TheCorporateCounsel.net

If you have been practicing law for a while, you have no doubt experienced a request for information about a particular topic coming from a client or colleague that starts with the phrase “Do you have anything off the shelf?” This request is typically driven by a desire to signal that no special efforts are needed to prepare the subject information, as well as a desire to avoid the cost of creating something from scratch. Throughout my career, I have often been frustrated when I am unable to satisfy this request with some readily available off-the-shelf materials, simply because I never got around to creating such a resource.

Rather than wallow in my misery of not being able to deliver the requested information in a readily-available form, I decided to rally my colleagues at Goodwin to help build out our new “Off-the-Shelf” platform. The Goodwin Public Company Advisory Blog notes:

Goodwin’s Public Company Advisory Practice (PCAP) has created the Off-the-Shelf platform as a centralized resource to assist you in finding the answers to your corporate and securities law questions.

Off-the-Shelf is a curated collection of accessible, practitioner-focused resources designed to help public companies address common SEC reporting, disclosure and corporate governance issues with confidence. It includes actionable checklists and guides, concise explanations of regulatory concepts and practical insights informed by market practice and regulatory developments.

Resources included in the Off-the-Shelf resource center address important topics such as:

– Director onboarding and resignations
– Determining who qualifies as an executive officer
– Appointing a new principal accounting officer
– Executive perquisites
– Disclosure considerations relating to material agreements, missed guidance and significant litigation
– Launching a share repurchase program
– Draft registration statements
– Form 8-K reporting requirements

Off-the-Shelf is designed to be a growing resource, not a static collection. Our team of experts will continue to expand the collection as regulatory requirements evolve, new disclosure and corporate governance issues emerge and public companies encounter new questions. Our goal is to provide legal teams with practical, readily accessible guidance on the issues that they encounter most often.

We have some great plans for making the most of this off-the-shelf platform, and I hope you might find what you are looking for in our library! If there is something that you think should be covered, please let me know.

– Dave Lynn