In the Press
October 27, 2022

Law Firms Hire, Train ESG Attorneys to Tackle Demand (Ignites)

Professionals
As environmental, social and governance practices become more common in the investment world, big law firms are beefing up their teams that specialize in such issues, Ignites reports. Goodwin has ESG lawyers that specialize in fund formation, private equity, corporate governance, and M&A, among other areas, said Danielle Reyes, who co-chairs the firm’s ESG & Impact practice. Reyes is a generalist ESG lawyer who works with all ESG practice areas as needed. ESG-related lawyers can work with their asset management clients on a large range of issues, said Goodwin’s Reyes. “Some want to be more leading edge, while others might just want to make sure they’re not doing anything blatantly wrong,” she said. For fund ESG lawyers, preventing greenwashing is “the biggest concern,” she added. “You can be subject to enforcement actions based on the current rules in place for any kind of public-facing statement that is not accurate."