To kick off the 29th Annual Marketing Partner Forum I sat in on an excellent workshop lead by Pamela Cone. It was focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives and how Law firms, along with others, are adapting to the ever-evolving ESG's in a business landscape.
Pamela was joined by four experts with decades of knowledge and experience. 

John Page with 30 years of legal experience took the first words on the topic by pointing out that ESG is a growing set of practices that have changed names over the years but that the goals really haven't changed that much. John stated 'It is the corporate responsibility to have a culture and standards that everyone aims for.'

Pandemic, Politics, Protest

Another acronym John used was PPP: Pandemic, Politics, Protest. I would say that everyone has been affected by these in the last two years and so have ESG's. The E portion gets a lot of focus as its a hot and consistent topic but PPP has brought Social and Governance up to the same level.

Kristin L Parker of Chicago based Chapman & Cutler backed up John's point that it is evolving all the time but she also shared from experience about how companies are now thinking in different ways. Not so much about just "how to make money" but also thinking about the impact they are having, environmentally and socially. They have more of a duty now than ever before to be accountable for their impact.

Along the same track but offering a slightly different view on it - perhaps a more "insider" view - came from Peter D Roberston. His experience as Deputy Administrator and Chief of Staff at EPA and now at Squire Patton Boggs has given him many examples over the years. He provided an example of a business he works with in California that is providing clean energy, assisting in the community, and also creating jobs in a high unemployment area. He made a point that the European offices of Squire Patton Boggs are being frequently asked about what their ESG's are because clients or potential clients want to align.  In his opinion, the USA is still playing catch up.

This rolled smoothly onto Jazz Hampton. Jazz is the CEO & General Counsel of TurnSignl, a fantastic app that provides real-time legal guidance from an attorney to drivers, all while their camera records the interaction. He pointed out that it is an important factor that a law firm or any partner company has the same ideals as his or that of TurnSignl. It is important to pick and chose the firms that match so that you are always striving for the same goals when it comes to ESG.

My take-away from the panel was that the majority of Law Firms have acknowledged the need to amend and act on ESG's but that it is an upward curve that may not have an end in sight as it is ever-changing.