In Sidebar we look at the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape. In season two we're looking at what ESG means for you.

Businesses are under pressure from consumers, the media and regulators to operate in an ethical fashion and make ESG a priority.

But their attempts to demonstrate progress can open them up to risk and lead to questions about their marketing, reporting, and corporate governance. How do they mitigate this risk, and what challenges on the horizon do they need to prepare for now?

In the fifth episode of our Spotlight on ESG season, Senior Associates Stephanie High and Emma Allen are joined by Tristan Yelland, a Forensic Investigations Director at Grant Thornton UK to discuss ESG disputes and investigations.

Topics covered include:

· why businesses need to care about ESG disputes

· key risk areas

· the types of claims they could face in future

· practical tips for how they can mitigate these risks.

Listen to Episode five above, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Stitcher.

In Sidebar we look at the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape. In season two we're looking at what ESG means for you. 

As natural disasters and climate change increasingly affect our lives, the insurance sector has a vital role to play in the future of our planet by helping organisations to manage risk and encourage innovation.

In the fourth episode of our Spotlight on ESG season Jonny Bethell, a Partner at Taylor Wessing is joined by Glenn O'Halloran, Head of Environmental Risks and Stuart Martin, Associate Director, Climate Change and Resilience at Howdens to discuss how the insurance space is evolving to incorporate ESG.

Topics covered include:

• How insurance can be part of a solution for businesses managing ESG issues
• ESG risk rankings
• How environmental due diligence has shifted to being ESG focused
• How ESG factors impact transactions and commercial business activities
• Disaster relief financing

Listen to Episode three above, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. 

In Sidebar we look at the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape. In season two we're looking at what ESG means for you.

Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy from businesses who demonstrate ethical behaviour, including doing business in a sustainable way. We've seen a wave of new advertising using terms like 'sustainable', 'carbon neutral', 'low emissions' and 'plastic free'. But what happens when businesses can't back these statements up? 

In the third episode of our Spotlight on ESG season Emma Danks is joined by Tim Pinto, a Senior Counsel at Taylor Wessing, to discuss environmental claims. Topics covered include:

• what greenwashing looks like

• the regulators responsible for monitoring environmental claims

• examples where businesses haven't met regulator standards

• how to stay on the right side of the law.

Listen to Episode three above, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. 

In Sidebar we look at the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape. In season two we're looking at what ESG means for you.

ESG considerations form an integral part of the framework in which investment management firms operate and shape many investment decisions. But what sustainability-related disclosures do investment management firms need to make?

In the second episode of our Spotlight on ESG season Daniel Hirschfield is joined by Carol Thomas, a Retail Markets Specialist at the Investment Association*, to discuss sustainability disclosure rules in the UK and the EU. We cover what they are, who they apply to, and some of the challenges around them including:

· the EU's Sustainable Finance Action Plan

· EU Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation

· managing the risk of greenwashing

· the interaction between SFDR and the EU Taxonomy Regulation.

Listen to Episode 2 above, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Stitcher.

* This episode was recorded in March 2022.

In Sidebar we look at the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape. In season two we're looking at what ESG means for you. 

Environmental, social and governance factors are becoming increasingly important to attracting and retaining talent and in investment decisions. But what do they mean for your people? 

In the first episode of our Spotlight on ESG season Helen Farr and Angela Sharma are joined by Sunny Romo, an Equities Investment Specialist at M&G, to discuss what ESG means for employment and pensions.

They cover topics including:

·       the impact of ESG on investing decisions

·       how ESG factors are affecting pension scheme investment

·       how HR functions are tackling social and governance factors 

·       how businesses are handling ESG reporting.

Listen to Episode one above, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Stitcher.

What does ESG mean for you? Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have shot up the board agenda and are now essential to business strategy. But how are they affecting businesses, and what legal challenges are they encountering?

In the second season of Sidebar, we'll discuss the impact of the issues, innovations and trends facing the legal landscape, combining our legal experience with the views of expert guests to explore how ESG is shaping the profession. Stay tuned for episode one, where Helen Farr and Angela Sharma we will be joined by Sunny Romo, an Equities Investment Specialist at M&G, to discuss what ESG means for employment and pensions.

In the sixth and final episode of our Future of Litigation season, The eDisclosure Information Project's Chris Dale draws upon his specialist insight to explore what evidence looks like in the digital age. Together with Disputes & Investigations senior associates Ed Spencer and Jessie Prynne, Chris talks about the ever-increasing range of digital evidence sources, and how evidence is evolving.

In the fifth episode in our Future of Litigation season, LitiGate co-founder and CEO Nimrod Aharon offers his insights on the impact of AI on litigation. Together with Disputes & Investigations partner Amy Patterson and senior associate Ed Spencer, Nimrod talks about what it means to delegate analysis to computers, and the extent to which AI enhances, rather than replaces, human decision making in litigation.

In the fourth episode in our Future of Litigation season, EMEA Head of Origination at Litigation Capital Management, Matthew Denney, offers his unique insights into the impact of technology on litigation funding. 

Together with Disputes & Investigations partners Laurence Lieberman and Nick Storrs, Matthew considers how funders might utilise data analytics and automation in investment decisions, ongoing case assessment, and enforcement, and what this means for potential claimants.

In the third episode in our Future of Litigation season, we're joined by Delivery Director at the Royal Courts of Justice Lisa John to explore how the courts are going digital.

Together with Disputes & Investigations partner Laurence Lieberman and senior professional support lawyer Helen Brannigan, Lisa discusses how technology is reshaping and reforming the infrastructure of litigation, including:

• the key efficiencies achieved through the CE- filing system
• how COVID-19 has impacted the speed of digital reform in the courts
• the recent and forthcoming changes to technology infrastructure in the RCJ, and
• whether the digitisation of the courts marks a fundamental change to the process of accessing justice.