‘I don’t believe there is such a thing as an ESG lawyer’ – the words of one environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice head in an interview for this month’s lead feature aptly sums up one of the key challenges for firms trying to establish themselves at the top of this much-hyped market.
That individual is not alone in this view; it has also been a repeated refrain in the research interviews for the Legal 500’s first UK ESG rankings, which will be published later this year. And it’s not a stretch to see why this opinion persists, given the myriad practice areas that fall under the ESG umbrella – from greenwashing disputes to sustainable finance, and regulatory matters to ESG transactions; not to mention the traditional environment and governance work that make up two letters of the acronym.
As Legal Business’s fourth annual ESG survey finds, more and more top firms are now attempting to put together multidisciplinary practices covering some or all of these areas, and are heavily marketing their expertise in covering the whole piece. Perhaps inevitably, some of these supposedly ‘globally integrated’ practices are little more than loosely connected groupings of lawyers with relevant expertise but shaky claims to being ESG specialists.
However, despite the extremely broad remit required of an ESG adviser, there are some senior lawyers who have successfully transitioned their practices amid ESG’s rise to prominence and made a name for themselves as specialists, as well as an emerging group of up-and-comers who have managed to build strong personal brands as ESG lawyers at earlier stage of their career.
At Latham & Watkins, London-based global ESG co-chair Paul Davies is known for having transformed the firm’s environmental practice into a leading ESG practice and is described as a thought-leader in this space. Meanwhile, at Linklaters, a central figure in the development of ESG at the firm has been practice founder Vanessa Havard-Williams, who cut her teeth as a litigator and environmental lawyer in the 1990s and early 2000s before building a broad practice on the front lines of policy and compliance.
Now a consultant after stepping down from the partnership last year, Havard-Williams has passed the torch to Rachel Barrett, whose background is in advising on the project development and financing aspects of energy transactions, and who now leads on ESG at the firm just six years after making partner.
Other emerging names in the space include Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) senior associate Jannis Bille, who is now UK head of ESG just five years after qualification, and his former colleague Rebecca Perlman, who was made UK, US and EMEA head of ESG at HSF in 2021, before making partner and then securing a move to Kirkland & Ellis earlier this year – just one of a number of hires by US firms cherry-picking top talent in the sector.
As new regulatory requirements continue to pile up, genuine ESG expertise will be in fierce demand, and so building a practice – and keeping hold of the best talent – is likely to be more of a challenge than ever. Watch this space.