Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 7 down vote favorite

I'm looking for a couple of good coined phrases that I can use in front of business people, apologies if the one I had in mind offends anyone.

I'd use "can sleep at night" but I want the phrase to imply legal liability if we don't do something.

share|improve this question
2  
protect our interests – user16269 Mar 28 '12 at 9:07
3  
Please just don't use "due diligence" in any way, shape, or form! – JLG Mar 28 '12 at 11:47
1  
You need to be careful what you say. If making a business proposal requires you to raise the subject of protection from legal liability, that issue may well become the primary focus of the meeting, instead of whatever your project was really supposed to be about. Unless, of course, your business plan is predicated on exploiting some "legal loophole". – FumbleFingers Mar 28 '12 at 13:30
2  
Thanks guys, the end result is basically: "... please keep it in the back of your head, that as we get closer to D-Day we might get a tester in for a couple of days to bug bash this.... Since it’s a major project, I feel this is a good measure to cover one's bases in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety and to adhere to compliance, risk management, damage control and above all protecting our reputation. – Jeremy Thompson Mar 28 '12 at 21:56

5 Answers

up vote 17 down vote accepted

To bring in the legal aspect I might say one of:
"to ensure we are on solid legal ground", or "have solid legal standing",
or "to ensure we have the law on our side".

Also, "to cover one's bases" is a politically correct version of your original "a***s".

share|improve this answer
up vote 4 down vote

A metaphorical phrase might be Safety Net. Or, by analogy, Insurance. Insurance costs us money, and there is no benefit unless and until a bad thing happens and we have to claim. We incur the cost because we want to minimise the consequences should the bad thing happen.

More literally and technically, perhaps words and phrases like Compliance, Obligation, Risk Management, Damage Control or Protect Our Reputation.

share|improve this answer
+1 for compliance – user14070 Mar 28 '12 at 12:43
+1 thanks very much – Jeremy Thompson Mar 28 '12 at 21:42
up vote 2 down vote

A phrase which pertains to the same use is cover all angles, alluding to resolving a problem, completing a project according to some specification or similar circumstance, from the viewpoints of all concerned parties.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

To weakly imply legal obligation I would say:

"To avoid any appearance of impropriety."

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

Cover your assets is very close and non-offensive.

share|improve this answer

protected by RegDwighт♦ Mar 29 '12 at 0:35

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.