ESG stands for Environmental Social and Governance and refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment:
- Environmental factors include climate change, greenhouse gas emission, waste, pollution etc.
- Social include human rights, labor practices, talent management, product safety and data security.
- Governance refers to a set of rules or principles defining rights, responsibilities, and expectations between different stakeholders in the governance of corporations like board diversity, executive pay, and business ethics.
ESG is unceasingly drawing the attention of international organizations and governments which will set sustainable best practices in terms of environmental, social and governance principles. Consistently with government purposes, it emerges that there is an increasing awareness of ESG-related topics and the need to integrate them into companies’ strategies, processes and products.
This has had a strong spillover effect on law firms. So much so that, according to Thomson Reuters’ data, 42% of its Large Law clients have ESG practices. Law firms are recruiting specialist ESG attorneys amid rising demand for regulatory advice and investors’ due diligence and data requirements. Some law firms have dedicated ESG practice groups while others have cross-departmental taskforces or are hiring ESG specialists within other practice areas.
Latin Brains helps law firms navigate the competitive landscape of legal ESG offerings as well as the latest developments on this topic, globally.
