Document Type

Article

Abstract

This Article is the second paper in a series laying out the emergence of sustainable business law and the role of ESG lawyers. The first paper, Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role of Corporate Governance and Finance, argues “that ‘sustainable business law’ has emerged as a distinct area of law” and “serves as an introductory explanation to define and understand the growing subject matter at the intersection of sustainability, business, and the law.” That paper also explores the key role that corporate governance and finance play in achieving sustainability, and suggests that “[a] future project for scholars ... is to explore the organization and workload of corporate sustainability groups within law firms.” This Article builds on that suggestion by considering what sustainable business and ESG lawyers do, and exploring how those details should interact with the law school curriculum.

Given this new work for lawyers at the intersection of sustainability, business, and the law, this Article addresses three questions:

• What are the theoretical underpinnings of sustainable business law of which law students (i.e., future lawyers), academics, and practicing lawyers should be aware to enable successful communication and collaboration in the field (Part I)?

• What do sustainable business and ESG lawyers working for law firms, companies, and consulting firms actually do, and what “ESG products and services” do they deliver to clients (Part II)?

• In light of actual practice, what topics should current and future lawyers be exposed to in order to be successful sustainable business and ESG lawyers (Part III)?

This Article concludes by reiterating that sustainable business law and ESG lawyering (or whatever one might choose to call it) is on the rise, so careful attention to the new field is essential. That attention begins by investigating the underpinnings of sustainable business law, which we identify as the linkages between business operations and the rest of the world (e.g., the environment and social welfare). Sustainable business lawyers must identify, measure, and manage these linkages, setting goals, gathering data, and advising corporate decision-makers, while ensuring that clients are properly and accurately disclosing voluntary and required claims in the sustainability space. This breadth of practice is significant and lawyers are already stepping in to fill this important role but law schools have a great opportunity to train the next generation of leaders. That training can begin with existing expertise in areas like environmental law and business law but schools must pair it with classes like Sustainable Business Law that can synthesize the existing areas of expertise and fill curricular gaps for topics that are rarely addressed in existing classes, such as the role of directors in business sustainability, socially responsible investing and ESG ratings, voluntary and mandatory ESG and climate risk reporting, and other voluntary sustainability regimes.

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