BUSINESS ADVOCACY: THE CONTINUING NEED TO ARTICULATE HOW BUSINESS SERVES THE PUBLIC INTEREST

Where appropriate, we assist clients in the vital task of articulating how their activities serve not only their own interests, but also the public interest. Working closely with our clients, we establish what they are about, the economic or other rationale behind the decisions or actions that may be at issue, and especially where it might not be obvious, why those decisions or actions are consistent with the public interest.

• Public decision-makers are often influenced by their view of the relationship between an institution and the public interest. As part of our counseling and representation, we provide disciplined attention to this issue.
  
  
• No business or public entity should assume that public decision-makers fully appreciate the contribution that the entity makes to the public interest. This is especially true in the case of business entities. Judges, legislators, and other government officials may presume a zero-sum game in which the private interests of business are furthered at the expense of the public, or they may not perceive exactly how their decisions will affect the ability of that business to provide public benefits. When appropriate, we address these problems by helping the client articulate how efficient, competitive behavior serves the public interest, and by helping the client shape its own decisions to establish a strong public interest foundation.
  
  
• Even when the public interest is not nominally an issue, our clients have often found it productive to articulate the public interest aspects of their activities, and to do so in more than summary fashion.
  
  
• As appropriate, we will:
  
  
  • Work with clients and their other advisors to help develop mutually reinforcing legal and policy positions for litigation, lobbying and public relations;
    
    
  • Make effective use of economists, finance experts, and other consultants to develop and articulate understandable and persuasive economic and public policy positions that complement conventional legal argument; and
    
    
  • Work with chief legal officers to coordinate with senior management to ensure that our advocacy complements short and long term business strategies.