Conversations With ESG Gurus

Environmental L.A.W.S.

In this episode, Heidi Friedman, a partner in our Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups and co-chair of our ESG Collaborative, hosts a one-on-one conversation with Su Ping Lu, Vice President, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel for ESG and International at Honeywell. Su Ping’s responsibilities weave together SEC compliance, securities offerings, corporate governance, M&A and other corporate transactions, ESG initiatives, ethical frameworks, political law navigation, cybersecurity measures and international counsel.

This discussion originally took place as part of our Power Huddle: Inside the Minds of ESG Gurus series. These conversations examine how company executives from various industries are actively paving the way as ESG trendsetters and championing pragmatic ESG strategies to align with business values while building a sustainability framework to advance their company’s ESG goals and practices.

Environmental L.A.W.S.In this episode, Heidi Friedman, a partner in our Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups and co-chair of our ESG Collaborative, hosts a one-on-one conversation with Tara Helms, Director of Sustainability North America at Electrolux Group. Tara spearheads the organization’s mission to revolutionize taste, care and well-being experiences, fostering innovative approaches to more enjoyable and sustainable living.

This discussion originally took place as part of our Power Huddle: Inside the Minds of ESG Gurus series. These conversations examine how company executives from various industries are actively paving the way as ESG trendsetters and championing pragmatic ESG strategies to align with business values while building a sustainability framework to advance their company’s ESG goals and practices.

During this session, we met Isabel Fields, ESG Coordinator at Hearst. Passionate about fostering positive transformations in corporate settings, Isabel currently contributes to Hearst's ESG team. Her responsibilities encompass leading various initiatives, including Neurodiversity@Hearst, which aims to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by embracing cognitive diversity in recruitment and management practices. Additionally, she oversees projects related to web accessibility, sustainability management and ESG reporting.

Please join Heidi B. Friedman, partner and co-chair of the ESG Collaborative, for one-on-one chats each month as she taps into the minds of ESG chiefs to examine how they are championing pragmatic ESG strategies to create innovative business models and building a sustainability framework to advance their company’s ESG footprint. Each session features a “meeting over lunch” with company executives from various industries who are actively paving the way for a sustainable future for their businesses to help secure consumer loyalty and increase employee satisfaction.

Supreme Court’s Loper Decision: Immediate and Long-Term Impacts on EPA Regulation

In our latest podcast episode, partner Devin Barry and managing associate Aren Olson from Thompson Hine’s Environmental practice group discuss the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo on pending U.S. EPA regulations. They delve into the concept of "Chevron deference," examining how the Loper decision affects this principle and its subsequent impact on some of the U.S. EPA’s most contested rules under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, such as the Greenhouse Gas Rule for utilities, the Good Neighbor Rule and WOTUS.

What’s With All These AG Letters? Tips for Ensuring Your ESG Program Avoids Antitrust Scrutiny

Tanya Nesbitt is a litigator and partner in Thompson Hine’s Environmental practice and co-leader of the firm’s Greenwashing Defense & Litigation group. She helps companies navigate the rules governing the mandatory disclosure of climate-related risks. She also counsels clients on the reputational, litigation, and regulatory risks associated with greenwashing. She frequently speaks and writes about greenwashing litigation and its implications for companies’ ESG goals. In this episode, Tanya and her colleague Caitlin Thomas, also a partner at Thompson Hine, discuss ongoing antitrust challenges to joint industry sustainability alliances and climate targets. They analyze how the antitrust trust laws may be used to scrutinize sustainability efforts and provide some best practices for avoiding potential pitfalls.

HFC Phasedown & Regulation: Turning Up the Heat to Turn Down Global Warming

Joel Eagle, partner, and Ashley Kirk, associate in Thompson Hine’s Environmental practice group are joined in this episode of Environmental L.A.W.S. by guest Alex Sadvari,an environmental lawyer and partner in the Toronto, Canada office of Gowling WLG. Joel, Ashley, and Alex discuss the international phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are widely used in the refrigerant, propellant, and foam blowing industries, and examine the similarities and differences in the U.S. and Canadian approaches to HFC regulation. They also explore the international agreements governing HFC regulation, discuss why HFC regulation and phasedowns are important tools for combatting climate change, and provide insight into some of the challenges U.S. and Canadian entities face in complying with changing HFC regulations.

In this episode, Heidi Friedman, a partner in our Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups and co-chair of our ESG Collaborative, hosts a one-on-one conversation with Jen Huffstetler, Chief Product Sustainability Officer and Vice President/General Manager of Intel Future Platform Strategy and Sustainability. She is responsible for driving the integration and execution of the corporate-level product strategy to drive future growth across client, cloud, network and edge to deliver sustainable computing for a sustainable future.

In this episode, Heidi Friedman, a partner in our Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups and co-chair of our ESG Collaborative, hosts a one-on-one conversation with Averil Edwards, Managing Counsel of Environmental and Sustainability at United Airlines. She advises and represents the airline on environmental and sustainability matters, including United’s near-term 2050 decarbonization strategies and commitments and sustainable aviation fuel procurement and clean technology investments. She is also a member of the legal department’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee. Averil is very involved in her local community, serving as a governor-appointed board member of the Illinois International Port District, a municipal corporation; secretary of the board of directors of Ladies of Virtue, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the lives of girls in Chicago’s underserved communities; and an associate board member of Cabrini Green Legal Aid.

This discussion originally took place as part of our Power Huddle: Inside the Minds of ESG Gurus series. These conversations examine how company executives from various industries are actively paving the way as ESG trendsetters and championing pragmatic ESG strategies to align with business values while building a sustainability framework to advance their company’s ESG goals and practices.

In this episode, Heidi Friedman, a partner in our Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups and co-chair of our ESG Collaborative, hosts a one-on-one conversation with Kristin Campbell, former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief ESG Officer at Hilton Worldwide. She will provide insights into her experiences at the organization and share how she helped navigate the hospitality giant’s consumer-driven business while keeping its ESG strategies, public governance and compliance initiatives as top priorities.

This discussion originally took place as part of our Power Huddle: Inside the Minds of ESG Gurus series. These conversations examine how company executives from various industries are actively paving the way as ESG trendsetters and championing pragmatic ESG strategies to align with business values while building a sustainability framework to advance their company’s ESG goals and practices.

What’s New in Air? A discussion of developments in Environmental Justice and U.S. EPA’s PM 2.5 standard.

Devin Barry, partner, and Audrey Avila, counsel in Thompson Hine’s Environmental practice group, bring their air expertise to the forefront in this episode. Devin specializes in advising large manufacturing clients on air permitting requirements for the construction of new and existing emission sources, proactive compliance counseling, and defending clients in enforcement actions by state agencies, U.S. EPA, and U.S. DOJ. Audrey, who recently joined Thompson Hine’s Chicago office, brings valuable experience from her time as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s office. In this episode, Devin and Audrey discuss the latest environmental justice developments in Illinois, involving disputes over the relocation of a scrap metal recycling facility and an important settlement impacting environmental justice nationwide, and the U.S. EPA’s recent rulemaking to reduce the PM 2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Their discussion includes key takeaways for companies navigating these dynamic issues under the Clean Air Act.