Considerations for Directors

The age-old debate over the purpose of for-profit corporations has reignited, with two rival theories on offer: shareholder primacy and stakeholder parity. The first posits that the primary purpose of corporations is to maximize shareholder value, while the second urges the equal interests of all other constituents, especially employees, customers, and communities. Read more on

Today’s directors have a lot on their plates. Scanning many recent publications advising public company directors, a fair job description would range from “overwhelming” to “impossible,” sometimes even veering into the managers’ lane. Directors are told they must not only continue to attend to tasks as they have always had but assume substantial new ones

Historically, directors have been protected from personal liability in connection with risk management by the high standard set in the seminal 1996 Caremark case. In recent years, however, courts have held that certain plaintiffs have pled facts sufficient to avoid dismissal of suits seeking to hold directors liable for failing to discharge their oversight duties.