TheCorporateCounsel.net

This Woodruff Sawyer blog lays out 20 questions that a prospective director should ask before agreeing to join a corporate board.  Each question is accompanied by an explanation of why it’s important. Here’s an example:

What skill sets are represented on the board?

A diversity of skills and experience among board members is one of the best ways to ensure that the board can address unexpected issues. Does the board you are considering have this? If everyone on a board has a similar background—everyone has a technical or finance background, for instance—the board is less likely to be able to proactively identify new risks or recognize innovative solutions and strategies.

Consider, too, the advantage of having at least one board member who has the skill set to be the director who will deal with difficult legal situations, such as an internal investigation or thorny litigation. A board that has no one capable of making independent legal judgments is a board that is at risk for blindly agreeing to do whatever outside counsel tells them to do.

– John Jenkins