Are new regulations and legislation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, creating pressures on troubled companies boards of directors?
Midanek: The duties of boards of directors haven’t been changed by the new regulations, but have been highlighted to a much greater degree. One of the things that’s always an issue for directors early on as a company hits trouble is whether the board should resign. This is not the time for directors to resign. They need to be there and be an active part of resolving the situation. This is where their role is really most critical in helping the company get through the process, and their responsibility to be, in effect, the parent of the corporate body is particularly critical. One of the things we’ve seen, certainly as a byproduct of the new legislation, is a heightened awareness on the part of independent directors in particular of the need to bring independent views and analyses to bear on the company early on. We have seen a marked increase in queries from nonexecutive chairmen interested in getting a quick, objective view of certain challenges their companies and managements are fac
