With every challenge—and the past year brought many—comes opportunity. As companies in every industry recraft their strategies and redefine their risks in response to current operating conditions, many are also assessing how well-placed their current directors are to oversee the business in the years ahead. As a result, we are seeing top executives with legal backgrounds, particularly general counsel (GCs) and former GCs, entering conversations about potential new directors with greater frequency than ever.

One of the drivers of this nascent trend is tied to the increasingly complex legal, compliance, and regulatory environment in which all corporations operate. This lands squarely in the sweet spot of experienced attorneys who can provide strong oversight and expert insights to management and fellow directors as changes flood over the transom and the strategic significance of outcomes intensifies.