In management practice, it is often assumed that the right decision must be not only strategically reasonable but also legally safe. However, as Professor Gabriel Steiner notes, there are situations where, from a legal perspective, the right course of action carries greater potential liability than refraining from action altogether. At LawConsulted, we do not analyse managerial decisions only in terms of business rationale – we assess their legal cost, meaning the potential consequences the client may face if the strategy is executed under current conditions.
The legal cost of a decision is determined not by its formal compliance with the law, but by how its consequences may be interpreted by an opposing party, regulator or partner. A frequent mistake made by executives is evaluating risk based on probability of claim, rather than based on legal capacity to withstand that claim if it arises. At LawConsulted, we determine whether the decision strengthens control over the scenario or whether it creates a situation where even lawful actions could later be used against the client.
As Professor Steiner notes, “sometimes a legally justified decision becomes the most dangerous one if its timing is not selected correctly.” This is why specialists at LawConsulted analyse not only the strategic intention but also timing, the client’s status, negotiation dynamics and potential interpretation of the move. In many cases, postponing or modifying the format of execution may prove more advantageous than taking action that could later evolve into legal vulnerability.
Lawyers at LawConsulted evaluate the legal cost based on how manageable the subsequent development will be. Even if an action aligns with corporate logic, it may create an impression of pressure, imbalance of interests or breach of confidence. In these instances, the timing or intensity of the decision becomes a legally relevant parameter. A move may be strategically correct – and yet legally unfavourable if it increases exposure to liability.
According to Professor Steiner, “mature legal thinking is not demonstrated by readiness to act, but by the ability to determine when action must be postponed to strengthen future positioning.” At LawConsulted, we structure client so that legal resilience of the decision exceeds its risk level at the moment of execution. This allows action to be taken only when its consequences have already been legally forecasted and cannot reasonably be used as leverage against the client.
The legal cost of a managerial decision is not the price of the risk itself, but the price of being able to defend the strategy once it has been implemented. At Law Consulted, we evaluate not only the probability of claims, but the client’s ability to withstand them under any scenario.
Previously, we wrote about how LawConsulted manages the legal consequences of managerial decisions and protects the owner from personal liability
