A recent item in Corp. Counsel, Sept. 2006 at 36 (by Sheri Qualters), says that Transcript Corp. identified a dozen general counsel who were appointed to head Russell 3000 or Canadian public companies since December 2004. Korn Ferry turned up more than 30 current or former CEOs among Fortune 1000 executives who had a GC stint. The article mentions Bill Merritt, now CEO of InterDigital Communications Corporation; Russ Strobel, now CEO of Nicor Inc.; and David Steiner, now CEO of Waste Management. And the Economist, Oct. 14, 2006 at 72, ran a profile on Philippe Dauman, the former general counsel of Viacom who was recently promoted to be its chief executive.
For more on promoted general counsel, see my posts of Jan. 27, 2006; March 13, 2006 No. 2; April 10, 2006 on sideways moves by general counsel; April 12, 2006 on British heads of legal; and Oct. 2, 2006 No. 3 with more examples from Europe.).