The Directors & Boards survey: legal services.

Methodology

This Directors & Boards survey was conducted in September 2009 via the web, with an email invitation to participate. The invitation was emailed to the recipients of Directors & Boards' monthly e-Briefing. A total of 314 usable surveys were completed.

About the respondents (Multiple responses allowed) A director of a publicly held company 50.8% A director of a privately held company 56.6% A director of a non-profit entity 49.2% A senior level executive (CEO, CFO, CxO) of a publicly held 14.8% company A senior level executive (CEO, CFO, CxO) of a privately held 31.1% company Institutional shareholder 6.6% Other shareholder 28.7% Academic 5.7% Auditor, consultant, board advisor 20.5% Attorney 19.7% Investor relations professional/officer 2.5% Other 2.5% Revenues (For the primary company of the respondent) Average revenues $1.91 billion Less than $250 million 54.1% $251 million-$500 million 9.0% $501 million to $999 million 8.2% $1 billion to $10 billion 23.0% More than $10 billion 5.7% Board Service (Average number of boards respondents serve) Public 1.39 Private 2.10 Charitable 1.77 Respondents' Age Average Age: 57.4 21-29 0.8% 30-39 4.1% 40-49 17.2% 50-59 31.1% 60-69 36.1% 70+ 10.7% Note: Table made from bar graph. Legal Counsel and Boards Does your primary board's company employ a full time general counsel and/or legal team? Yes, General Counsel 20.4% Yes, General Counsel and full legal team 29.2% No 49.6% Other 0.9% Does your primary board's company retain outside counsel? Yes, one outside law firm 51.8% Yes, more than one outside law firm 33.0% No 15.2% Note: Table made from pie chart. Please rate this outside law firm(s) on its ability to meet your corporation's legal needs. Excellent 44.1% Good 38.7% Fair 7.2% Poor 0.0% N/A or no opinion 9.9% Note: Table made from bar graph. Does your board retain outside counsel fully independent of your primary company and its management? Yes, one outside law firm is on retainer to the board 33.0% Yes, more than one outside law firm is on retainer to the board 5.7% No 61.3% Please rate this outside law firm(s) on its ability to meet your board's legal needs. Excellent 29.0% Good 28.0% Fair 5.4% Poor 0.0% N/A or no opinion 37.6% Note: Table made from bar graph. Is your board able to select your outside counsel completely independently of your primary company and its management? Yes 77.5% No 16.2% Other 6.3% Note: Table made from pie chart. Are any cost or other limitations placed by your...