BSLAW’s managing partner Robert Szuchy gives insight into navigating the ESG system in place in Hungary
Sponsored briefing: ESG laws in Hungary
Sponsored briefing: ESG in Switzerland
Dr Vera Naegeli and Marie-Cristine Kaptan discuss the evolving ESG legal field in Switzerland and how companies can abide by the new regulations.
Sponsored briefing: ESG in Germany
Drs Friedrich Gebert, Andrea Panzer-Heemeier and Mirjam Boche give an overview of ESG requirements in the German market
The ESG report
The ESG report – Overview: Turning on a greenback
‘Two years ago, if you asked top firms about their ESG credentials they would tell you about the beach clean-up they organised or how they don’t use plastic bags. Now everyone’s got an ESG website and I’m sure many have made statements they wish they hadn’t.’
The words of Ben McQuhae, founder of specialist sustainability law firm Ben McQuhae & Co, speak of the conundrum facing pundits attempting to scrutinise the environmental, social and governance (ESG) bona fides of the top 25 Legal Business 100 and top 25 Global London firms. Continue reading “The ESG report – Overview: Turning on a greenback”
The ESG report – Russia: All bite, no bark
It was uncharacteristically decisive. Rapidly after Russia did the unthinkable and invaded Ukraine on 24 February, many international law firms with Moscow operations hurried out strongly-worded statements at the behest of a hysterical legal press. Linklaters was the first of the major players to react, announcing on 4 March that it would ‘wind down’ its Moscow office, and vowed not to represent any clients connected to the Russian regime. Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) promised the same, even swearing to withdraw ‘as quickly as we can’, while a host of firms ominously, and vaguely, pledged to ‘review the situation’.
The next few months saw many firms ostensibly live up to promises, albeit at varying speeds. Some favoured a hard and fast exit, and some went as far as to cease acting for any Russian nationals, irrespective of perceived guilt or innocence connected with the war. Fewer took more time to gently spin out their Moscow hubs to become new separate entities, with an optimistic view to reconnecting if the global situation ever makes that politically viable again. Continue reading “The ESG report – Russia: All bite, no bark”
‘I’ve acted for every villain you can name’: Lessons in ESG from its trailblazers – and how to dodge the greenwashing bullet
Big Law came late to the ESG party compared to regulated financial services industries, with many law firms only getting the memo as recently as the pandemic.
At the forefront of this movement for approaching 20 years are professor Paul Watchman, senior UN legal adviser and former Freshfields partner, and Paul Clements-Hunt, founder of The Blended Capital Group, a former adviser to the UN on sustainable finance and the person who coined the term ESG. Legal Business sat down with these trailblazers to discuss why lawyers must embrace good corporate citizenship. Continue reading “‘I’ve acted for every villain you can name’: Lessons in ESG from its trailblazers – and how to dodge the greenwashing bullet”
The ESG report – Event: Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks
ESG imperatives have never been more at the fore for partners, general counsel (GCs), or indeed any professional with exposure to related reputational risk. A webinar, hosted by Legal Business and sponsored by Travers Smith brought together partners, experts from in-house, the Bar and a crisis-management guru for a diverse and challenging debate on the ESG-related risks – and rewards – at the top of the agenda.
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Nathalie Tidman, Legal Business: What are the main ESG risks that corporates are facing right now? Continue reading “The ESG report – Event: Advising and acting for clients on ESG-related risks”
Gerrard revelations and Ince restaurant-gate pose ethical quandaries for profession
If the Ukraine invasion and its ensuing debates around right to representation inflicted a bruise on the legal profession’s reputation, recent professional misconduct episodes have surely left a greater wound.
In early May, a Twitter post authored by a Cardiff restaurant owner went viral, containing claims that a group of Ince lawyers had behaved inappropriately towards a waitress. Continue reading “Gerrard revelations and Ince restaurant-gate pose ethical quandaries for profession”
‘Holding yourself accountable’: Squire Patton Boggs commits to net zero by 2035 with new ESG strategy
Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) has become the latest firm to wade into the thorny environmental, social and governance debate, unveiling a UK ESG strategy with a pledge to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2035.
The Cleveland-headquartered firm, which has UK offices in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, is targeting a 15% reduction year on year, which it hopes will see emissions fall by 70% by the end of the decade. Continue reading “‘Holding yourself accountable’: Squire Patton Boggs commits to net zero by 2035 with new ESG strategy”