identity-conferring values.
• In finance-driven companies, financial values form the core of the organization's identity. Ethical advocacy requires skills in bringing ethical issues to the attention of decision-makers and getting them to take these issues seriously. It helps to state ethical concerns in multi-disciplinary language. (For example, show that ignoring ethical concerns will cost the company money in the long run.)
• Customer-driven ecologies place customer values like usability, affordability, and efficiency, in the forefront of group deliberation and decision-making. Often, one must play the role of "ethics advocate" in deliberation and decision-making. One is expected to argue forcefully and persistently ("go to the mat") to make sure that ethical considerations are integrated into group deliberations and decision-making.
• Quality-driven companies place ethical values into the core of group deliberations and decision-making. Here one is not so much ethics advocate as ethics enabler. This new role requires that one help one's group find creative ways of integrating ethical values with other concerns like customer and financial values.

If you are having problems specifying your problem

• Try identifying the stakeholders. Stakeholders are any group or individual with a vital interest at stake in the situation at hand.
• Project yourself imaginatively into the perspectives of each stakeholder. How does the situation look from their standpoint? What are their interests? How do they feel about their interests?
• Compare the results of these different imaginative projections. Do any stakeholder interests conflict? Do the stakeholders themselves stand in conflict?
• If the answer to one or both of these questions is "yes" then this is your problem statement. How does one reconcile conflicting stakeholders or conflicting stakeholder interests in this situation?

Framing Your Problem

• We miss solutions to problems because we choose to frame them in only one way.
• For example, the Mountain Terrorist Dilemma is usually framed in only one way: as a dilemma, that is, a forced decision between two equally undesirable alternatives. (Gilbane Gold is also framed as a dilemma: blow the whistle on Z-Corp or go along with the excess polution.)
• Framing a problem differently opens up new horizons of solution. Your requirement from this point on in the semester is to frame every problem you are assigned in at least two different ways.
• For examples of how to frame problems using socio-technical system analysis see module m14025.
• These different frames are summarized in the next box below.

Different Frames for Problems

• Technical Frame: Engineers frame problems technically, that is, they specify a problem as raising a technical issue and requiring a technical design for its resolution. For example, in the Hughes case, a technical frame would raise the problem of how to streamline the manufacturing and testing processes of the chips.
• Physical Frame: In the Laminating Press case, the physical frame would raise the problem of how the layout of the room could be changed to reduce the white powder. Would better ventilation eliminate or mitigate the white powder problem?
• Social Frame: In the "When in Aguadilla" case, the Japanese engineer is uncomfortable working with the Puerto Rican woman engineer because of social and cultural beliefs concerning women still widely held by men in Japan. Framing this as a social problem would involve asking whether there would be ways of getting the Japanese engineer to see things from the Puerto Rican point of view.
• Financial or Market-Based Frames: The DOE, in the Risk Assessment case below, accuses the laboratory and its engineers of trying to extend the contract to make more money. The supervisor of the head of the risk assessment team pressures the team leader to complete the risk assessment as quickly as possible so as not to lose the contract. These two framings highlight financial issues.
• Managerial Frame: As the leader of the Puerto Rican team in the "When in Aguadilla" case, you need to exercise leadership in your team. The refusal of the Japanese engineer to work with a member of your team creates a management problem. What would a good leader, a good manager, do in this situation? What does it mean to call this a management problem? What management strategies would help solve it?
• Legal Frame: OSHA may have clear regulations concerning the white powder produced by laminating presses. How can you find out about these regulations? What would be involved in complying with them? If they cost money, how would you get this money? These are questions that arise when you frame the Laminating Press case as a legal problem.
• Environmental Framing: Finally, viewing your problem from an environmental frame leads you to consider the impact of your decision on the environment. Does it harm the environment? Can this harm be avoided? Can it be mitigated? Can it be offset? (Could you replant elsewhere the trees you cut down to build your new plant?) Could you develop a short term environmental solution to "buy time" for designing and implementing a longer term solution? Framing your problem as an environmental problem requires that you ask whether this solution harms the environment and whether this harming can be avoided or remedied in some other way.

Solution Generation

In solution generation, agents exercise moral creativity by brainstorming to come up with solution options designed to resolve the disagreements and value conflicts identified in the problem specification stage. Brainstorming is crucial to generating nonobvious solutions to difficult, intractable problems. This process must take place within a non-polarized environment where the members of the group respect and trust one another. (See the module on the Ethics of Group Work for more information on how groups can be successful and pitfalls that commonly trip up groups.) Groups effectively initiate the brainstorming process by suspending criticism and analysis. After the process is completed (say, by meeting a quota), then participants can refine the solutions generated by combining them, eliminating those that don't fit the problem, and ranking them in terms of their ethics and feasibility. If a problem can't be solved, perhaps it can be dissolved through reformulation. If an entire problem can't be solved, perhaps the problem can be broken down into parts some of which can be readily solved.

Having trouble generating solutions?

• One of the most difficult stages in problem-solving is to jump-start the process of brainstorming solutions. If you are stuck then here are some generic options guaranteed to get you "unstuck."
• Gather Information: Many disagreements can be resolved by gathering more information. Because this is the easiest and least painful way of reaching consensus, it is almost always best to start here. Gathering information may not be possible because of different constraints: there may not be enough time, the facts may be too expensive to gather, or the information required goes beyond scientific or technical knowledge. Sometimes gathering more information does not solve the problem but allows for a new, more fruitful formulation of the problem. Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins in Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases show how solving a factual disagreement allows a more profound conceptual disagreement to emerge.
• Nolo Contendere. Nolo Contendere is Latin for not opposing or contending. Your interests may conflict with your supervisor but he or she may be too powerful to reason with or oppose. So your only choice here is to give in to his or her interests. The problem with nolo contendere is that non-opposition is often taken as agreement. You may need to document (e.g., through memos) that your choosing not to oppose does not indicate agreement.
• Negotiate. Good communication and diplomatic skills may make it possible to negotiate a solution that respects the different interests. Value integrative solutions are designed to integrate conflicting values. Compromises allow for partial realization of the conflicting interests. (See the module, The Ethics of Team Work, for compromise strategies such as logrolling or bridging.) Sometimes it may be necessary to set aside one's interests for the present with the understanding that these will be taken care of at a later time. This requires trust.
• Oppose. If nolo contendere and negotiation are not possible, then opposition may be necessary. Opposition requires marshaling evidence to document one's position persuasively and impartially. It makes use of strategies such as leading an "organizational charge" or "blowing the whistle." For more on whistle-blowing consult the discussion of whistleblowing in the Hughes case that can be found in computing cases.
• Exit. Opposition may not be possible if one lacks organizational power or documented evidence. Nolo contendere will not suffice if non-opposition implicates one in wrongdoing. Negotiation will not succeed without a necessary basis of trust or a serious value integrative solution. As a last resort, one may have to exit from the situation by asking for reassignment or resigning.

Refining solutions

• Are any solutions blatantly unethical or unrealizable?
• Do any solutions overlap? Can these be integrated into broader solutions?
• Can solutions be brought together as courses of action that can be pursued simultaneously?
• Go back to the problem specification? Can any solutions be eliminated because they do not address the problem? (Or can the problem be revised to better fit what, intuitively, is a good solution.)
• Can solutions be brought together as successive courses of action? For example, one solution represents Plan A; if it does not work then another solution, Plan B, can be pursued. (You negotiate the problem with your supervisor. If she fails to agree, then you oppose your supervisor on the grounds that her position is wrong. If this fails, you conform or exit.)
• The goal here is to reduce the solution list to something manageable, say, a best, a second best, and a third best. Try adding a bad solution to heighten strategic points of comparison. The list should be short so that the remaining solutions can be intensively examined as to their ethics and feasibility.

Solution Testing: The solutions developed in the second stage must be tested in various ways.

• Reversibility: Would I still think the choice of this option good if I were one of those adversely affected by it? (Davis uses this formulation in various publications.) I identify different stakeholders and then take up their roles. Through this imaginative projection, I should consider how the action under consideration will affect them and how they will view, interpret, and experience this affect.
• Harm: Does this option do less harm than any available alternative? Here I try to design an action that will minimize harmful effects. I should factor in the likely results of the action under consideration but I should also evaluate how justly these results will be distributed among stakeholders.
• Publicity: What kind of person will I become if I choose this action? This is Davis' formulation of this test as a virtue test. The key to this test is that you associate the agent with the action. If I (the agent) am publicly judged as a person in terms of this action, what does this say about me as a person? Am I comfortable being judged an irresponsible person on the basis of my being identified with my irresponsible action?
• Meta-Test - Convergence: Do a quick inventory here. Do the ethics tests come together and agree on ranking this solution as a strong one? Then this solution satisfies the convergence meta-test and this provides independent evidence of the strength of the solution.
• Meta-Test - Divergence: Again, do a quick inventory of your solution evaluation matrix results to this point. Do the tests differ or diverge on this point? This is independent evidence of the weakness of this solution. Think about why this solution may be strong under one test but weak under the others.
• The solution evaluation matrix presented just below models and summarizes the solution testing process.

Solution Implementation

The chosen solution must be examined in terms of how well it responds to various situational constraints that could impede its implementation. What will be its costs? Can it be implemented within necessary time constraints? Does it honor recognized technical limitations or does it require pushing these back through innovation and discovery? Does it comply with legal and regulatory requirements? Finally, could the surrounding organizational, political, and social environments give rise to obstacles to the implementation of the solution? In general this phase requires looking at interest, technical, and resource constraints or limitations. A Feasibility Matrix helps to guide this process.

The Feasibility Tests focuses on situational constraints. How could these hinder the implementation of the solution? Should the solution be modified to ease implementation? Can the constraints be removed or remodeled by negotiation, compromise, or education? Can implementation be facilitated by modifying both the solution and changing the constraints?

Different Feasibility Constraints

• The Feasibility Test identifies the constraints that could interfere with realizing a solution. This test also sorts out these constraints into resource (time, cost, materials), interest (individuals, organizations, legal, social, political), and technical limitations. By identifying situational constraints, problem-solvers can anticipate implementation problems and take early steps to prevent or mitigate them.
• Time. Is there a deadline within which the solution has to be enacted? Is this deadline fixed or negotiable?
• Financial. Are there cost constraints on implementing the ethical solution? Can these be extended by raising more funds? Can they be extended by cutting existing costs? Can agents negotiate for more money for implementation?
• Technical. Technical limits constrain the ability to implement solutions. What, then, are the technical limitations to realizing and implementing the solution? Could these be moved back by modifying the solution or by adopting new technologies?
• Manufacturability. Are there manufacturing constraints on the solution at hand? Given time, cost, and technical feasibility, what are the manufacturing limits to implementing the solution? Once again, are these limits fixed or flexible, rigid or negotiable?
• Legal. How does the proposed solution stand with respect to existing laws, legal structures, and regulations? Does it create disposal problems addressed in existing regulations? Does it respond to and minimize the possibility of adverse legal action? Are there legal constraints that go against the ethical values embodied in the solution? Again, are these legal constraints fixed or negotiable?
• Individual Interest Constraints. Individuals with conflicting interests may oppose the implementation of the solution. For example, an insecure supervisor may oppose the solution because he fears it will undermine his authority. Are these individual interest constraints fixed or negotiable?
• Organizational. Inconsistencies between the solution and the formal or informal rules of an organization may give rise to implementation obstacles. Implementing the solution may require support of those higher up in the management hierarchy. The solution may conflict with organization rules, management structures, traditions, or financial objectives. Once again, are these constraints fixed or flexible?
• Social, Cultural, or Political. The socio-technical system within which the solution is to be implemented contains certain social structures, cultural traditions, and political ideologies. How do these stand with respect to the solution? For example, does a climate of suspicion of high technology threaten to create political opposition to the solution? What kinds of social, cultural, or political problems could arise? Are these fixed or can they be altered through negotiation, education, or persuasion?

Ethics Tests For Solution Evaluation

Three ethics tests (reversibility, harm/beneficence, and public identification) encapsulate three ethical approaches (deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics) and form the basis of stage three of the SDC, solution testing. A fourth test (a value realization test) builds upon the public identification/virtue ethics test by evaluating a solution in terms of the values it harmonizes, promotes, protects, or realizes. Finally a code test provides an independent check on the ethics tests and also highlights intermediate moral concepts such as safety, health, welfare, faithful agency, conflict of interest, confidentiality, professional integrity, collegiality, privacy, property, free speech, and equity/access). The following section provides advice on how to use these tests. More information can be found at www.computingcases.org.

Setting Up the Ethics Tests: Pitfalls to avoid

Set-Up Pitfalls: Mistakes in this area lead to the analysis becoming unfocused and getting lost in irrelevancies. (a) Agent-switching where the analysis falls prey to irrelevancies that crop up when the test application is not grounded in the standpoint of a single agent, (b) Sloppy action-description where the analysis fails because no specific action has been tested, (c) Test-switching where the analysis fails because one test is substituted for another. (For example, the public identification and reversibility tests are often reduced to the harm/beneficence test where harmful consequences are listed but not associated with the agent or stakeholders.)

Set up the test

• Identify the agent (the person who is going to perform the action)
• Describe the action or solution that is being tested (what the agent is going to do or perform)
• Identify the stakeholders (those individuals or groups who are going to be affected by the action), and their stakes (interests, values, goods, rights, needs, etc.
• Identify, sort out, and weigh the consequences (the results the action is likely to bring about)

Harm/Beneficence Test

• What harms would accompany the action under consideration? Would it produce physical or mental suffering, impose financial or non-financial costs, or deprive others of important or essential goods?
• What benefits would this action bring about? Would it increase safety, quality of life, health, security, or other goods both moral and non-moral?
• What is the magnitude of each these consequences? Magnitude includes likelihood it will occur (probability), the severity of its impact (minor or major harm) and the range of people affected.
• Identify one or two other viable alternatives and repeat these steps for them. Some of these may be modifications of the basic action that attempt to minimize some of the likely harms. These alternatives will establish a basis for assessing your alternative by comparing it with others.
• Decide on the basis of the test which alternative produces the best ratio of benefits to harms?
• Check for inequities in the distribution of harms and benefits. Do all the harms fall on one individual (or group)? Do all of the benefits fall on another? If harms and benefits are inequitably distributed, can they be redistributed? What is the impact of redistribution on the original solution imposed?

Pitfalls of the Harm/Beneficence Test

• “Paralysis of Analysis" comes from considering too many consequences and not focusing only on those relevant to your decision.
• Incomplete Analysis results from considering too few consequences. Often it indicates a failure of moral imagination which, in this case, is the ability to envision the consequences of each action alternative.
• Failure to compare different alternatives can lead to a decision that is too limited and one-sided.
• Failure to weigh harms against benefits occurs when decision-makers lack the experience to make the qualitative comparisons required in ethical decision making.
• Finally, justice failures result from ignoring the fairness of the distribution of harms and benefits. This leads to a solution which may maximize benefits and minimize harms but still give rise to serious injustices in the distribution of these benefits and harms.

Reversibility Test

• Set up the test by (i) identifying the agent, (ii) describing the action, and (iii) identifying the stakeholders and their stakes.
• Use the stakeholder analysis to identify the relations to be reversed.
• Reverse roles between the agent (you) and each stakeholder: put them in your place (as the agent) and yourself in their place (as the one subjected to the action).
• If you were in their place, would you still find the action acceptable?

Cross Checks for Reversibility Test (These questions help you to check if you have carried out the reversibility test properly.)

• Does the proposed action treat others with respect? (Does it recognize their autonomy or circumvent it?)
• Does the action violate the rights of others? (Examples of rights: free and informed consent, privacy, freedom of conscience, due process, property, freedom of expression)
• Would you recommend that this action become a universal rule?
• Are you, through your action, treating others merely as means?

Pitfalls of the Reversibility Test

• Leaving out a key stakeholder relation
• Failing to recognize and address conflicts between stakeholders and their conflicting stakes
• Confusing treating others with respect with capitulating to their demands (“Reversing with Hitler”)
• Failing to reach closure, i.e., an overall, global reversal assessment that takes into account all the stakeholders the agent has reversed with.

Steps in Applying the Public Identification Test

• Set up the analysis by identifying the agent, describing the action, and listing the key values or virtues at play in the situation.
• Association the action with the agent.
• Describe what the action says about the agent as a person. Does it reveal him or her as someone associated with a virtue or a vice?

Alternative Version of Public Identification

• Does the action under consideration realize justice or does it pose an excess or defect of justice?
• Does the action realize responsibility or pose an excess or defect of responsibility?
• Does the action realize reasonableness or pose too much or too little reasonableness?
• Does the action realize honesty or pose too much or too little honesty?
• Does the action realize integrity or pose too much or too little integrity?

Pitfalls of Public Identification

• Action not associated with agent. The most common pitfall is failure to associate the agent and the action. The action may have bad consequences and it may treat individuals with respect but these points are not as important in the context of this test as what they imply about the agent as a person who deliberately performs such an action.
• Failure to specify moral quality, virtue, or value. Another pitfall is to associate the action and agent but only ascribe a vague or ambiguous moral quality to the agent. To say, for example, that willfully harming the public is bad fails to zero in on precisely what moral quality this ascribes to the agent. Does it render him or her unjust, irresponsible, corrupt, dishonest, or unreasonable? The virtue list given above will help to specify this moral quality.

Code of Ethics Test

• Does the action hold paramount the health, safety, and welfare of the public, i.e., those affected by the action but not able to participate in its design or execution?
• Does the action maintain faithful agency with the client by not abusing trust, avoiding conflicts of interest, and maintaining confidences?
• Is the action consistent with the reputation, honor, dignity, and integrity of the profession?
• Does the action serve to maintain collegial relations with professional peers?
• The ethics and feasibility tests will not always converge on the same solution. There is a complicated answer for why this is the case but the simple version is that the tests do not always agree on a given solution because each test (and the ethical theory it encapsulates) covers a different domain or dimension of the action situation. Meta tests turn this disadvantage to your advantage by feeding the interaction between the tests on a given solution back into the evaluation of that solution.
• When the ethics tests converge on a given solution, this convergence is a sign of the strength and robustness of the solution and counts in its favor.
• When a given solution responds well to one test but does poorly under another, this is a sign that the solution needs further development and revision. It is not a sign that one test is relevant while the others are not. Divergence between test results is a sign that the solution is weak.

Application Exercise

You will now practice the four stages of decision making with a real-world case. This case, Risk Assessment, came from a retreat on Business, Science, and Engineering Ethics held in Puerto Rico in December 1998. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant SBR 9810253.

Risk Assessment ScenarioCase Scenario: You supervise a group of engineers working for a private laboratory with expertise in nuclear waste disposal and risk assessment. The DOE (Department of Energy) awarded a contract to your laboratory six years ago to do a risk assessment of various nuclear waste disposal sites. During the six years in which your team has been doing the study, new and more accurate calculations in risk assessment have become available. Your laboratory’s study, however, began with the older, simpler calculations and cannot integrate the newer without substantially delaying completion. You, as the leader of the team, propose a delay to the DOE on the grounds that it is necessary to use the more advanced calculations. Your position is that the laboratory needs more time because of the extensive calculations required; you argue that your group must use state of the art science in doing its risk assessment. The DOE says you are using overly high standards of risk assessment to prolong the process, extend the contract, and get more money for your company. They want you to use simpler calculations and finish the project; if you are unwilling to do so, they plan to find another company that thinks differently. Meanwhile, back at the laboratory, your supervisor (a high level company manager) expresses to you the concern that while good science is important in an academic setting, this is the real world and the contract with the DOE is in jeopardy. What should you do?

Part One: Problem Specification

• Specify the problem in the above scenario. Be as concise and specific as possible
• Is your problem best specifiable as a disagreement? Between whom? Over what?
• Can your problem be specified as a value conflict? What are the values in conflict? Are the moral, nonmoral, or both?

Part Two: Solution Generation

• Quickly and without analysis or criticism brainstorm 5 to ten solutions
• Refine your solution list. Can solutions be eliminated? (On what basis?) Can solutions be combined? Can solutions be combined as plan a and plan b?
• If you specified your problem as a disagreement, how do your solutions resolve the disagreement? Can you negotiate interests over positions? What if your plan of action doesn't work?
• If you formulated your problem as a value conflict, how do your solutions resolve this conflict? By integrating the conflicting values? By partially realizing them through a value compromise? By trading one value off for another?

Part Three: Solution Testing

• Construct a solution evaluation matrix to compare two to three solution alternatives.
• Choose a bad solution and then compare to it the two strongest solutions you have.
• Be sure to avoid the pitfalls described above and set up each test carefully.

Part Four: Solution Implementation

• Develop an implementation plan for your best solution. This plan should anticipate obstacles and offer means for overcoming them.
• Prepare a feasibility table outlining these issues using the table presented above.
• Remember that each of these feasibility constraints is negotiable and therefore flexible. If you choose to set aside a feasibility constraint then you need to outline how you would negotiate the extension of that constraint.

Decision-Making Presentation

Problem Solving Presentation

Shortened Presentation for Fall 2012

Vigo Socio-Technical System Table and Problems

Test Rubric Fall 2009: Problem-Solving

Legal Constraints on a Business

by Devra Gartenstein

Published on 1 Jan 2021

Like individuals, businesses are constrained by laws and organizations that protect the well-being of society as a whole. Although companies such as Enron have received publicity for trying to profit by disregarding their legal obligations, many of the legal constraints that businesses face make clear sense and can even contribute to a company's long-term bottom line. For the most part, legal obligations of businesses are also moral obligations, and most ethically sound companies would follow these rules whether or not they were legally obligated to do so.

Your business is responsible for harm that its products or services may inflict on customers. If you sell food, you must take precautions to ensure it will not make people sick. If you operate a taxi service, you must make sure your drivers are safe and sober so they do not hurt customers by causing accidents. Being mindful of customer safety is a legal obligation, but it also makes good business sense: Customers who are hurt as a result of your negligence are unlikely to become repeat customers, and negative publicity about your negligence can multiply the damage to your business.

Financial Accountability

Your business is financially responsible to a variety of stakeholders -- from vendors, to employees, to the landlord who owns the commercial property you lease. You are legally obligated to pay for the products and services you use, and you are legally obligated to compensate employees for their time and labor. Fulfilling these obligations are also in your best interests as a business owner: Vendors and employees who are paid fairly and on time will continue to provide your business with the products, services and labor you need when you need them.

Contractual Accountability

Your business is legally required to honor contractual obligations that you make, including meeting the terms of a commercial lease and abiding by any noncompete clause you sign. Contractual obligations include commitments to provide goods or services and agreements to use services or facilities. A sole proprietor business owner has a personal obligation to honor the terms of these arrangements, and a business with a corporate structure is a business entity that must honor its own contractual obligations.

Businesses are legally obligated to pay the taxes they accrue to city, state and federal revenue agencies. Tax obligations include revenue taxes on gross sales and income taxes on net earnings after subtracting operating expenses from gross revenue. Retail businesses must also collect sales tax from customers and remit these amounts to state agencies. Businesses with employees are legally responsible for withholding and remitting income taxes and also for paying employment taxes to state and federal agencies.

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• Harvard Law Case Studies A-Z

Independent Investigations and Reports: Legal and Ethical Constraints

Howell Jackson

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This case study is designed to highlight questions of ethics and independence in the growing field of internal investigations, using recent reports of wrongdoing at Wells Fargo, Uber, and Volkswagen as guideposts. The case study should also help students reflect on their own professional obligations as lawyers in an arena with competing stakeholders, complicated factual questions, and uncertain legal obligations.

IMAGE CREDIT: Ethics and compliance by Nick Youngson, www.nyphotographic.com (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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A Problem Solving Framework For New Lawyers

by Keith Lee

Law schools traditionally do thing: teach students to “think like lawyers.”

This means most law students graduate not really knowing how to do much.

What to do when a client walks through your door, sits down, and asks for help. How to respond when the client says they have been charged with aggravated assault, or they need a business or formation, or that they want a divorce.

Hell, how to even get clients through the door in the first place. New lawyers are faced with countless problems that law schools historically don’t teach them how to solve.

Who is the client?

What are the facts, what are the client’s goals, what are the legal constraints and opportunities, what are the ethical and moral constraints, how do you proceed.

“…a client may be a landlord and other interested parties may be tenants. Or a client may be a corporation. Or more than one client may be involved, such as a government agency, the State, the governor, and your supervisor. In some situations, it may be unclear whether a client/attorney relationship has formed. For example, if a friend or neighbor casually asks for advice about his problem, an initial consideration should be whether there is a client/attorney relationship before anything is done to help solve the problem.”

You must thoroughly understand clients. Surface level understanding of clients is insufficient if you’re helping them solve their problems. Often times understanding the client is what leads to understanding the problem. And sometimes the client isn’t even “the client.”

The other day I was speaking to an associate who was in the office on a Sunday, grinding away but about to leave in the afternoon, when she got an email from a partner that a motion needed to be on his desk at 8 AM the following morning. In this instance, for the associate her “client” was her partner. She was there late into the evening.

“A client will often seek an attorney to help solve or avoid a practical or legal problem. The facts of a client’s problem are often incomplete and need to be further developed or investigated. Problem solving involves thinking not only about what are the relevant facts, known or unknown. Problem solving requires understanding inconsistent or ambiguous facts. Students need to comfortably deal with ambiguity and realize that problem solving often does not result in one correct answer. Clients don’t walk into a lawyer’s office with a hypothetical, a multiple-choice question, or an identified specific legal issue…”

This is a common lament I hear from experienced lawyers talking about taking on new lawyers (especially Millennials) as associates. Millennials expect there to be some sort of “right” answer. Or they have difficulties  thinking through the problem .

New lawyers must push forward with limited information and work towards finding out everything they can about an issue when it is presented to them.

“A client may have more than one goal, the goals may be conflicting (short-term v. long-term goals), inchoate, or ambiguous. Problem solving also requires students to look at the problem from different perspectives—from the client’s, as well as his opponent’s perspective.”

Clients often come into a law firm and have no clue what they want or need. Lawyers must sit down with a client, discuss the issues, and work towards developing goals together. Many clients operate from a position of ignorance of the law. They know they need help, but they don’t know what type of help they need .

It’s a lawyer’s job to figure out what needs to be done.

“The facts and the law help frame the issues involved in your client’s case. Thus, in addition to researching facts, researching the law will uncover legal opportunities and constraints. Research may involve statutes, regulations, cases or other sources. Unlike in law school classes where all the problems are germane to a particular area of the law (contracts, torts, property, etc.), the problem may not involve just one area of the law but instead may involve multiple legal issues and sources of the law…”

This is veering towards a SWOT Analysis , which is a useful starting point when looking at a matter. SWOT is one of those things that all business people know of, but very few lawyers seem to. Lawyers go through the same sort of process, just in a bit more haphazard fashion.

But it’s something they have to struggle through on their own because they are never given a model framework to use in law school. Law schools don’t need to re-invent the wheel, just walk across campus to the B-school and have them come teach SWOT methodology to the 1Ls. Done.

“Legal education often focuses on “cardboard clients”—one-dimensional characters—that only exist within class discussions on professional responsibility and ethical obligations. These cardboard clients, however, are ill suited for problem solving, where students should understand the reality of actual clients as whole persons, with complex lives and relationships to the “fullest dimension.””

This was true in my experience and almost every other lawyer I speak to agrees. Ethical quandaries presented in law school are almost laughably simplistic. In the words of a seasoned lawyer I am friends with, you should put your mind in the gutter, then go below that.

People and businesses come into your office with incredibly perverse situations and ask you to do questionable things at times. Having  a strong moral character is necessary for the practice of law, but you also can’t impose your morals on your client.

“Students must think of all available options, including non-legal solutions. Consider what would be best financially, emotionally, personally, morally, religiously, politically, and psychologically…In evaluating and weighing options, considerations of cost and efficiency are important, as well as whether the goals of the client and others conflict. The short term and long term goals of the client should be reviewed as well. In addition, whether an option would create new problems or make the problem worse is critical to examine. Would doing nothing be a reasonable option worth considering? What is the simplest solution?”

The big question. What now?

Think through each step, push against the problem until it cracks, and find the best solution for your client.

That’s why the client is in your office.

It’s your job to figure out how to solve their problems.

References [ + ]

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A Problem Solving Framework For New Lawyers

Law schools traditionally do thing: teach students to “think like lawyers.”

Through the Socratic method and study of case law, law schools give students tools to analyze and understand the law. But as we all know, learning to think like a lawyer doesn’t prepare to students to  practice  as lawyers. Law schools teach students to analyze and understand Judges’ opinions, but the practice of law is much more than that.

Law schools don’t cover everything else that comes along with being a lawyer. What to do when a client walks through your door, sits down, and asks for help. How to respond when the client says they have been charged with aggravated assault, or they need a business or formation, or that they want a divorce. Hell, how to even get clients through the door in the first place. New lawyers are faced with countless problems that law schools historically don’t teach them how to solve.

Such is the basis of a law review article,  Problem Solved: Preparing Students for Practice Using Problem Solving to Connect Legal Knowledge, Theory, and Skills  by  Professor Kathleen Vinson . The abstract:

Monday morning you listen to a voice mail from a corporate client explaining that it just discovered one of its manufacturers overseas produced toys containing lead paint. This client asks you to draft a press release announcing a recall of these toys, alerting its customers, but cautiously avoiding any admissions of liability.

The following day, in another case, you need to advise a client, who professes his innocence, whether he should accept a guilty plea or proceed to trial. The next day, you are asked by your supervisor to argue a motion to dismiss a complaint, but you have concerns there is no legal or factual basis to support the motion. Finally, another client, who owns an apartment building, seeks your help when his tenant accuses another tenant of sexually harassing her.

These are just some of the types of problems lawyers could face in just one week. Would law students know how to solve them? No matter what the legal issue or setting, understanding and applying a problem-solving methodology and focusing on the client in each case can help prepare students for practice.

Students engaged in problem solving in law school benefit from experiencing the primary role of a lawyer: a problem-solver, enabling students to see the connection between legal knowledge, theory, and skills to help achieve a client’s goals.

Vinson then provides the methodology she uses to teach problem solving to students.

Who is the client?

What are the facts, what are the client’s goals, what are the legal constraints and opportunities, what are the ethical and moral constraints, how do you proceed.

“…a client may be a landlord and other interested parties may be tenants. Or a client may be a corporation. Or more than one client may be involved, such as a government agency, the State, the governor, and your supervisor.

In some situations, it may be unclear whether a client/attorney relationship has formed. For example, if a friend or neighbor casually asks for advice about his problem, an initial consideration should be whether there is a client/attorney relationship before anything is done to help solve the problem.”

You must thoroughly understand clients. Surface level understanding of clients is insufficient if you’re helping them solve their problems. Often times understanding the client is what leads to understanding the problem. And sometimes the client isn’t even “the client.”

The other day I was speaking to an associate who was in the office on a Sunday, grinding away but about to leave in the afternoon, when she got an email from a partner that a motion needed to be on his desk at 8 AM the following morning. In this instance, for the associate her “client” was her partner. She was there late into the evening.

“A client will often seek an attorney to help solve or avoid a practical or legal problem. The facts of a client’s problem are often incomplete and need to be further developed or investigated. Problem solving involves thinking not only about what are the relevant facts, known or unknown. Problem solving requires understanding inconsistent or ambiguous facts. Students need to comfortably deal with ambiguity and realize that problem solving often does not result in one correct answer.

Clients don’t walk into a lawyer’s office with a hypothetical, a multiple-choice question, or an identified specific legal issue…”

This is a common lament I hear from experienced lawyers talking about taking on new lawyers (especially Millennials) as associates. Millennials expect there to be some sort of “right” answer. Or they have difficulties  thinking through the problem .

New lawyers must push forward with limited information and work towards finding out everything they can about an issue when it is presented to them.

“A client may have more than one goal, the goals may be conflicting (short-term v. long-term goals), inchoate, or ambiguous. Problem solving also requires students to look at the problem from different perspectives—from the client’s, as well as his opponent’s perspective.”

Clients often come into a law firm and have no clue what they want or need. Lawyers must sit down with a client, discuss the issues, and work towards developing goals together. Many clients operate from a position of ignorance of the law. They know they need help,  but they don’t know what type of help they need .

It’s a lawyer’s job to figure out what needs to be done.

“The facts and the law help frame the issues involved in your client’s case. Thus, in addition to researching facts, researching the law will uncover legal opportunities and constraints. Research may involve statutes, regulations, cases or other sources.

Unlike in law school classes where all the problems are germane to a particular area of the law (contracts, torts, property, etc.), the problem may not involve just one area of the law but instead may involve multiple legal issues and sources of the law…”

This is veering towards a  SWOT Analysis , which is a useful starting point when looking at a matter. SWOT is one of those things that all business people know of, but very few lawyers seem to. Lawyers go through the same sort of process, just in a bit more haphazard fashion.

But it’s something they have to struggle through on their own because they are never given a model framework to use in law school. Law schools don’t need to re-invent the wheel, just walk across campus to the B-school and have them come teach SWOT methodology to the 1Ls. Done.

“Legal education often focuses on “cardboard clients”—one-dimensional characters—that only exist within class discussions on professional responsibility and ethical obligations. These cardboard clients, however, are ill suited for problem solving, where students should understand the reality of actual clients as whole persons, with complex lives and relationships to the “fullest dimension.””

This was true in my experience and almost every other lawyer I speak to agrees. Ethical quandaries presented in law school are almost laughably simplistic. In the words of a seasoned lawyer I am friends with, you should put your mind in the gutter, then go below that.

People and businesses come into your office with incredibly perverse situations and ask you to do questionable things at times. Having  a strong moral character  is necessary for the practice of law, but you also can’t impose your morals on your client.

“Students must think of all available options, including non-legal solutions. Consider what would be best financially, emotionally, personally, morally, religiously, politically, and psychologically…In evaluating and weighing options, considerations of cost and efficiency are important, as well as whether the goals of the client and others conflict.

The short term and long term goals of the client should be reviewed as well. In addition, whether an option would create new problems or make the problem worse is critical to examine. Would doing nothing be a reasonable option worth considering? What is the simplest solution?”

The big question.  What now?  Think through each step, push against the problem until it cracks, and find the best solution for your client.

That’s why the client is in your office. It’s your job to figure out  how to solve their problems .

Vinson, Kathleen Elliott, Problem Solved: Preparing Students for Practice Using Problem Solving to Connect Legal Knowledge, Theory, and Skills (May 30, 2014). Suffolk University Law School Research Paper No. 14-15. Available at SSRN:  http://ssrn.com/abstract=2443903  or  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2443903

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You represent and warrant to us that: (a) if you are a Company/ Professional Firm, you are duly registered under applicable Laws, validly existing and in good standing under the Laws of the territory in which your Firm is registered and are a resident of India for income tax purposes every financial year; (b) you have all requisite right, power and authority to agree to the Terms and Conditions & perform your obligations and grant the rights, licences and authorizations you grant hereunder; (c) you and all of your affiliates, associates will comply with all applicable Laws in your performance of your obligations and exercise of your rights under this Agreement. You further represent that before seeking any professional service from any Registered User/ Consultant registered with SoOLEGAL platform, you at your own risk shall perform due diligence of such Professional/ Consultant as SoOLEGAL shall not be responsible for any fraudulent user in this platform and any fraud committed on you by such user.

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You release us from, and agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless us (and our officers, directors, employees, agents and Affiliates) against, any claim, loss, damage, settlement, cost, taxes, expense or other liability (including, without limitation, attorneys' fees) (each, a "Claim") arising from or related to: (a) your actual or alleged breach of any obligations of any Terms and Conditions; (b) any personal injury, death or loss of property due to any advice of provided by you to any client or any damage caused to any client related thereto; or (c) Any applicable tax accrued and incidental upon you; or (d) any fraud committed upon you by any SoOLEGAL Registered User/ Consultant as SoOLEGAL does not perform any Due Diligence on such Users and such Users expressly have represented that they are duly Registered Professionals under applicable statutes; or (e) any fraudulent transaction on your debit/ credit card by any third party not associated with SoOLEGAL.

THE SoOLEGAL SITE AND THE SERVICES, INCLUDING ALL CONTENT, SOFTWARE, FUNCTIONS, MATERIALS AND INFORMATION AVAILABLE OR PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES, ARE PROVIDED "AS-IS." YOU ARE ENTITLED MERELY TO USE THE PORTAL ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY SoOLEGAL AND AS A USER OF THE SERVICES, YOU ACCESS THE SoOLEGAL SITE, THE SERVICES AND ANY ONLINE PORTAL OR TOOL PROVIDED BY SoOLEGAL TO HELP YOU AVAIL THE SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE AND OUR AFFILIATES WAIVE AND DISCLAIM: (1) ANY REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, DECLARATIONS OR GUARANTEES REGARDING THE SERVICES OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, DECLARATIONS OR GUARANTEES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT; (2) IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE; AND (3) ANY OBLIGATION, LIABILITY, RIGHT, CLAIM OR REMEDY IN TORT, WHETHER OR NOT ARISING FROM OUR NEGLIGENCE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SoOLEGAL SITE OR THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE AVAILABLE, TIMELY, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE, AND WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO SYSTEM FAILURES OR OTHER INTERRUPTIONS THAT MAY AFFECT THE RECEIPT, PROCESSING, ACCEPTANCE, COMPLETION OR SETTLEMENT OF ANY TRANSACTIONS OR ANY OTHER INTERRUPTION CAUSED DUE TO ANY FORCE MAJEURE EVENT WHERE WE DO NOT GUARANTEE ANY BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN TILL THE CESSATION OF SUCH FORCE MAJEURE EVENT.SOME JURISDICTIONS' LAWS DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSION OF AN IMPLIED WARRANTY, IN WHICH CASE THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND WE AND OUR AFFILIATES DISCLAIM TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER SUCH APPLICABLE LAW, ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON- INFRINGEMENT OR QUIET ENJOYMENT.

SoOLEGAL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN CLIENTS AND REGISTERED USERS OR ANY OTHER PARTICIPANT DEALINGS, IF A DISPUTE ARISES BETWEEN ONE OR MORE PARTICIPANTS, EACH OF YOU RELEASE SoOLEGAL (AND ITS AGENTS, AFFILIATES AND EMPLOYEES) FROM CLAIMS, DEMANDS, AND DAMAGES (ACTUAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL) OF EVERY KIND AND NATURE, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, SUSPECTED AND UNSUSPECTED, DISCLOSED AND UNDISCLOSED, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH SUCH DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CLIENT(S) OR ANY OTHER PARTICIPANT(S) IN SUCH TRANSACTION OR DEALING.

SoOLEGAL SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT BY YOU OR YOUR FIRM OR YOUR AFFILIATES OR ASSOCIATES AS PER THE PROVISIONS UNDER ANY APPLICABLE ACT THROUGH WHICH YOUR FIRM OR YOU ARE REGISTERED.

Limitation of Liability

SoOLEGAL WILL NOT BE LIABLE (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT, (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, DOCUMENTS LIABILITY, ANY TYPE OF CIVIL RESPONSIBILITY OR OTHER IN THEORY OR OTHER-WISE) TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY COST OF COVER, RECOVERY OR RECOUPMENT OF ANY IN-VESTMENT MADE BY YOU OR YOUR AFFILIATES IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES PROVIDED, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, OR DATA OR PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF SoOLEGAL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH COSTS OR DAMAGES. SoOLEGAL IN FURTHERANCE SHALL NOT BE LIABLEFOR ANY GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILFUL MISCONDUCT. SoOLEGAL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FRAUDULENT TRNSACTION OF YOUR BANKING INSTRUMENTS OR DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS. SoOLEGAL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY REISTERED USER WHO IS NOT A BONA FIDE REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL UNDER APPLICABLE STATUTES.

Tax Matters

Pursuant to your availing SoOLEGAL Services from its Registered Users/ Professionals, you will be subject to applicable taxes and you will pay any taxes that are imposed and payable on such amounts. If we are required by law or by administration thereof to collect any value added, service, sales, use, goods and services or similar taxes from you, you will pay such taxes to us or the Professionals you sought for professional service.

Confidentiality

During the course of your use of the Services, you may receive information relating to us or our Affiliates or to the Services that is not known to the general public ("Confidential Information"). You agree that: (a) all Confidential Information will remain SoOLEGAL's exclusive property; (b) you will use Confidential Information only as is reasonably necessary for your participation in the Services and ensure that persons who have access to Confidential Information will be made aware of and will comply with the obligations in this provision; and (c) you will not otherwise disclose Confidential Information to any individual, company, or other third party, including any Affiliates. You may not issue any press release or make any public statement related to the Services, or use our name, trademarks or logo in any way (including in promotional material) without our advance written permission, or misrepresent or embellish the relationship between us in any way.

SoOLEGAL shall keep all information furnished by you including your personal data, banking information, matters due to which you are seeking professional service and any sensitive information in confidentiality at all times. There shall be no misuse of any Confidential Information provided by you to SoOLEGAL.

Relationship of Parties

You and SoOLEGAL Registered Users/ Professionals are in tandem through SoOLEGAL for your professional service and SoOLEGAL shall not be involved in any dispute between you or your advisor. Nothing in this document will be construed to create a partnership, joint venture, association of persons, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship between you and SoOLEGAL

Modification

We may amend any of the terms and conditions contained in this document (including the Service Terms and Program Policies) at any time and solely at our discretion.

Password Security

Any password we provide to you may be used only during the Term to access Your Account or REGISTERED USER Account, respectively, (or other tools we provide) to use the Service, electronically accept Your Transactions, and review your completed transactions. You are solely responsible for maintaining the security of your password. You may not disclose your password to any third party (other than third parties authorized by you to use Your Account in accordance with this Agreement) and are solely responsible for any use of or action taken under your password. If your password is compromised, you must immediately change your password.

Miscellaneous

The Terms and Conditions are as per the prevalent Laws of India and any dispute regarding these terms, shall be referred to applicable laws of India or the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The exclusive jurisdiction will be with the courts at New Delhi regarding any dispute with SoOLEGAL relating in any way to the Terms and Conditions or your use of the Services. You may not transfer or assign all or any portion of this Agreement, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. Subject to that restriction, this Agreement will be binding on, inure to, and be enforceable against you and your respective successors and assigns or affiliates, associates. We may perform any of our obligations or exercise any of our rights under this Agreement through one or more of our Affiliates. Our failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce such provision or any other provision of this Agreement subsequently.

SoOLEGAL retains the right to immediately halt any transaction, prevent or restrict access to the Services or take any other action to restrict access to or availability of any inaccurate listing, any inappropriately categorized items, any unlawful items, or any items otherwise prohibited by the applicable Program Policies.

The authentic language of this Agreement and subsidiary or associated documentation shall be English and any translations provided are for convenience only. In the event of any conflict or difference in interpretation between the English language version of this Agreement and subsidiary or associated documentation and any translation of them, the English language version and interpretation shall prevail. You agree we may communicate with you in English during the Term of this Agreement.

You agree that we may, in our sole discretion, disclose or make available any information provided or submitted by you or related to your participation under this Agreement (including information regarding Your Documents or Your Transactions) to any judicial, quasi-judicial, governmental, regulatory or any other authority as may be required by us to co-operate and / or comply with any of their orders, instructions or directions or to fulfill any requirements under applicable Laws.

You hereby accept the applicable Service Terms and the applicable Program Policies, which SoOLEGAL may modify from time to time. In the event of any conflicts between the Program Policies and this Agreement, the Program Policies will prevail. This Agreement represents the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Services and related subject matter described herein and supersedes any previous or contemporaneous oral or written agreements and understandings.

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SoOLEGAL Transaction Services Agreement :

By registering yourself with SoOLEGAL, it is understood and agreed by you that the Terms and Conditions under the Transaction Services Terms shall be binding on you at all times during the period of registration and notwithstanding cessation of your registration with SoOLEGAL certain Terms and Conditions shall survive.

"Your Transaction" means any Transaction of Documents/ Advices(s), advice and/ or solution in the form of any written communication to your Client made by you arising out of any advice/ solution sought from you through the SoOLEGAL Site.

Transacting on SoOLEGAL Service Terms:

The SoOLEGAL Payment System Service ("Transacting on SoOLEGAL") is a Service that allows you to list Documents/ Advices which comprise of advice/ solution in the form of written communication to your Client who seeks your advice/ solution via SoOLEGAL Site and such Documents/ Advices being for Transaction directly via the SoOLEGAL Site. SoOLEGAL Payment Service is operated by Sun Integrated Technologies and Applications . TheSoOLEGAL Payment System Service Terms are part of the Terms & Conditions of SoOLEGAL Services Transaction Terms and Conditionsbut unless specifically provided otherwise, concern and apply only to your participation in Transacting on SoOLEGAL. BY REGISTERING FOR OR USING SoOLEGAL PAYMENT SYSTEM , YOU (ON BEHALF OF YOURSELF OR THE FIRM YOU REPRESENT) AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TRANSACTIONS TRANSACTION TERMS AND CONDITIO NS .

Unless otherwise defined in this Documents/ Advice or Terms & Conditions which being the guiding Documents/ Advice to this Documents/ Advice, all capitalized terms have the meanings given them in the Transactions Transaction Terms and Conditions .

S-1. Your Documents/ Advice Listings and Orders

S-1.1 Documents/ Advices Information.  You will, in accordance with applicable Program Policies, provide in the format we require. Documents/ Advices intended to be sold should be accurate and complete and thereafter posted through the SoOLEGAL Site and promptly update such information as necessary to ensure it at all times that such Documents/ Advices remain accurate and complete. You will also ensure that Your Materials, Your Documents/ Advices (including comments) and your offer and subsequent Transaction of any ancillary Documents/ Advice pertaining to the previous Documents/ Advices on the SoOLEGAL Site comply with all applicable Laws (including all marking and labeling requirements) and do not contain any sexually explicit, defamatory or obscene materials or any unlawful materials. You may not provide any information for, or otherwise seek to list for Transaction on the SoOLEGAL Site, any Excluded Documents/ Advices; or provide any URL Marks for use, or request that any URL Marks be used, on the SoOLEGAL Site. In any event of unlawful Documents/ Advices made available for Transaction by you on SoOLEGAL site, it is understood that liabilities limited or unlimited shall be yours exclusively to which SoOLEGAL officers, administrators, Affiliates among other authorized personnel shall not be held responsible and you shall be liable to appropriate action under applicable laws.

S-1.2 Documents/ Advices Listing; Merchandising; Order Processing.  We will list Your Documents/ Advices for Transaction on the SoOLEGAL Site in the applicable Documents/ Advices categories which are supported for third party REGISTERED USERs generally on the SoOLEGAL Site on the applicable Transacting Associated Properties or any other functions, features, advertising, or programs on or in connection with the SoOLEGAL Site). SoOLEGAL reserves its right to restrict at any time in its sole discretion the access to list in any or all categories on the SoOLEGAL Site. We may use mechanisms that rate, or allow users to rate, Your Documents/ Advices and/or your performance as a REGISTERED USER on the SoOLEGAL Site and SoOLEGAL may make these ratings and feedback publicly available. We will provide Order Information to you for each of Your Transactions. Transactions Proceeds will be paid to you only in accordance with Section S-6.

S-1.3 a. It is mandatory to secure an advance amount from Client where SoOLEGAL Registered Consultant will raise an invoice asking for a 25 % advance payment for the work that is committed to be performed for the Client of such SoOLEGAL Registered Consultant. The amount will be refunded to the client if the work is not done and uploaded to SoOLEGAL Repository within the stipulated timeline stated by SoOLEGAL Registered Consultant.

b. SoOLEGAL Consultant will be informed immediately on receipt of advance payment from Client which will be held by SoOLegal and will not be released to either Party and an email requesting the Registered Consultant will be sent to initiate the assignment.

c. The Registered Consultant will be asked on the timeline for completion of the assignment which will be intimated to Client.

d. Once the work is completed by the consultant the document/ advi ce note will be in SoOLEGAL repository and once Client makes rest of the payment, the full amount will be remitted to the consultant in the next payment cycle and the document access will be given to the client.

e. In the event where the Client fails to make payment of the balance amount within 30 days from the date of upload , the Registered Consultant shall receive the advance amount paid by the Client without any interest in the next time cycle after the lapse of 30 days .

S-1.4 Credit Card Fraud.  

We will not bear the risk of credit card fraud (i.e. a fraudulent purchase arising from the theft and unauthorised use of a third party's credit card information) occurring in connection with Your Transactions. We may in our sole discretion withhold for investigation, refuse to process, restrict download for, stop and/or cancel any of Your Transactions. You will stop and/or cancel orders of Your Documents/ Advices if we ask you to do so. You will refund any customer (in accordance with  Section S-2.2 ) that has been charged for an order that we stop or cancel.

S-2. Transaction and Fulfilment, Refunds and Returns

S-2.1 Transaction and Fulfilment: 

Fulfilment – Fulfilment is categorised under the following heads:

1. Fulfilment by Registered User/ Consultant - In the event of Client seeking consultation, Registered User/ Consultant has to ensure the quality of the product and as per the requirement of the Client and if its not as per client, it will not be SoOLEGAL’s responsibility and it will be assumed that the Registered User/ Consultant and the Client have had correspondence before assigning the work to the Registered User/ Consultant.

2. Fulfilment by SoOLEGAL - If the Registered User/ Consultant has uploaded the Documents/ Advice in SoOLEGAL Site, SoOLEGAL Authorised personnel does not access such Documents/ Advice and privacy of the Client’s Documents/ Advice and information is confidential and will be encrypted and upon payment by Client, the Documents/ Advice is emailed by SoOLEGAL to them. Client’s information including email id will be furnished to SoOLEGAL by Registered User/ Consultant.

If Documents/ Advice is not sent to Client, SoOLEGAL will refund any amount paid to such Client’s account without interest within 60 days.

3. SoOLEGAL will charge 5% of the transaction value which is subject to change with time due to various economic and financial factors including inflation among other things, which will be as per SoOLEGAL’s discretion and will be informed to Registered Users about the same from time to time. Any tax applicable on Registered User/ Consultant is payable by such Registered User/ Consultant and not by SoOLEGAL.

4. SoOLEGAL will remit the fees (without any interest) to its Registered User/ Consultant every 15 (fifteen) days. If there is any discrepancy in such payment, it should be reported to Accounts Head of SoOLEGAL ([email protected]) with all relevant account statement within fifteen days from receipt of that last cycle payment. Any discrepancy will be addressed in the next fifteen days cycle. If any discrepancy is not reported within 15 days of receipt of payment, such payment shall be deemed accepted and SoOLEGAL shall not entertain any such reports thereafter.

5. Any Registered User/ Consultant wishes to discontinue with this, such Registered User/ Consultant shall send email to SoOLEGAL and such account will be closed and all credits will be refunded to such Registered User/ Consultant after deducation of all taxes and applicable fees within 30 days. Other than as described in the Fulfilment by SoOLEGAL Terms & Conditions (if applicable to you), for the SoOLEGAL Site for which you register or use the Transacting on SoOLEGAL Service, you will: (a) source, fulfil and transact with your Documents/ Advices, in each case in accordance with the terms of the applicable Order Information, these Transaction Terms & Conditions, and all terms provided by you and displayed on the SoOLEGAL Site at the time of the order and be solely responsible for and bear all risk for such activities; (a) not cancel any of Your Transactions except as may be permitted pursuant to your Terms & Conditions appearing on the SoOLEGAL Site at the time of the applicable order (which Terms & Conditions will be in accordance with Transaction Terms & Conditions) or as may be required Transaction Terms & Conditions per the terms laid in this Documents/ Advice; in each case as requested by us using the processes designated by us, and we may make any of this information publicly available notwithstanding any other provision of the Terms mentioned herein, ensure that you are the REGISTERED USER of all Documents/ Advices made available for listing for Transaction hereunder; identify yourself as the REGISTERED USER of the Documents/ Advices on all downloads or other information included with Your Documents/ Advices and as the Person to which a customer may return the applicable Documents/ Advices; and

S -2.2 Returns and Refunds .  For all of Your Documents/ Advices that are not fulfilled using Fulfilment by SoOLEGAL, you will accept and process returns, refunds and adjustments in accordance with these Transaction Terms & Conditions and the SoOLEGAL Refund Policies published at the time of the applicable order, and we may inform customers that these policies apply to Your Documents/ Advices. You will determine and calculate the amount of all refunds and adjustments (including any taxes, shipping of any hard copy and handling or other charges) or other amounts to be paid by you to customers in connection with Your Transactions, using a functionality we enable for Your Account. This functionality may be modified or discontinued by us at any time without notice and is subject to the Program Policies and the terms of thisTransaction Terms & Conditions Documents/ Advice. You will route all such payments through SoOLEGAL We will provide any such payments to the customer (which may be in the same payment form originally used to purchase Your Documents/ Advices), and you will reimburse us for all amounts so paid. For all of Your Documents/ Advices that are fulfilled using Fulfilment by SoOLEGAL, the SoOLEGAL Refund Policies published at the time of the applicable order will apply and you will comply with them. You will promptly provide refunds and adjustments that you are obligated to provide under the applicable SoOLEGAL Refund Policies and as required by Law, and in no case later than thirty (30) calendar days following after the obligation arises. For the purposes of making payments to the customer (which may be in the same payment form originally used to purchase Your Documents/ Advices), you authorize us to make such payments or disbursements from your available balance in the Nodal Account (as defined in Section S-6). In the event your balance in the Nodal Account is insufficient to process the refund request, we will process such amounts due to the customer on your behalf, and you will reimburse us for all such amount so paid.

S-5. Compensation

You will pay us: (a) the applicable Referral Fee; (b) any applicable Closing Fees; and (c) if applicable, the non-refundable Transacting on SoOLEGAL Subscription Fee in advance for each month (or for each transaction, if applicable) during the Term of this Transaction Terms & Conditions. "Transacting on SoOLEGAL Subscription Fee" means the fee specified as such on the  Transacting on SoOLEGALSoOLEGAL Fee Schedule for the SoOLEGAL Site at the time such fee is payable. With respect to each of Your Transactions: (x) "Transactions Proceeds" has the meaning set out in the Transaction Terms & Conditions; (y) "Closing Fees" means the applicable fee, if any, as specified in the Transacting on SoOLEGAL Fee Schedule for the SoOLEGAL Site; and (z)  "Referral Fee"  means the applicable percentage of the Transactions Proceeds from Your Transaction through the SoOLEGAL Site specified on the Transacting on SoOLEGAL Fee Schedule for the SoOLEGAL Site at the time of Your Transaction, based on the categorization by SoOLEGAL of the type of Documents/ Advices that is the subject of Your Transaction; provided, however, that Transactions Proceeds will not include any shipping charge set by us in the case of Your Transactions that consist solely of SoOLEGAL-Fulfilled Documents/ Advices. Except as provided otherwise, all monetary amounts contemplated in these Service Terms will be expressed and provided in the Local Currency, and all payments contemplated by this Transaction Terms & Conditions will be made in the Local Currency.

All taxes or surcharges imposed on fees payable by you to SoOLEGAL will be your responsibility.

S-6 Transactions Proceeds & Refunds.

S-6.1.Nodal Account.   Remittances to you for Your Transactions will be made through a nodal account (the "Nodal Account") in accordance with the directions issued by Reserve Bank of India for the opening and operation of accounts and settlement of payments for electronic payment transactions involving intermediaries vide its notification RBI/2009-10/231 DPSS.CO.PD.No.1102 / 02.14.08/ 2009-10 dated November 24, 2009. You hereby agree and authorize us to collect payments on your behalf from customers for any Transactions. You authorize and permit us to collect and disclose any information (which may include personal or sensitive information such as Your Bank Account information) made available to us in connection with the Transaction Terms & Conditions mentioned hereunder to a bank, auditor, processing agency, or third party contracted by us in connection with this Transaction Terms & Conditions.

Subject to and without limiting any of the rights described in Section 2 of the General Terms, we may hold back a portion or your Transaction Proceeds as a separate reserve (" Reserve "). The Reserve will be in an amount as determined by us and the Reserve will be used only for the purpose of settling the future claims of customers in the event of non-fulfillment of delivery to the customers of your Documents/ Advices keeping in mind the period for refunds and chargebacks.

S-6.2.  Except as otherwise stated in this Transaction Terms & Conditions Documents/ Advice (including without limitation Section 2 of the General Terms), you authorize us and we will remit the Settlement Amount to Your Bank Account on the Payment Date in respect of an Eligible Transaction. When you either initially provide or later change Your Bank Account information, the Payment Date will be deferred for a period of up to 14 calendar days. You will not have the ability to initiate or cause payments to be made to you. If you refund money to a customer in connection with one of Your Transactions in accordance with Section S-2.2, on the next available Designated Day for SoOLEGAL Site, we will credit you with the amount to us attributable to the amount of the customer refund, less the Refund Administration Fee for each refund, which amount we may retain as an administrative fee.

"Eligible Transaction " means Your Transaction against which the actual shipment date has been confirmed by you.

" Designated Day" means any particular Day of the week designated by SoOLEGAL on a weekly basis, in its sole discretion, for making remittances to you.

" Payment Date" means the Designated Day falling immediately after 14 calendar days (or less in our sole discretion) of the Eligible Transaction.

" Settlement Amount" means Invoices raised through SoOLEGAL Platform (which you will accept as payment in full for the Transaction and shipping and handling of Your Documents/ Advices), less: (a) the Referral Fees due for such sums; (b) any Transacting on SoOLEGAL Subscription Fees due; (c) taxes required to be charged by us on our fees; (d) any refunds due to customers in connection with the SoOLEGAL Site; (e) Reserves, as may be applicable, as per this Transaction Terms & Conditions; (f) Closing Fees, if applicable; and (g) any other applicable fee prescribed under the Program Policies. SoOLEGAL shall not be responsible for

S-6.3.  In the event that we elect not to recover from you a customer's chargeback, failed payment, or other payment reversal (a "Payment Failure"), you irrevocably assign to us all your rights, title and interest in and associated with that Payment Failure.

S-7. Control of Site

Notwithstanding any provision of this Transaction Terms & Conditions, we will have the right in our sole discretion to determine the content, appearance, design, functionality and all other aspects of the SoOLEGAL Site and the Transacting on SoOLEGAL Service (including the right to re-design, modify, remove and alter the content, appearance, design, functionality, and other aspects of, and prevent or restrict access to any of the SoOLEGAL Site and the Transacting on SoOLEGAL Service and any element, aspect, portion or feature thereof (including any listings), from time to time) and to delay or suspend listing of, or to refuse to list, or to de-list, or require you not to list any or all Documents/ Advices on the SoOLEGAL Site in our sole discretion.

S-8. Effect of Termination

Upon termination of this Contract, the Transaction Terms & Conditions automatiocally stands terminated and in connection with the SoOLEGAL Site, all rights and obligations of the parties under these Service Terms with regard to the SoOLEGAL Site will be extinguished, except that the rights and obligations of the parties with respect to Your Transactions occurring during the Term will survive the termination or expiration of the Term.

"SoOLEGAL Refund Policies"  means the return and refund policies published on the SoOLEGAL Site.

"Required Documents/ Advices Information"   means, with respect to each of Your Documents/ Advices in connection with the SoOLEGAL Site, the following (except to the extent expressly not required under the applicable Policies) categorization within each SoOLEGAL Documents/ Advices category and browse structure as prescribed by SoOLEGAL from time to time, Purchase Price; Documents/ Advice Usage, any text, disclaimers, warnings, notices, labels or other content required by applicable Law to be displayed in connection with the offer, merchandising, advertising or Transaction of Your Documents/ Advices, requirements, fees or other terms and conditions applicable to such Documents/ Advices that a customer should be aware of prior to purchasing the Documents/ Advices;

"Transacting on SoOLEGAL Launch Date"   means the date on which we first list one of Your Documents/ Advices for Transaction on the SoOLEGAL Site.

"URL Marks"  means any Trademark, or any other logo, name, phrase, identifier or character string, that contains or incorporates any top level domain (e.g., .com, co.in, co.uk, .in, .de, .es, .edu, .fr, .jp) or any variation thereof (e.g., dot com, dotcom, net, or com).

"Your Transaction"   is defined in the Transaction Terms & Conditions; however, as used in Terms & Conditions, it shall mean any and all such transactions whereby you conduct Transacting of Documents/ Advices or advice sought from you by clients/ customers in writing or by any other mode which is in coherence with SoOLEGAL policy on SoOLEGAL site only.

Taxes on Fees Payable to SoOLEGAL.   In regard to these Service Terms you can provide a PAN registration number or any other Registration/ Enrolment number that reflects your Professional capacity by virtue of various enactments in place. If you are PAN registered, or any professional Firm but not PAN registered, you give the following warranties and representations:

(a) all services provided by SoOLEGAL to you are being received by your establishment under your designated PAN registration number; and

SoOLEGAL reserves the right to request additional information and to confirm the validity of any your account information (including without limitation your PAN registration number) from you or government authorities and agencies as permitted by Law and you hereby irrevocably authorize SoOLEGAL to request and obtain such information from such government authorities and agencies. Further, you agree to provide any such information to SoOLEGAL upon request. SoOLEGAL reserves the right to charge you any applicable unbilled PAN if you provide a PAN registration number, or evidence of being in a Professional Firm, that is determined to be invalid. PAN registered REGISTERED USERs and REGISTERED USERs who provide evidence of being in Law Firm agree to accept electronic PAN invoices in a format and method of delivery as determined by SoOLEGAL.

All payments by SoOLEGAL to you shall be made subject to any applicable withholding taxes under the applicable Law. SoOLEGAL will retain, in addition to its net Fees, an amount equal to the legally applicable withholding taxes at the applicable rate. You are responsible for deducting and depositing the legally applicable taxes and deliver to SoOLEGAL sufficient Documents/ Advice evidencing the deposit of tax. Upon receipt of the evidence of deduction of tax, SoOLEGAL will remit the amount evidenced in the certificate to you. Upon your failure to duly deposit these taxes and providing evidence to that effect within 5 days from the end of the relevant month, SoOLEGAL shall have the right to utilize the retained amount for discharging its tax liability.

Where you have deposited the taxes, you will issue an appropriate tax withholding certificate for such amount to SoOLEGAL and SoOLEGAL shall provide necessary support and Documents/ Adviceation as may be required by you for discharging your obligations.

SoOLEGAL has the option to obtain an order for lower or NIL withholding tax from the Indian Revenue authorities. In case SoOLEGAL successfully procures such an order, it will communicate the same to you. In that case, the amounts retained, shall be in accordance with the directions contained in the order as in force at the point in time when tax is required to be deducted at source.

Any taxes applicable in addition to the fee payable to SoOLEGAL shall be added to the invoiced amount as per applicable Law at the invoicing date which shall be paid by you. F.11. Indemnity

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Seven steps - How to deal with legal issues

• Introduction
• Step 1 - What is your problem?
• Step 2 - Know your rights (and responsibilities)
• Step 3 - Understand your options (and know what you want)
• Step 4 - Know who to speak to
• Step 5 - Communicate effectively
• Step 6 - Get organised!
• Step 7 - Know when to get help
• About this guide

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September 2022

You need to be clear exactly what your problem is. This might be obvious, but sometimes it takes a bit of unpicking.

Top tip! Sometimes you have a couple of problems tangled up together. Don’t get flustered. Try and work out the facts for each one and what you need to do in what order.

To help, try and answer these questions:

• What is your problem about?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• Who is the problem with?
• How did it come about?

Once you are clear about the facts it will help you to carry out the next steps.

“My ex threatened to take me to court after weeks of rows about him seeing the kids. I used to take them to his flat at weekends and he would bring them back. But I’m on such a tight budget that when one of my benefits went down I just couldn’t afford the fares. He said I was stopping him from seeing his kids. When I got the letter about court I was terrified, and furious.

But after chatting with a friend I realised that despite all the slanging matches, my ex and I both wanted him to see the kids. So that wasn’t the actual problem – the key to it all was getting them there. So I texted him and suggested he asked his dad, the kids’ granddad, to come and pick them up in the car. He agreed and it’s worked out really well for everybody.” Lindsay, Falmouth

Not all the information on the internet is up to date, trustworthy or easy to understand. So, start your search at Advicenow where we have brought together all the best information on the law in one place .

Make sure you know:

• what your legal rights are;
• if there is anything that you should have done (your legal responsibilities);
• what ways you might be able to solve the problem. For example, by having an informal chat, making a formal complaint, through mediation or by going to court .

Once you have got all the information you will be in the best position to make decisions about what to do (see Step 3).

Friends and family are often keen to give you advice, but there are a lot of myths out there about the law, and the law often changes. So make sure you look up what you need to know to make sure it is right.

You can find lots of free information on your rights online. You can also visit your local library, Citizen’s Advice Bureau or other advice centres to find out where you stand (see our Help Dirctory for more information).

"Last year I was living in a bedsit. It wasn't brilliant but at least it was my own place, and it was near college.

One day, out of the blue, my landlord knocked on the door and told me I had to move out at the weekend because he needed the bedsit for a family friend.

It was really bad timing, I didn't have anywhere I could go, and I had exams coming up. I told my friends what had happened and everyone thought it was unfair, but what can you do? So I moved out and slept on a mate's floor.

When I told my tutor what had happened, she said my landlord wasn't allowed to just evict me like that. So, I looked it up and she was right! Wish I'd known at the time - I would have stood my ground." Suzgo, Croydon

Top tip! If you don’t have a clear idea of what your choices are, or what a realistic outcome would be look up your rights or speak to an adviser. Don't just believe what you are told by someone who might not be on your side.

Be clear what you are asking for. Do you want an apology, a refund, compensation, or something else?

What your options are will depend on how strong your position is. For example, does the law protect you or will you have to rely on goodwill to get what you want?

It will also depend on how confident and motivated you feel. Sometimes it does not feel worth the hassle, and that can be a fair enough conclusion to come to once you have understood your options.

Even if the law does not protect you, it might still be worth having a go. If you negotiate confidently you may still get what you want.

"I bought a necklace for my girlfriend. It was quite cheap, but I didn't want her to know that. The second time she wore it, it fell apart. I was so embarrassed! When I took it back to the shop, they offered me an exchange. But I wanted to get her something completely different. Then they offered me a voucher, and acted like it was some big favour and I was really putting them out. But I didn't really want that either. I wasn't sure what to do so I said I'd think about it.

When I got home, my mum looked it up online. We found out that the shop was wrong and that, if I took it back straight away, I should be able to get a refund. When I went back, I asked for a refund and told them I knew I was entitled to one. They paid up.” Tom, Morecambe

Work out who to speak to in order to solve the problem.

If it is an organisation rather than an individual, ask who the best person to talk to is and try to talk or write directly to them each time.

Sometimes there will be a set process to follow. Find out if there is, and what to do. The more you understand about the process, the stronger your position.

Top tip! If you are not getting anywhere with the people you are talking to it might be time to approach somebody different, for example, the customer services department, or go up a level, for example by contacting an ombudsman (an independent person at the top of the complaints ladder, whose job it is to investigate complaints fairly.)

"This bloke I work with used to say sleazy things to me, and to some of the others. It didn't seem to bother some people, but it made me feel very uncomfortable. I tried to just avoid him but we were always being put on the same shifts. I didn't know what to do.

Then I had a quiet word with someone in human resources, she explained who I could talk to about it informally, and what the procedure was if I wanted to take formal action. It gave me the confidence I needed to do something about it" Jasmine, Sunderland "

To resolve most everyday legal problems you will probably have to talk to the person or organisation involved, either in person, on the telephone or in writing. Below we give you the lowdown on how to do this effectively.

Top tactics

• Stay calm and be polite.
• Be clear about what you want and stick to the point.
• Know your rights (see step 2) and if the law is on your side, or you have had advice, tell them so.

Top tip! When you call an organisation and are told ‘your call will be recorded’ make a note of exactly when you call. That way if they later go back on what they agreed you can ask for the recording. They probably will not have the recording, but it can mean that they take your issue more seriously!

If you are talking to someone in person or on the telephone

• Make notes of everything you want to cover during the conversation and tick them off as you go along.
• Get the name of the person and repeat it several times through the conversation to keep personal contact.
• Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t understand something that the other person says to you. Ask them to explain it in a different way or to give you an example.
• At the end of the conversation repeat back anything you have agreed, particularly anything that they have agreed to do.
• Repeat their name at the end of the conversation and where they are: it helps to make that person feel committed to what they have agreed.
• Sometimes a bit of praise can go a long way in getting that person on side!
• Make a note of who you spoke to, where they are and what you agreed.
• For extra peace of mind send them a letter, email or text confirming what you agreed. The more you have in writing the more evidence (see step 6) you will have if you need to make a complaint.

Top tip! If you are writing to complain about something write ‘Complaint’ in bold across the top of your letter. That way they may have to deal with your letter in line with their complaints procedure and reply within a certain number of days. 

If you are writing to someone

• Double check that you have covered everything you want to. It is sometimes useful to have a friend check that you have made all your points clearly. What is in our minds is nt always what we have put down on paper.
• If you are posting a letter and can afford it, send it ‘signed for’ so that you can track it. This means they will be more likely to respond and not fob you off.

"I had a tendency to get upset and lose my temper a bit when I tried to sort things out. I remember shouting at this woman at customer services when my computer broke. I hadn’t really worked out what I wanted to say, and ended up yelling about some pretty irrelevant stuff. It wasn't my finest moment, it was the company's fault not hers. Apart from being embarrassing, and stressful, it also made things worse! It made it hard to get my point across, and made her less keen to help (understandably).

Now, I try to stay calm, write down what I want to say beforehand, and tell them clearly what the problem is I need their help with." Luca, Birmingham

To solve your problem you need to keep records of what went wrong and how you tried to solve it, and gather evidence to prove you are in the right. For example:

• Check if there are time limits to do with your problem, for example, a certain amount of time in which you have to take something back to a shop, apply to backdate your benefits or put in a claim to a tribunal.
• Keep copies of all the emails, texts and letters you send and receive.
• Make a note of everything you do to solve the problem. Write down who you spoke to, what they said, what you or they were going to do next, and when by.
• If it is your word against somebody else’s write down your account of what happened, date it and keep it safe. 

Recording things properly and getting all your evidence together can be crucial to solving your problem. Not only will it be very helpful for anyone trying to help you, like an adviser, but it could also make all the difference if you have to make a formal complaint or go to court further down the line.

Top tip! If you hand over documents or evidence make sure you get a receipt and keep it safe.

"My mum was sick and in and out of hospital for a while and it played havoc with her care package. Because she wasn't well, I had to try and sort it out for her.

But I learnt something really useful. Now when I speak to someone at social services, at the end of the conversation I always repeat anything they have agreed to do and ask how long they think it will take. If they say a week, I write it down and phone back a week later. I ask to speak to the same person and ask what the progress is. It stops me from being passed from person to person and nobody really dealing with my problem. If they don't want me to call back again, they'll solve it for me." Puja, Carmarthen

Top tip! If you have an important deadline approaching fast, perhaps a court date, get help or advice as soon as you can.

If you are not getting anywhere, or if you are confused, you need to get help.

You can get help from your local advice or law centre, a solicitor, many charities, and organisations like Citizens Advice or ACAS.

Depending on your problem, they may step in and do some of the work for you, or they may just clarify what you should be doing and advise you on tactics. Help from a professional, even if it just confirms that you have been doing the right thing, should help to stop things getting out of control and becoming too stressful.

See Advicenow's Help Directory for where you can get free or low cost legal advice about different types of legal problem .

"I got into debt when I lost my job. My credit card company started sending me letters saying that if I didn't pay it all off immediately, they'd send the bailiffs round. But I didn't have the money. When I phoned the ‘helpline’ they said they'd take me to court, add £300 court fees to my debt, and a bailiff would come into my flat and take all my things. I offered to pay what I could each week, but he wouldn't have any of it. I was so desperate I thought about taking out another loan.

But then I went to see an adviser. She said that they couldn't take my things, and that he had broken the law by saying they could. She said that if they took me to court, the court would only make me pay off what I could afford each week - exactly the same as I had already offered! We wrote out my income and all my expenses and worked out I could only afford to pay £2.50 a week.

When I phoned him back, it was so much easier because I knew the law was on my side. They backed down eventually and accepted £2.50 a week. They had no choice." Jack, Worthing

The information in this guide applies to England and Wales. 

The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don’t rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.

The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.

Acknowledgement

This guide was updated in Septemeber 2022 and continues to be available thanks to funding from the Litigant in Person Support Strategy.

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Home » Advice » Business Law & Compliance » What are the most common legal issues in business?

What are the most common legal issues in business?

• March 31, 2021

Legal disputes can be time-consuming and costly, especially to small business owners who may not have the funds for adequate legal representation. The more you know about the common legal issues that businesses face, the more that you can do to avoid them and prepare yourself against them.

Being caught up in a legal issue can also have a negative effect on your business’s reputation, especially if it becomes publicised, so it’s imperative that you ensure that your business is all above board and that you take legal issues very seriously.

What are ethical and legal issues in business?

Legal issues in business will arise when you are not in line with certain laws. There are certain legal standards that you need to uphold as a business, which is all clearly outlined by governmental laws.

Ethical issues do not necessarily have a legal base. They are based on human ethics, values, and the concept of right and wrong. Ethical issues may arise in your business if you cut corners and do not treat your employees or customers with respect.

What are some of the most common legal issues in business, and how to avoid them?

While the legal issues that you’re most likely to face will depend on what industry you’re in, these are some of the most common legal issues facing the majority of businesses:

Not being registered

Any business in the UK needs to be officially registered with the HMRC. Otherwise, they could face big legal problems. It is a very easy process that can be done through their online portal and should be done as soon as possible.

Ensure that you decide whether registering as a sole trader, a partnership, or a limited company, suits your business ideals and objectives best, and register accordingly. Each structure has different legal implications, so make sure that you understand them fully.

Employee issues

Having employees is a serious commitment. You are responsible for people’s livelihoods, and there are a dozen hoops to jump through if you want to fire anyone. So be very careful about who you hire. Some common employee-related legal issues include:

• Employee classification- Ensure that your employee classifications (part-time, full-time, contractor) are accurate to prevent legal issues.
• Termination- It’s important to handle employee terminations very carefully. Wrongful terminations often end up in a lawsuit. You’ll need to draft a notice of termination, provide relevant reasons, and give the employee sufficient notice should you wish to terminate their employment with you.
• Discrimination- Unfortunately, discrimination and nepotism in the workplace are very common. Discrimination allegations are most often based on race, gender, age and ethnicity. Ensure that all of your employees are treated equally and are provided with equal opportunities.
• Electronic Security- There should be a BYOD policy implemented for any employees who do company work on their own devices. This is so that your network is protected.
• Confidential Information- If you host meetings with employees in which you share confidential company information, make sure that you get them to sign confidentiality agreements to avoid potential issues.
• Health & Safety- Whatever industry you’re in, you should prioritise sticking to the relevant health and safety guidelines set out for your line of work. To be completely above board, your business will need to draw up its own health and safety policy.
• Foreign Workers- While you should not discriminate against foreign workers, you need to check that they have the necessary work visas before you consider employing them.

Intellectual property

A common mistake that many new businesses make is not properly protecting their intellectual property. If you do not effectively employ the use of patents and trademarks, you may have to experience another business stealing your ideas and patenting them for themselves.

Alternatively, if you don’t check the patents and trademarks on ideas and imagery that your business is using, you may find that another business believes that they have ownership over them, and a legal battle could ensue.

Legal disputes over intellectual property can often be very complex and take years to resolve! Equip yourself with sufficient knowledge about intellectual property to avoid being dragged into a costly and lengthy legal battle.

Disagreements between shareholders

Starting a business with a family member or friend may seem like a good idea, but as the business grows, there are many issues that you’re likely to face. Because of the familiarity,  there are many instances in which an official shareholders’ agreement (which states the objectives, official shares, as well as the rights and responsibilities of each shareholder) is often just never created, and when misunderstandings and disagreements arise, it can turn into a nasty legal battle.

No matter who you start a business with (if anyone), ensure an official shareholders’ agreement is in place.

Disrespecting the competition

This is something that you need to be exceptionally careful of. While it can seem somewhat ‘normal’ to trash talk your competition, social media and the internet give a platform for which trash talk can be documented and recorded for all to see…. and be used as proof in legal battles if your competition ever wants to sue you for defamation. Be careful what you say about your competition and who you say it to. Something relatively innocent could be taken completely out of context and be used to make you look like the villain.

The safest bet would just be treating your competition with respect, staying out of any drama,  and ensuring that your employees do the same.

Prioritising being legally sound

If you want to prevent legal issues and prioritise being a legally sound company, your best bet would be to seek the advice and guidance of an official legal services provider. They’ll be able to assess your business model and point out any potential issues. Once you find a lawyer that you can trust, you’ll have the peace of mind that you can always call on them and trust their judgement in the case of emergencies.

In the case of legal issues, prevention is always better than cure.

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ariel lim consulting

Know the difference between a problem and a constraint.

• Last updated March 27, 2020

A problem is an issue you can resolve while a constraint is an issue you cannot resolve. That is the simplest definition of these two terms.

You can also define it in terms of your control over the situation .

A problem is an issue where you have control over while a constraint is one where you do not have control over.

Determining which issues are considered problems and which are considered constraints is a very important topic.

That is the focus of this post. Below is a one-minute decision tree to consider where to categorize the issues you face and what to do with them.

Here’s a simple example before we get to the details. Not meeting a deadline is a problem. City traffic is a constraint.

The 1-Minute Life Hack on Determining Whether an Issue Is a Problem or a Constraint

We are all busy. Adding more steps to making a decision should not add more time nor take away from what you should be doing.

Click on the image to download a high-resolution file.

The Decision Tree

• Recognized an issue
• Can you find the solution now?
• Can your boss find the solution now?
• Can your direct reports find the solution now?
• Can your peers find the solution now?
• Treat it as a constraint

Rationale Behind the Decision Tree

Some people just take so long to decide. They keep worrying about a lot of factors that are irrelevant to the issue at hand. The main reason behind the decision tree is to keep in mind the context at which the issue was presented — at work.

Again, regardless if it is your own business or you are working in a company, you have to remember that you are there for a purpose.

You are paid to produce results.

You are not paid to think, nor show up, nor do email all day, nor attend endless meetings.

If your time is not spent on activities that contribute to results that your organization cares about, then you are wasting corporate resources . That is inefficiency at its best.

Don’t Forget Your Job

This is the most important part of this post. Don’t forget your job in this whole process.

Look, if your job is to bring in sales and meet quotas and after using the decision tree above you realized that the product you are selling is not really good (a constraint because you, your boss and your peers cannot do anything about it now), you cannot argue that the reason why you did not reach your quota is because the product is not good.

Your job is to bring in sales and meet your quotas. Period.

Stop blaming things that are out of your control. You’d only look like someone who whines and complains. Or worse, someone who cannot get the job done.

Let’s take an example from math. Back in primary school, you were introduced to algebra and the famous “solve for X” problems.

How the problem works is that you are given some assumptions to work with. For example,

Solve for X Let Y = 3 X + Y = 15

What do you do next? You factor in the given (Y) and substitute the value (3) then transpose it to the other side. Perform the subtraction (15-3) and you get X = 12.

To solve the problem, you work with the given to arrive at the end goal . The variable Y is the constraint. You work around it to reach your end goal — meet your quota.

If it is a problem, then this should not be an issue because if you indeed classified it as a problem, then you can work at finding the solution until it does not become a problem anymore. It is simply removed from the equation.

Let’s make life easy.

Apply this simple life-hack and you will find yourself working and worrying less about things you cannot control and more time working on those you can so you bring in the results required from you.

• Posted under: Business and Strategy

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What Are Two Common Constraints in Marketing Problem Solving?

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Applicability of Strategic Marketing in the Marketing Process

Do marketing & distribution channels go together, what are the functions of a marketing manager or officer.

• Theory of Constraints for Small Businesses
• What Are Consumer Cues?

Problem solving in business, in general, and marketing, in particular, is a complex process that generally requires the input of many with all seeing different sides of the same problem. Within the field of marketing, various constraints often prevent or impede problem solving, making it difficult for marketing professionals to come up with viable solutions.

Theory of Constraints

To understand the impact of common constraints on marketing problem solving, it is first necessary to understand constraints and how they are understood in the business sector. The theory of constraints posits the idea that every business process has some type of constraint. Finding and isolating that constraint is the first step in problem solving. Whether the problem be in marketing, production or otherwise, the constraint must be overcome for the problem to be solved. Once the constraint is removed or improved, then the entire problem-solving process can be improved.

Time Constraints

Marketing professionals often work on a deadline and need to be able to put together an effective marketing plan designed to reach a large number of people in a short period of time. Time can be of the essence in technology industries where competition is fierce and manufacturers rush to get their products to the market first. This perpetual time constraint that marketing professionals face makes it difficult to solve problems in marketing because this lack of time severely limits the amount of deliberation and practical application of problem-solving skills.

Policy and Procedure

Company policy and the related procedures needed to comply with that policy often serve as a drag on the problem-solving process for marketing professionals. Policy can serve as a constraint in that it may prevent or even eliminate creative thinking that is endemic to the problem-solving process. This can lead to a tendency to not act, make random decisions or put off problems to the very last minute. All of these can cripple an organization that is dependent upon its marketing department to solve and overcome problems in reaching customers.

Overcoming Constraints

Overcoming problem-solving constraints often involves a process that requires several steps. Marketers first have to be able to identify the constraint in order to overcome it. They next must find ways to use the constraint to their advantage and then bring the constraint in line with the rest of their problem-solving procedures. This is then followed by an evaluation to determine the effectiveness of overcoming the restraint. Repeating the process may be necessary until the desired outcome is achieved.

• Reference for Business: Decision Making
• Lean Production: Theory of Constraints

Jared Lewis is a professor of history, philosophy and the humanities. He has taught various courses in these fields since 2001. A former licensed financial adviser, he now works as a writer and has published numerous articles on education and business. He holds a bachelor's degree in history, a master's degree in theology and has completed doctoral work in American history.

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