How might legal risks affect me as a director or officer?

Directors and officers carry duties and exposures that go beyond their employer's corporate liability, and the trend across major jurisdictions is towards greater individual accountability.

This report examines how legal risk reaches you specifically as a director or officer in your chosen jurisdiction and industry: the fiduciary and statutory duties you owe, and the decisions that attract personal scrutiny.

It covers the regimes that impose individual liability for corporate failures, and the protections, indemnities, insurance and good governance, that mitigate them.

It sets out the scenarios in which directors are pursued, the warning indicators of rising board-level exposure, indicative ranges for personal consequences including disqualification, and the documentation that demonstrates a duty was discharged.

It also explains when board members should seek advice independent of the company, and when to involve specialist directors' liability counsel.