ESG
O’Melveny’s cross-disciplinary team advises leading companies and investors on an array of ESG-specific issues.
O’Melveny’s cross-disciplinary team advises leading companies and investors on an array of ESG-specific issues.
Companies today are expected to meet regulatory and stakeholder demands for sustainability, social impact, regulatory compliance and disclosure. From mitigating climate risk to ensuring sustainable and transparent supply chains, “doing the right thing” is now more than an aspiration for companies; it is a business imperative.
While sustainability has gained prominence in recent years—driven by catalysts like climate change, COVID, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo—O’Melveny has been counseling clients on sustainability-related matters for decades, with lawyers from across practices and specialties offering comprehensive guidance on:
- Sustainable program strategy, design, and implementation
- Mandatory reporting and disclosures, including use of third-party audits and how best to frame sustainability goals to minimize risk of litigation
- Diligence and documentation on sustainability matters in deals and financings
- Defense against consumer and business claims related to alleged “greenwashing” and non-conformance with sustainability goals
- International trade counseling, including compliance with economic sanctions, customs, export controls, and the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act
- Labor matters, including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, remote-work policies, executive compensation, union organizing, and employee health and safety
- Sustainable, responsible, and impact investing
- Sustainable product innovation
- Water conservation
- Supply chain transparency
- Data privacy and security
- Investor activism
- Renewable energy
- Community investment
Advising clients on the development of sustainability programs and policies.
Representing a multinational technology company in a pay-equity class action alleging that the company discriminated against women employees in their pay and promotions. We also helped the company with a pay-equity review that focused on identifying significant pay disparities and developing a process to investigate and correct those disparities.
Guiding public companies on sustainability-related disclosure, board and corporate governance requirements, “lack of diversity” shareholder derivative actions, institutional investor voting policies, and sustainability-related shareholder proposals.
Helping line up financing for projects that bring more renewable energy and clean water to market. We are a leading firm in tax equity financing for the solar, wind, smart grid, energy storage, electric vehicle, and other clean-tech sectors, and we are currently advising on projects involving backup-battery systems for renewables and wood pellet-based alternative energy, hydrogen fuel trucking (and other alternative fuel sources for transportation), and public-private partnerships related to electric vehicles.
Advising clients on sustainability aspects of real estate and infrastructure development projects.
Top tier nationally for Environmental Law
—US News & World Report/Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms” survey (2023)
California offices top ranked for environmental litigation
—Benchmark Litigation (2023)
Twice named “California Environmental/Natural Resources Litigation Firm of the Year”
—Benchmark Litigation (2019 and 2020)
“A strong team possessing vast experience in documentation advice as well as health and safety counsel on significant transactions, financings and restructurings…. Relied upon by private equity firms to ensure all environmental risk and compliance requirements are properly assessed.”
—Chambers USA