In spring 2016, NYSE Governance Services and BarkerGilmore published a joint research report examining the evolving role of the general counsel in public companies across the United States. One of its key findings was that increasingly, GCs’ primary role has expanded beyond that of safeguarding the organization against legal and ethical transgressions to include strategic advisory responsibilities.
In fact, a compelling majority (79%) of the 187 directors and officers surveyed then agreed that as early as 2020, one of the general counsel’s most valuable functions would be to advise the board and the executive team on business strategy.
