The Directors & Boards survey: legal services.

Methodology

This Directors & Boards survey was conducted in September 2010 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 356 usable surveys were completed.

About the respondents (Multiple responses allowed) A director of a publicly held company 37.6% A director of a privately held company 35.4% A director of a non-profit entity 42.1% A senior level executive (CEO, CFO, CxO) of a publicly held 6.7% company A senior level executive (CEO, CFO, CxO) of a privately held 25.3% company Institutional shareholder 3.9% Other shareholder 16.3% Academic 6.2% Auditor, consultant, board advisor 12.9% Attorney 27.5% Investor relations professional/officer 1.7% Other 6.2% Revenues (For the primary company of the respondent) Average revenues: $2.218 billion Less than $250 million 46.6% $251 million-$500 million 11.5% $501 million to $999 million 10.9% $1 billion to $10 billion 21.8% More than $10 billion 9.2% Board Service (Average number of boards respondents serve) Public 3.28 Private 1.78 Charitable 2.17 Respondents' Age 21-29 0.6% 30-39 7.6% 40-49 13.5% 50-59 35.1% 60-69 28.7% 70+ 14.6% 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 21.3% Yes, General Counsel and full legal team 35.5% No 40.6% Other 2.6% Does your primary board's company retain outside counsel? Yes, more than one outside law firm 44.1% No 17.2% Yes, one outside law firm 38.6% Note: Table made from pie chart. Please rate this outside law firm(s) on its ability to meet your corporation's legal needs. Exvellent 49.3% Good 38.0% Fair 3.3% Poor 0.0% N/A or no opinion 9.3% 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 32.4% Yes, more than one outside law firm is on retainer to the board 7.7% No 59.9% Please rate this outside law firm(s) on its ability to meet your board's legal needs. Excellent 30.7% Good 29.2% Fair 1.5% Poor 1.5% N/A or no opinion 37.2% Note: Table made from bar graph. Is your board able to select your outside counsel completely independently of your primary company and its management? No 16.7% Other 4.9% Yes 78.5% Note: Table made from pie chart. Are...