Aesop Tie

Same for You, Same for Me – The Business of Aesop™ No. 48 – The Two Pots

March 2, 2017

We’ve all heard it a million times, “It’s okay, because it’s mutual.” But, is it, really?

I once was negotiating the terms of a complex confidentiality agreement that I needed to be tailored for my client. The other attorney was unable to state a substantive basis for refusing to tailor the deal, and simply kept saying, “The terms are mutual!

I was unpersuaded. After much ado, we tailored the deal, but the abrasion did cause me to ponder the circumstances and to write the following note to myself:

He said the terms were mutual, and thus they must be fair.

Just as the hare may eat a lion, and the lion may eat a hare.

Indeed, the law of the jungle is written the same for all, but it just does not play out the same for all. It’s not about the words, it’s about the implementation.

Similarly, in a partnership venture, every partner individually and jointly guarantees the acts and debts of the partnership. A point fairly stated for all, but it plays out a bit differently for the rich partner than it does for his or her poor partners. Something goes wrong, injuring someone, and the law will make the injured party whole from any of the partners. So, in the real world, it is the rich partner whose deep pockets are depleted to satisfy the injured party or debt—even if the rich partner was not at fault! Sure, the formerly rich partner can try to collect a reimbursement from the other partners…in theory.

We have to be wise when picking our ventures and our partners, and Aesop has been teaching us the point for more than 2,000 years, demonstrated here in his timeless, The Two Pots:

48. THE TWO POTS

There were two Pots. One pot of clay. The other pot of brass.

The Brass Pot wanted to venture out, and he asked the Clay Pot to join him.

“No, no. All is well for me,” said the Clay Pot, “and unlike you, I am easily broken.”

But, the Brass Pot promised, “I will protect you!

Therefore, lo and behold, they departed together.

Not long after, they came upon a bumpy course that caused the Brass Pot to bump into the Clay Pot, breaking the Clay Pot into pieces.

“Oh my!” said the Brass Pot, “I am sorry for that, and I would apologize to you, if I could. But, alas, it is too late.

Moral of the Story: Beware of unequal friendships and risks for which you cannot provide your own protection.

Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.

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