Ep 076: Mark Harris on the Post-Pandemic Tsunami for Corporate Contracts

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mark Harris is sounding an alarm – or, as he puts it, staging an intervention – for corporate counsel. </span></p> <p><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-harris-9908133/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Harris</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">and</span> <a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-guettel-041b131/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Alec Guettel</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, the original founders 20 years ago of alternative legal services provider</span> <a href= "https://www.axiomlaw.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Axiom</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">and, since last year, the CEO and CFO of contract management company</span> <a href= "https://www.knowable.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Knowable</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, have taken the unusual step of posting an open letter that they describe as</span> <a href= "https://www.knowable.com/resources/an-unsolicited-intervention-for-general-counsel"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">an unsolicited intervention for general counsel</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Businesses are about to confront a tidal wave of urgent questions from suppliers, customers, partners, employees, and others, they warn, the answers to which are buried in thousands or hundreds of thousands of commercial contracts. Unfortunately, they say, most companies don’t know what’s in their contracts or even, in many cases, where those contracts are. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We woke up a couple weeks ago and realized,</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">there is no time</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” Harris and Guettel wrote. “Our clients, you, are drifting through these pandemic rapids, focused on more important issues like the immediate safety and sanity of your employees, heading right for a cliff.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What has led to this situat