Governance effectiveness at any company will benefit from the board of directors’ expanded interaction with the general counsel.
Ideally, this enhanced interaction would go beyond the traditional practice of general counsel attendance at board meetings, responding to questions and presenting reports on specific agenda matters; it also would go beyond the “best practice” of periodic executive sessions with the general counsel. Instead, communication between the board and general counsel should extend to greater, and more formal (e.g., quarterly reports), opportunities for the general counsel to share perspectives on a broader range of issues that do, or ought to, matter to the board.