Lena J. Weiner
Like an HMO for Your Licenses
Imagine, for a moment, that you could inoculate your organization against audits or negative legal entanglements regarding your Oracle agreements. And have regular checkups that help anticipate which snippets – both in code and in language – might give your legal and IT teams grief, allowing you to act proactively and prevent them from actually becoming a problem.
Sounds like a dream, right?
I’m here to tell you that this isn’t a fantasy – in fact, this is something you can take advantage of right now.
As you may have already heard, LicenseFortress has announced a new and unique partnership, adding specialized legal advisors to its licensing and technology team through an innovative partnership with San Francisco-based law firm Beeman & Muchmore, LLP.
The duo behind the firm, Arthur Beeman and Joel Muchmore, specializes in software audits and license consulting. They’ve also made a name for themselves in this space serving as lead counsel in the Mars v. Oracle case in 2015 – which currently remains the only publicly-filed case drawing attention to Oracle’s deeply unpopular auditing and licensing practices.
Moving forward, all premier-level LicenseFortress clients will have access to legal counseling through Beeman & Muchmore, ensuring that these clients have access to top-tier legal advice when it comes to avoiding licensing violations – included at no extra cost.
Like Preventative Medicine for Legal Entanglements
Just like in the healthcare world, sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The ability to get ahead of any potential licensing problems can be very compelling – for both clients and their attorneys, says Arthur Beeman.
“One thing that Joel and I found that was so intriguing – and frankly, satisfying – about the LicenseFortress opportunity is that it is prophylactic.” Indeed, this newly offered service is now an additional tier of the unique, holistic approach LicenseFortress takes, examining compliance from three different angles: technological, contractual, and legal. With these three areas under constant surveillance, LicenseFortress can always anticipate your next-best move.
Michael Corey, co-founder, and chief operating officer of LicenseFortress, agrees with Beeman. “Integrating the deep domain expertise of Beeman & Muchmore into the LicenseFortress product suite is another industry first… Like a great HMO, they provide the preventive medicine that ensures our clients get the full value out of their Oracle investment and avoid unnecessary legal entanglements.”
This new partnership is yet another way LicenseFortress keeps its clients on Oracle’s good side, so they can focus on what they do best – and leave the legal analysis to someone else.
Plug & Play Lawyers
You may wonder why Oracle licensing is something your organization’s internal legal team shouldn’t attempt to tackle themselves, but even the most experienced lawyers rarely come into contact with issues related to Oracle licensing. However, this is the area in which both Beeman and Muchmore have chosen to dedicate their practice. As such, they know exactly what problematic language to look for in agreements, the tactics Oracle will use in the courtroom (should it come to that), and they’ve almost certainly already seen whatever issue you might be experiencing.
“We’ve seen the script; we know where it’s going. We can predict the future, to some degree,” says Joel Muchmore. Providing targeted and highly specialized legal services, they work with your team, eliminating learning curves, and taking a consultative approach.
In essence, this game-changing development allows LicenseFortress clients to have a lawyer in their back pockets – and not just any lawyer, but a lawyer that specializes in issues exactly like this. They’ll involve your internal team as needed but also fight for you if the occasion calls for it.
In other words, LicenseFortress and Beeman & Muchmore provide clients with a full menu of services to protect their Oracle investment. “We literally, from soup to nuts, take care of clients, their issues and problems, and they’re the better for having received our services,” says Beeman.
