Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

Klinedinst’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) team includes lawyers from a broad range of disciplines. ESG, and sustainability generally, remains an evolving and overlapping aspect of modern enterprise. Our attorneys at Klinedinst continually monitor the changing legal landscape of ESG and hold ESG leadership positions in well-respected bar associations. Our ESG attorneys can counsel clients across a range of transactional and litigation related ESG issues, including:

  • Corporate structure, including forming, converting to, and advising benefit corporations;
  • Corporate governance and ESG leadership;
  • Third-party ESG disclosure frameworks;
  • Environmental disclosures;
  • Carbon credits and offsets;
  • Third-party product certifications;
  • Product marketing and “greenwashing” claims;
  • Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives;
  • Audits of internal ESG practices;
  • Supply chains and human rights; and
  • ESG-linked executive compensation packages.

A few representative matters that our firm has recently handled include:

  • Advised a climate technology startup through a Regulation Crowdfunding equity raise;
  • Advised a sustainability focused non-profit in the audit and development of employment practices and employee handbooks;
  • Advised a California benefit corporation through various corporate governance matters and contract development for sustainable manufacturing services; and
  • Defended multiple clients against “greenwashing” and claims alleging deceptive marketing about a company or product’s environmental impact.