Law Department Management Blog
Several posts point out the vulnerability of general counsel when the CEO leaves (See my post of May 14, 2005: GC vulnerable when CEO is removed; June 20, 2007: most risk to GC when new CEO comes from outside company; and Nov. 7, 2007: GC depends on fortunes of CEO.).
Several items on this blog make different points about the CEO’s right to anoint a general counsel (See my post of May 30, 2005: CEO and choice of external counsel; June 5, 2006: Boards and CEOs commonly designate a GC successor in the event of an emergency; CEO hires GC from outside; March 1, 2007: should Board or CEO select general counsel; Nov. 21, 2008: most CEOs have never hired a GC; April 28, 2009: Board vs CEO in hiring GC; and June 16, 2009: right of Board to replace GC.).
The views CEOs supposedly hold about their legal function appear at times (See my post of Aug. 14, 2005: CEOs think general counsel should spend more time on governance; Oct. 23, 2005: survey of CEO’s views; June 11, 2007: CEOs pick out risks, including legal; May 16, 2007: CEO (Chairman) of Chevron wanted a world-class law department; Feb. 23, 2009: Google’s CEO – hire lots of lawyers; Aug. 15, 2008: to whom is GC most accountable, views of GCs and CEOs; and July 29, 2007: views of retired CEO of Lockheed Martin.).
To my surprise two posts refer to CEO’s and outside counsel selection (See my post of Oct. 23, 2005: CEO’s involved in selection of law firms; Nov. 11, 2005: involvement in choice of outside counsel;
As with all metaposts, the leftovers fall into every which topic (See my post of July 31, 2005: proximity of GC’s office to CEO’s; Jan. 4, 2006: to shake up department, Feb. 10, 2007: CEO is a notable constraint GCs operate under; May 28, 2007: how often does CEO talk to GC; June 20, 2007: no-surprise rule; Jan. 30, 2008: Textron CEO praises law’s Six Sigma effort; Nov. 16, 2008: do some CEOs mistrust high-powered law departments; April 24, 2009: median pay of CEOs and GCs; and Oct. 4, 2009: Continental CEO gives a time budget to his direct reports.).
Omitted from this metapost are references to posts that talk about (1) general counsel who became CEO, (2) general counsel who report to CEOs who are lawyers, and (3) what functions report to the CEO.