General counsel today feel a growing pressure to conduct due diligence on every potential business partner of the company, said Brian Meyer, GC of Fir Tree Partners for 13 years.

For New York City-based Fir Tree, a private investment firm that manages assets for institutional and private investors, for example, that’s a lot of due diligence. Meyer said Fir Tree begins with its own preliminary searches, often looking at issues related to possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Meyer said. The search, however, eventually encompasses labor and human rights issues as well as environmental concerns or possible money laundering or terrorist financing.