Corporations face increased burdens and deeper pitfalls in a more public environment. They face increased challenges attributable in part to the popular perception that corporations and their executives may not be trustworthy. Inside counsel are in no way immune, having been targeted in matters ranging from option back dating investigations to the Hewlett-Packard scandal of a poorly executed effort to maintain confidentiality of a corporate investigation.
Corporate scandals over the past decade have led to an encyclopedia of new statutes, regulations, initiatives, and programs, at the state, federal, and global levels. Corporations have responded with new or revised ethics codes and rules governing business conduct. Along with this mass of law, corporations have been expected to police themselves through stringent compliance and reporting programs.
