In-House Counsel

Indemnification of general counsel for personal legal fees

By Rees Morrison

An excellent article in Directors & Boards, Vol. 33, Fourth Quarter 2008 at 42, explains why general counsel might want to negotiate a personal indemnification agreement before they take the helm. Corporate bylaws may fall short of protecting them in the event of a claim and D&O insurance has holes. The author, Priya Cherian Huskins at Woodruff-Sawyer & Co., recommends supplementing those protections with personal indemnification contracts, especially those that accelerate when legal fees are advanced to the indemnitee.

As I read the article, I wondered how much companies spend under indemnification agreements and whether those outside counsel fees are included in the budget of the law department.

Full post as published by Law Department Management on January 30, 2009 (boomark / email).