Companies with independent directors who’ve served on the board for more than 15 years are less prone to class action lawsuits and activist motions, research shows.

…A study found that long-tenured independent board members bring value to companies in multiple ways.

…In that time, 486 companies in the Russell 3000 were sued, meaning some firms were sued more than once. Some 400 securities class action lawsuits were filed against companies in the Russell 3000 with an average board tenure of less than 8 years, which is the average tenure in the Russell 3000, according to data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. At the same time, 164 securities class actions were filed against companies with a tenure of 8 years or more.