The trusted lawyer and the interpretation of the law.

Today we write about the trusted lawyer and how he or she can help an entrepreneur in making decisions.

According to Emilio Lledó in one of the texts collected in an anthology published by the Junta de Andalucía: “Philosophy was the fruit of a curiosity of human beings when they became aware that they could think the world and say it; when they realized that words meant things, ideas, feelings, desires; a form of love to interpret what we lived, to understand the history that consisted in seeing and giving testimony of what we saw“.

Perhaps less poetically, the same could be said of law. Law in its origin -and we could say that in this respect it has not changed much- is part of the human curiosity to understand and interpret the relationships between men, the functioning of societies and organizations and, as far as possible, to regulate it in order to allow its development and better functioning. It is not far from philosophy, and when I was a student, philosophy of law was studied as a subject, which at that time was called “Natural Law” because justice, obligations, rights, whether particular or collective, are concepts inherent to man and the society in which he develops. We could say that no man can survive without society and no society without law.

On a more practical level, we could say that throughout our lives we live permanently situated in a legal framework that in some way conditions our actions and our thinking. Being aware of this is a fundamental part of our education, that is, of being as human beings, after all, education in its essence is nothing more than learning, knowledge and the ability to interpret things and what happens around us in order to accept, refute or modify them.

Interpretation is thus one of the keys to the law, which is produced in a double exercise. On the one hand, the interpretation that the Law -in this case those who have the power, acquired, appropriated or delegated to generate it- makes of reality, and on the other hand, the interpretation of the result of that first interpretation, that is to say, of the rules, which is the primary but not exclusive work of the lawyer and, ultimately, of the Judge.

Thus, the ability to correctly interpret the rules becomes a fundamental axis of any legal system and therefore, since all business activity takes place within a legal framework, being able to understand and interpret that framework appears indispensable for all those who want to carry out a business task either directly or through any vehicle. Even for the decision as to which alternative is better (and if applicable, which vehicle is the most suitable), the legal side is relevant in making the right decision. Not the most important, nor the only one, of course, but it must be present.

There are several ways to interpret the rules, clauses, commitments or any other way in which we are granted rights and obligations.

In our legal system, the interpretation of rules is governed by the provisions of clause 3 of the Civil Code, which states the following: “Rules shall be interpreted according to the proper meaning of their words, in relation to the context, the historical and legislative background, and the social reality of the time in which they are to be applied, taking into account the spirit and purpose of the rules“.

The first formula is the literal interpretation, which is based on the meaning of the words taken individually and as a whole.

The second would be the interpretation of the context in which the rule is found which serves to situate it within a set of other rules or explanations as rarely are things so isolated to function on their own. This interpretation is often referred to as systematic.

The third would be the historical interpretation, since every rule has a why and a what for and cannot be detached from its time and its context, also in this case, historical.

The following would be a generic interpretation that allows connecting the norm with everything that surrounds it, since every norm moves within an environment, or determined environments that make it possible and in many cases give it meaning.

All these are tools to arrive at a correct interpretation of the rules that ultimately will be, or not, validated by the judges who in our system have delegated the power to set the meaning and to give all the coercive value that corresponds to its interpretation although it is not always necessarily correct, the case law is full of reinterpretations, erroneous, contrary or simply different interpretations but that do not detract from the value of the above, we would enter here in other areas that would lead us far away at this time.

These lines are not intended to be a treatise on law but, at most, to point out very briefly an aspect that is often forgotten when we consider the legal framework of any business activity. A rule or a contract, no matter how well made they are, often generate real problems of interpretation and all these tools are support elements that we use to reach the correct interpretation or to prove the will of the parties when they contracted. It serves as a gentle reminder to keep this in mind.

Defining the legal framework is a lawyer’s job, explaining it so that people can make the most appropriate business decisions is a function of the reputable lawyer The lawyer is involved in the vision and objectives of his client; understanding a good clause is the lawyer’s task, interpreting it so that it also reflects what the entrepreneur needs, wants and wants is the function of the reputable lawyerThe lawyer, aware of the need to have a broad dialogue with his client; interpreting the rules to defend the client is the task of a lawyer, interpreting it seeking to find solutions that suit the entrepreneur and that are beneficial and not only momentarily is the function of the lawyer, who must be aware of the need to have a broad dialogue with his client; interpreting it seeking to find solutions that suit the entrepreneur and that are beneficial and not only momentarily is the function of the reputable lawyer, who has flexibility and a horizontal view of the issues entrusted to him; interpreting to find an escape route may be a lawyer’s job but interpreting in a way that is beneficial (or the least bad) for all involved is the role of the reputable lawyer who will be willing to interact with all areas of the company, will be willing to participate in discussions with the will to add and not subtract, to offer a different point of view and will have the ability to understand the position of all stakeholders and interests at stake. And where it says interpret, it should be replaced by draft, explain, negotiate, make understood, contextualize, value or many other words. Nothing easy or guaranteed, but that is what sets them apart. Thus, the importance of interpretation in law seems more than evident, the need for a reliable lawyer, beyond the need to solve a specific problem (which is undoubtedly also the case), should not even be considered.