My friend and sometime coauthor Todd Henderson coauthored a very interesting article on Lawyer CEOs, which I am embarrassed to say has been up on SSRN since February but which I have just now read. As is always true of Todd's work, it rewards reading:
Abstract: We examine the value of CEOs with specialized professional skills by focusing on CEOs with law degrees and their effect on corporate litigation. We find that lawyer CEOs are associated with both lower litigation frequency and less severe litigation. This relation is observed for most of nine types of common corporate litigation. This reduction in litigation is achieved, in part, through a decrease in activities that can lead to litigation, such as earnings management, and an increase in legal oversight by directors with legal expertise. Moreover, CEOs with legal training are associated with higher value in firms with high litigation risk and growth firms.
Henderson, M. Todd and Hutton, Irena and Jiang, Danling and Pierson, Matthew, Lawyer CEOs (February 21, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2923136
Todd also scored (last month) a Harvard Business Review version of the paper, which is shorter and punchier for those who like short and punchy.
