Another in the newbies series: In the old days, the corporate secretary was an administrative type of person. Back then, it was still a tough job, but it had nowhere near the level of responsibility or substance that corporate secretaries must shoulder today.

That’s way back when the board probably was little more than a rubber stamp and corporate governance was a little-known term. A whole lot has changed over the past 20 years and today most corporate secretaries have a legal background—although that is not a requirement.

However, it is not uncommon for some folks on the team that supports the corporate secretary to not have a law degree. Some on the team might be lawyers, but some will not.