Crowell & Moring Establishes Global Environmental, Social, and Governance Advisory Team

Washington – March 15, 2021: Crowell & Moring is expanding its Environmental, Social, and Governance practice by forming a dedicated global ESG Advisory Team to enhance the firm’s ability to address the rapidly changing landscape of federal and state policies and regulations, as well as investor and stakeholder concerns, that are driving businesses to proactively address corporate responsibility. The ESG practice helps clients increase opportunities while managing risks in this new and evolving environment.

The global, multidisciplinary team comprises more than 35 lawyers and is led by a group including Thomas Lorenzen, vice-chair of the firm's Environment & Natural Resources Group and a former assistant chief in the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division who is currently ranked by Chambers as one of the nation’s top climate change lawyers; Elizabeth Dawson, a counsel in the firm’s Environment & Natural Resources Group and former trial attorney in the Environmental Defense Section at the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division; Christopher Cole, co-chair of the Advertising & Media Group who has extensive experience in ESG related advertising issues, including the FTC Green Guides; and Judith Bussé, a highly experienced regulatory and litigation counsel in Brussels with a focus on the EU legal framework.

The practice builds on the firm’s deep experience in the environmental, energy, technology, transportation, retail, consumer products, financial services, labor and employment, tax, and corporate governance sectors, among others, on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Sustainability and social responsibility have become increasingly important to shareholders, investors, and customers,” Lorenzen said. “Drawing from the team’s extensive global government experience, we offer a unique perspective to help organizations manage potential opportunities and risks, and map out the policy, legal, and commercial steps to address ESG across their business footprint.”

“Our lawyers are well versed on ESG matters, having counseled in this area for many years. We have helped companies focused on corporate social responsibility reduce waste, produce recyclable products and packaging, and improve on diversity and inclusion,” Dawson said. “With increasing policy and regulatory developments, we are excited to have a global practice dedicated to these important ESG issues.”

Crowell & Moring helped launch the world’s largest public-private partnership to promote ethical business practices for the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors in the Asia-Pacific. Recent matters also include: representing client advocacy positions in international environmental agreement negotiations; advising an industry association on developing and advancing policy initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region relating to waste management issues; advising a global fast food corporation regarding recycling claims applicable to disposable materials used in food packaging; and providing tax counseling on a carbon capture and sequestration project with capital investment of over $200 million that will generate credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code.

Crowell & Moring’s ESG Advisory Team works with companies to protect their interests, promote good stewardship, and establish reporting initiatives that directly enhance their organization’s leadership role as global citizens, while increasing their growth potential and other measures of success.

In addition to policy, regulatory, and legislative developments, the team advises on a range of ESG issues including legal requirements and best practices; transactional risks and compliance; supply chain considerations; complex commercial contracts; crises, investigations, litigation, and alternative dispute resolution; and public affairs.

Other co-leaders of the ESG group include:

• Ambassador Robert Holleyman, the president and CEO of Crowell & Moring International and the former deputy U.S. Trade Representative responsible for Asia;
• Thomas Hanusik, a partner in the White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group, former assistant chief in the DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and former senior counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement;
• S. Starling Marshall, a partner in the Tax and Litigation groups and a former trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, Court of Federal Claims Section; and
• Bryan Brewer, co-chair of the Corporate Group.