It is an all too familiar scene: A CEO front and center in a crowded Capitol Hill hearing room, surrounded by press photographers and television cameras, facing sharp questions by members of Congress. And, in the coming years, we are likely to see more of it. A wide range of issues involving private sector entities are at the forefront of public attention. Those issues are drawing bipartisan interest and are likely to be the subject of future congressional hearings.

The last few months alone have seen several such hearings. A few weeks ago, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the GameStop stock controversy that recently shook the markets. Hedge fund CEOs faced questions about whether they benefited from the trading frenzy at the expense of individual investors. And, more recently, the leaders of Google, Facebook, and Twitter testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, answering questions about the role of their social media platforms in spreading disinformation.

Through genuine discussion and debate of important topics, congressional hearings play an essential role in legislative policymaking. But too often, unfortunately, highly-publicized hearings turn into a spectacle, with committee members seeking to vilify or embarrass corporate executives to play to the crowd and score political points. As a result, testifying before Congress can present unique legal, political, and public relations challenges with significant risks. A poor performance can be devastating to a company's business, its public image, and the credibility of its top executives. It can even trigger or fuel private lawsuits, not to mention civil and criminal investigations by enforcement authorities.