Another in the newbie series: Unless you’re in the field of corporate governance, you probably get the impression that a “corporate secretary” for a public company is an administrative assistant of some sort. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The corporate secretary in a public company actually has a lot of jobs—there’s a lot of multitasking involved, a lot of responsibility, and a lot of stress. (Note that as an officer of a public company, corporate secretaries may be included in lawsuits against the company. You may not realize the joy that comes with being a named officer of a public company. So much fun.)

Many of the corporate secretary’s hats relate to the care and feeding of the board of directors—and the board is an important group for the company. They oversee the management of the company, they have the power to hire and fire the CEO, and to alter the strategy for a company.

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Photo of Broc Romanek Broc Romanek

As a strategist for the firm’s Corporate & Securities practice, Broc Romanek has a deep understanding of the regulatory and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) marketplace. Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Broc served as editor at TheCorporateCounsel.net, CompensationStandards.com, and DealLawyers.com, where he oversaw…

As a strategist for the firm’s Corporate & Securities practice, Broc Romanek has a deep understanding of the regulatory and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) marketplace. Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Broc served as editor at TheCorporateCounsel.net, CompensationStandards.com, and DealLawyers.com, where he oversaw and managed coverage on issues related to ESG, corporate governance, executive pay, deals, and market trends and analysis.

In addition to his nearly two decades of working as a journalist and publisher, Broc served as assistant general counsel at a Fortune 50 company, worked in the Office of Chief Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance, was a counselor to former SEC Commissioner Laura Unger, and worked in private practice. He also is the author, or co-author, of four legal treatises, and has authored several books focused on the legal industry.