|  | | 2006 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Gatekeeper GCS Increasingly Becoming Targets For Liability
Sheri Qualters – The National Law Journal
Law.com. September 29, 2006
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EXCERPT: Corporate counsel are starting to look over their shoulders. When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission went after Biopure Corp. and its executives for misleading public statements about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's review of its products, the biopharmaceutical company escaped without financial repercussions.
But the Cambridge, Mass., company's general counsel ended up with a $40,000 civil penalty this month. The government's cases against Biopure's former president and CEO and former senior vice president of regulatory affairs and operations are ongoing. But the SEC's settlement with general counsel Jane Kober illustrates the escalating government scrutiny of so-called "gatekeepers," including general counsel responsible for safeguarding shareholder's interests. In-house counsel and their law firm advisers say they're increasingly concerned about potential liability faced by in-house lawyers, who are stepping up their documentation of advice and even taking on additional professional liability insurance as precautionary measures. … INCREASED GC SCRUTINY General counsel are increasingly scrutinized for their actions, said Karl Chen, co-chairman of the securities committee for the Washington Metropolitan area chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. |
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