Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal included an article by Joann S. Lublin about the increasing use of videoconferencing technology to hold board of directors meetings. One important question not addressed in the article is whether a board member who participates in a meeting by videoconference can be counted as “present”.

Fortunately, the California legislature answered this question in 1995 when it enacted AB 699 (Cunneen), Stats. 1995, ch. 811. That legislation authorized directors to participate by “electronic video screen communication” or “other communications equipment”. I wrote about this change in The California Corporations Code Enters Cyberspace: 1995 Legislation Tackles New On-Line Technologies, 18 CEB Cal. Bus. L. Rep. 5 (July 1996).