When a company undertakes an internal investigation of suspected wrongdoing, in-house attorneys are often the ones who do the investigating. Very often, in-house lawyers thus take a central role in a company’s compliance function, and one of the first steps that they take at the direction of top management is to conduct a no-holds-barred investigation...
Category: Corporate Law
Lawyers for Utilities Contractors: An Underused Asset? (Part 2)
By Carol L. O’Riordan In an earlier post, I discussed several good reasons why a utility contractor might wish to rely on a lawyer for a wide variety of tasks. Lawyers, after all, are trained in the skills of observation, questioning, problem solving, and communicating. Here are some specific ways in which lawyers can...
Lawyers for Utilities Contractors: An Underused Asset?
By Carol L. O’Riordan Utility contractors know that they need a lawyer, just as they know that they need an accountant, a banker, and insurance and bonding agent. And most know that the lawyer should be knowledgeable about the utilities industry so that he or she can address issues that are likely to arise in the industry,...
Role of Outside Counsel to a Corporation: An Appraisal (Part 2)
By Carol L. O’Riordan In a recent post, I discussed the role of a small firm like ours in representing a corporation that has in-house counsel who work for it. Today I will discuss how a firm operates when its client does not have in-house counsel. The scenarios are quite different, although there are some...
Role of Outside Counsel to a Corporation: An Appraisal (Part 1)
By Carol L. O’Riordan I recently had the occasion to do some thinking about the role of a boutique law firm such as ours, which represents a wide variety of companies, large and small. We serve as outside counsel for many clients that have a well-established in-house capacity, and we work with their in-house lawyers....
Why So Few Women on Corporate Boards? Some Experts Speak Out
Recently, the AS/COA Women’s Hemispheric Network, which promotes the economic empowerment of women in business and other professions in the Western Hemisphere, asked six senior-level women why the appointment of women to corporate boards has been so slow in coming and what needs to be done to pave the way for increased equality in the boardroom....
Bilingual Opportunities Improve the Bottom Line
by Carol O’Riordan According to the 2010 Census, 16.7% of the population identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino, up from 12.5% in 2000. That’s 35.3 million Hispanic/Latinos in 2000 and 52 million in 2010, a 47.3% increase in 10 years. The population growth has not gone unnoticed; controversies swirl daily around border patrol, affirmative action,...
Gift From Top Businesswoman to Help GWU Promote Board Diversity
By Pamela J. Bethel According to a recent blog item in the Washington Business Journal, successful businesswoman Linda Rabbitt has made a substantial financial gift to the George Washington University School of Business to establish an executive education program designed to increase the number of women on corporate boards. This is a stubborn problem. According...