Lawyers reassert themselves on boards

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Did you have some attorneys on your board who resigned after Sarbanes-Oxley passed? If you want him or her back, now might be a good time to ask. The trend seems to be reversing. After the law was passed, a host of attorneys resigned from boards of client companies. The fears were obvious. They certainly did not want to be held liable for any wrongdoing that went undiscovered until too late. Now lawyers are less antsy about serving as directors and more are signing on. You have to wonder if they are making a big mistake. Consider Jack Nusbaum, a director at Topps. Another Topps director has accused Nusbaum of a conflict when Nusbaum supported a takeover of Topps by an investment firm because it would generate fees for his firm. These sorts of "appearances" are inevitable. Indeed, who are you really serving, your firm or the company. Better to steer clear. In general, however, Sarbanes-Oxley has been great for lawyers (Financial Times).

For more:
- here's an article from law.com