Law as a Relationship....see Marriage

Today I wanted to lecture on a lawyer's role in the international law field of practice. I read this blog post on ChinaLawBlog, about arbitration clauses in China. It made me start to think about a lawyer's role. The post is about what it means to put a boiler plate arbitration clause in a Chinese manufacturing contract. It is written that such a standard arbitration clause can lead to long delays in adjudication, and possibly a loss of potentially huge amounts of business. The fact is that an arbitration cannot enforce injunctive relief, especially in the time frame required by modern business. ChinaLawBlog recommend writing in a carve out provision that allows for a plea to the court system for injunctive relief. The lawyers role is to know this kind of practical advice, that the black letter law of a statute or even a contract regarding a business transaction cannot compare to the efficiency of getting things handled quickly and efficiently. The efficiency of arbitration cannot compare to the authority of a court when injunctive relief is necessary. This all boils down to relationships.

A lawyers role is to create a contract that builds a relationship, much like a marriage contract should. Some things will kill a marriage, like murder of the spouse; other things will drastically harm a marriage, like infidelity. In business, selling your buyers goods as your own can lead the relationship down a rocky road. That is why quickly resolving any possibility of that being done is absolutely necessary to building on that business. However, we all know that some things cannot be prevented by a penalty, like murder, or infidelity. Murder is final. Infidelity leads to more infidelity, because the immediate rewards are very nice: I am writing about sexual pleasure and intimacy. These kinds of behaviors should be stopped, by physical force if necessary: we will sacrifice a small wrong to stop a big one.

In the context of this post, the natural bond between a married couple, with children is a bountiful diagram of what a business deal should amount to. As long as the child or children are put first, then the rewards of the marriage will overcome the desires of extramarital affairs. A lawyers role is to craft a contract with this in mind. The business law principle of speed and efficiency of resolving disputes is tantamount to keeping the child alive and healthy, so that the purpose of the marriage can be fulfilled. The partners are happy with a prosperous child. In business, the transaction is the child. If everything else goes bad, the transaction continues, and is healthy enough and well educated enough to adapt to problems in it's life.

We create children together with out partners, not with anyone else. Law is not meant to protect bad businessmen or women, who cannot maintain their life outside of the home, or who fail to keep up their end of the bargained for exchange, my semen for your eggs. It is meant to provide a course of retribution, punishment and incentive for the marriage to get back to healthy. Law is a contract that guides the wayward onto a road of penitence and forgiveness, towards a fruitful relationship. Bare minimum standards have no place in the heart of a lover, and children cannot survive on love alone. So, the next time you get in bed with a manufacturer or an IP owner, make sure your commitment level satisfies the marriage diagram.