3 - The Lawyer as Opportunity Enabler

Summary

The lawyer in the role of enabler is concerned with protecting and defending the rights of the client as well as helping the client achieve their personal and business objectives in a potential conflict with individuals, organizations, or public authorities. The lawyer in this role tends to apply substance communication, symbolic influencing, and information selection and control. Substance is legal arguments based on statutes in laws, regulations in procedures, and former decisions in district courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court. Symbols are presented artifacts to portray the client in a better light by communicating both with opposing parties as well as with the media or other suitable outlets, in terms of garnering influence in favor of the client about the relevance and justice for the client to achieve goals and objectives. Information control is concerned with the selection of information that might benefit the client and the avoidance of information that might harm them (Gottschalk, 2014).

The Norwegian law firm Thommessen is one of Norway’s leading commercial law firms with offices in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, and London. A total of 220 lawyers work for the firm. The following message from managing partner Sverre Tyrhaug was present on its English website (www.thommessen.no/en) on August 21, 2021:

At Thommessen, we enable our clients to achieve their objectives by understanding their challenges and opportunities.

The frequently long-term relationship as a professional opportunity enabler is emphasized by other law firms as well, such as the Swedish law firm Mannheimer Swartling in terms of being an enduring business partner (www.mannheimerswartling.se/en):

In an evolving world and a shifting business landscape, the demands and expectations of our clients and our own people also change. A continuous and proactive attitude to change is absolutely essential for us to continue being the business law firm of choice – both for clients and our employees.

Unlike client defenders, who tend to put themselves before their clients by having a low opinion of their clients, whom they assume to be guilty of the crime in question (Newman, 2012), opportunity enablers are partners with clients in the joint ventures of helping the clients realize their ambitions and reach their goals. Clients are assumed to have the right to explore and exploit opportunities as long as this is done within a legal framework.