More than half of UK general counsel want to be a board member

Lovells, the UK-based megafirm, surveyed 180 in-house lawyers across Europe and reports that 28 percent of the UK general counsel sit on the boards of their companies, but twice that number think they should (See my posts of April 12, 2006 for an earlier survey that 40% want to be on the Board; and Nov. 9, 2006 that shows the number had dropped significantly.). The article is from TimesOnline, Dec. 4, 2007. The goal to be on the board seems odd because many more UK general counsel than US general counsel do not even report to their CEO (See my post of April 12, 2006.). Or maybe this is an end-run to more access and clout?

Boards of Directors have enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame on this blawg (See my posts of Feb. 7, 2006, Nov. 16, 2005 #1 [Raytheon], and March 1, 2007 on the general counsel reporting to the Board; July 19, 2006, Aug. 9, 2006, Oct. 1, 2006, Oct. 29, 2006, and March 9, 2007 #1 for software to assist the Board; July 25, 2005 regarding independent counsel to the Board; Sept. 13, 2005 on a Board converging law firms; April 12, 2006 about few US GCs on the Board, March 27, 2006 with arguments for that line of reporting; and May 14, 2006 #4 for some Canadian data.). Other posts refer to additional points (See my posts of Jan. 20, 2006 for the Audit Committee; Oct. 2, 2006 for self-assessment tools Boards might use; and Oct. 6, 2006 for the relationship between the GC and the Board.).