Eskew Lamb & Furness Convenience, Inc. ("ELF") owns and operates convenience stores ("C-stores") - with gas stations and a robust retail inventory - throughout New England. ELF has about 2000 employees, ranging from minimum-wage cashiers to C-Suite executive employees. The stores sell alcoholic beverages, tobacco and e-cigarettes, and typical convenience store items. It uses a different supplier for each of those categories of products. If ELF is to make sound business decisions, its management team must be aware of a broad array of legal considerations. Sometimes, legal principles may constrain ELF's business decisions; at other times, the law may prove a valuable ally of ELF in the successful operation of the firm's business.

Of course, the ELF management group will rely on the advice of in-house counsel or outside attorneys who are in private practice. The approach of simply "leaving the law to the lawyers," however, is likely to be counterproductive. It will often be up to non-lawyers to identify a potential legal issue or pitfall about which ELF needs professional guidance. Failing to spot an issue in a timely manner may allow legal problems to develop and fester, and even the most skilled attorneys may have difficulty rescuing the firm from the resulting predicament.

On the other hand, failure to identify a legal consideration can mean a failure to seek advice in time to obtain an advantage that applicable law would otherwise have provided, and the corporation may lose out on a beneficial opportunity.

1) Are there any tactics or safeguards that ELF might preemptively pursue to limit legal exposure when dealing with customers, employees, and other businesses?Think broadly here.