Did Krispy Kreme’s donuts go nuts because there was no general counsel?

I bagel to differ, but here’s what Rob Vosper of Corp. Legal Times (Oct. 2005 at 14) insinuates: “For its first two years as a public company, Krispy Kreme thought it was a good idea to operate without a GC. During this period, management played fast and loose with the financials. Nobody at the company was willing or able to set an ethical tone and oversee internal controls.”

The quote implies that a general counsel would have kept Krispy Kreme from boiling in ethical oil. I doubt it. Policing the ethical behavior of a company should not fall primarily on the chief legal officer. (To this point, see my post of Aug. 27, 2005; and my post of Sept. 10, 2005 on Chief Governance Officers.)