According to a recent piece in Agenda Week, Boards of Directors are intruding more and more on the selection of the company’s general counsel. According to one board member, “the board should never outright veto a candidate the CEO is considering because their role is to offer recommendations without dictating who the General Counsel will be.”
A wise CEO should consult with the Chairman of the Board and maybe with the heads of important board committees, but the decision of whom to hire or promote to general counsel rests with the CEO. The trust and respect between those two officers is the paramount consideration.