An ounce of business advice can avoid a pound of litigation expense.

• Position: 2000 LAW JOURNAL - Brief Article

Business law recognizes the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin's famous saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It's the job of the business lawyer to practice the legal equivalent of preventive medicine. Trial lawyers go to work after things have gone awry.

The articles in this special supplement to BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA are written by business lawyers from across the state whose firms have underwritten production of the 2000 LAW JOURNAL. They are lawyers who practice in the real world every day what they preach here, advising the business community on how to avoid legal maladies that can bring on costly litigation.

Their articles reflect what is happening as legal standards are adapted to meet new, constantly evolving ways of doing business. For example, one piece examines how recent federal legislation has changed the regulatory framework that has governed banking since the Depression. Others deal with dot-corn businesses, which for all intents and purposes didn't exist a decade ago, and the viability of investing in hedge funds, once considered the reserve of risk-randy high...