The first thing we do, lets kill all the lawyers

03 29, 2011 admin Blog,Business advice,Business essentials,Business relationships,Business resources,Workplace experiences 0 Comment

Lawyers are NOT business men and women. . . they only shake up the process

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
(- William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2, circa 1590)

If the player reps and designated owners sat down in small groups to talk about the issues without lawyers… without cameras…. and without any preconditions, a deal could be worked out.

Once lawyers get involved in the business of football the matrix changes— negotiations dissolve into challenges and the chance of settlement disappears.

I suggest that the media reach out to players and owners across the country and ask them the only question that’s important to jump start the season…what are you doing to get back to the bargaining table?

NFL football players have never lost an entire season in the past because their voice has been loud and clear—until now. Are the players allowing the lawyers to intimidate them?

The lawyer representing the players has not mentioned “negotiation” since his action terminated the collective bargaining agreement.

So how can the NFL have a season this year?

The NFL has consistently stated that they are ready to get back to the bargaining table—so—start with a clean slate and forget about who did what to whom
Have the players and the owners start discussing what really matters to them and list the most important issues that need to be resolved in order to have a 2011 season
Once a general consensus is reached the players need to direct their appointed representative to get back to the bargaining table and keep negotiating until a deal is done
If the players representative does not want to follow the will of the majority of the players a new representative should be selected.

Susan T Spencer is a lawyer, entrepreneur, award winning author (Briefcase Essentials) and former GM and minority owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. She was the legal representative of the Eagles during the 1982 lockout. The 1982 lockout was settled in time to play a 9 game regular season ending with the Super Bowl.