The Expert Podcast

What good is it to know about a legal ruling if court cases are decided one way or another but you're not part of that court case? What does that mean to you? Well, sometimes it's interesting to know and valuable to know about other court cases, even if you're not involved, because they may be related to your business or your operations. For example, if a competitor, a supplier, or a customer is involved in some legal dispute or conflict, the results of that could affect you as a company or even your industry in general.

Everything from litigation, mediation, regulations, or even industry best practices—you'll find that many industries change on a regular basis. What you're allowed to do or not allowed to do can shift. In fact, we're seeing right now in the automotive industry there's a new regulation called Section 5 from the FTC that's changing the way car dealers are allowed to advertise. You can't say "best deal on the car" or "here's a sale price on certain cars." So legal rulings come out all the time, which change the way you have to do business.

Keeping track of that is a very valuable thing because you'll be one step ahead of your competitors, knowing what is coming down the pipeline, what you're allowed to do. Maybe you might have more latitude in your business—maybe the law allows you to do more things than you used to—or maybe you have to change your contracts. Reviewing legal rulings about your industry, your company, and competitors is always a very good way to keep up with what the market landscape is, what the competition is, and what availability you have as a business to make more revenue.