This Course is now fully booked. If you wish to be added to waitlist please email lspt@lawsociety.ie

*This Law Society Skillnet discount is applicable to all practicing solicitors working in the private sector. The standard fee for this course is €375.

7 March 2024 (onsite)
3.00pm - 6.00pm

21 March 2023 (online)
10.00am - 11.30am

Aims and Objectives

This blended masterclass is aimed at all practitioners both in-house and in private practice. Our masterclass format includes a workshop element to gain a practical and applied understanding of this developing area of law. The topics covered reflect the practical implications of this complex and emerging practice area. The presenters and workshop facilitators are experts in this field. 

This masterclass will be hosted on an online learning platform (Moodle). There will be two live in-person lectures and five pre-recorded lectures.  One interactive workshop will be held onsite in-person and one will be live online via Zoom. Materials and other resources will be uploaded to Moodle.  

Topics and Issues to be covered
• Lawyers and ESG
• Lecture 1: ESG - The Law
What is ESG
What is ESG Due Diligence
What is ESG Materiality 
What is ESG Stakeholder Engagement
• Lecture 2: ESG Corporate Governance
ESG Steering Committee
ESG Corporate Reporting 
• Workshop 1: ESG in legal practice
Mergers and Acquisitions
HR and Employment
Supply Chains
Commercial Leases
Tendering and Procurement
Construction Law 
• Lecture 3:  ESG in Business
ESG for Large Companies
ESG for SME’s
ESG for Public Sector
• Lecture 4: ESG: Policies
What to cover
Benefits
Capacity and Culture Building
• Lecture 5: ESG in Financial Services
• Lecture 6: ESG: on the way 
Planned legal developments 
ESG Preparations
• Workshop 2

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the masterclass participants will have gained an understanding of the topics/concepts and processes listed above and demonstrate an understanding of these in applying the knowledge gained to practical scenarios in the workshops.  

Speakers/workshop facilitators

Richard Lee, Principal, Lee Solicitors
Richard Lee is principal of Lee Solicitors and has been a practising solicitor for over 30 years and holds a Master of Laws in Advanced Legal Practice from the University of Northumbria. Throughout his professional life Richard has been interpreting and applying the law as it affects business and individuals in a practical context.  Richard is currently finalising his doctorate relating to ESG/Corporate Sustainability Impact and Planning and will be drawing on the latest research and law.

Marion O’Donnell, Sustainable Investing Advisor
Marion has been working in sustainability for over 10 years, most recently for a large global asset manager where she was a senior member of the Sustainable Investing Team and focused on ESG integration, sustainable fund construction, and policy development.  She has expertise in corporate engagement focusing on global sustainability best practice and regulatory reporting.  Marion also worked as a portfolio advisor and was directly involved in investment decisions on sustainable funds with specific expertise on climate change, diversity and modern slavery.  Marion currently advises boards and independent non-executive directors on global sustainability regulations and reporting requirements.   

Andrew Farmer, Director, KPMG Sustainable Futures
Andrew has nearly two decades of deep experiential knowledge of the business of institutional investment management, global fund structuring and specialized innovation and leads the Investment Management and Private Equity service offerings of KPMG Sustainable Futures. Over his career, Andrew has served in senior roles within hedge funds, long-only managers, venture capital and institutional investment consulting firms.Andrew has significant experience in serving on a variety of Boards, such as OWL ESG, EARNEST Partners Global Funds, plc., IslePoniLo, and Pratt & Co. Capital (Cayman) Ltd.

Anikó Kraft, Associate Director, KPMG Sustainable Futures
Anikó has been providing Sustainability services to KPMG clients in Ireland, the UK and Hungary for 12 years. She brings extensive experience in Sustainability strategy and reporting, measuring and target setting, including in line with the Science Based Target Inititive (SBTi), developing climate action plans and conducting ESG due diligence reviews, working across organisations in both the public and private sectors. Anikó works closely with sustainability practitioners to enhance their approaches to ESG / Sustainability, engage stakeholders, cut costs, increase efficiency and improve reputation.

John MacNamara, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Bord na Móna
John MacNamara is currently leading Bord na Móna’s Corporate Sustainability team, as the company transitions from a fossil fuel company to becoming a provider of Climate Solutions across low carbon renewable energy, the circular economy and land use management/eco-system services. John is developing and co-ordinating the implementation of Bord na Móna’s new Sustainability strategy which also includes embedding ESG considerations across all activities in the organisation.  He holds a PhD in Chemistry, an LLB in Irish Law, and a diploma in Finance.  John is company secretary for the Electricity Association of Ireland; was previously chair of Wind Energy Ireland’s (WEI) Markets Committee and a member of the Brussels based Eurelectric‘s Markets & Investment Committee. John was formerly employed with the EPA as a senior scientist, as well as holding positions in the private environmental sector and latterly in Bord na Móna’s Renewable Energy division.

Jane Pittaway, Executive Chair at General Counsel Sustainability Leaders 
Jane Pittaway has a unique insight into the challenges and opportunities facing both businesses and law firms regarding climate and wider ESG issues.  She is Executive Chair of General Counsel Sustainability Leaders (GCSL), which until Sept ’23 was known as Lawyers for Net Zero.  For 20 years prior she was a partner in high profile corporate practices, in the UK and abroad leading large teams and delivering complex and significant deals. GCSL works with global GCs from organisations such as Rolls Royce, WPP, Centrica, Specsavers and BUPA via its highly rated Leaders Programme, which currently has 40 high profile participants. Jane also supports clients on how to manage and mitigate their sustainability risks and build resilience. She’s passionate about enabling good ESG governance and enabling contracts to be instruments of change.

Georgina Barrett, Solicitor, AIB Specialised Lending
Georgina Barrett qualified as a solicitor in 2005. She worked in the Real Estate department of Arthur Cox for a number of years and joined AIB in 2011. Georgina has worked in various in-house roles in AIB in the area of corporate lending and supports the Sustainability Legal team in the Bank which advances the AIB sustainability agenda. Georgina has acted as a director of a not for profit sustainability company which planted trees offsetting co2 and contributing to re-afforestation. Georgina has also completed the Institute of Bankers Certificate in Responsible and Sustainable Finance.

Paul Egan SC
Paul, a former Chair of the Mason Hayes and Curran Corporate Department, specialises in corporate transactions, governance and regulatory matters. Clients know him for providing clear and practical legal advice. Paul is lead and conflicts adviser on company and securities law for several listed companies and major shareholders in such companies. Paul is a founding member and current Chair of the statutory Company Law Review Group, the body responsible for advising the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on company law. Paul was appointed Senior Counsel by the Government of Ireland in 2020, the first occasion the title was conferred on solicitors. Paul is author of several books, including Irish Securities Law (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Mason Hayes and Curran’s EU Securities Laws (2022).

IMPORTANT

• Unless otherwise indicated our Zoom webinars and meetings are held live and are not recorded. If you miss the live webinar/meeting, you cannot play back the event. You also may not avail of your CPD hours for that event.
• Attendance at live, online webinars and meetings is tracked and logged for CPD compliance purposes. This information will be shared with the Law Society CPD Scheme at their request.
• In order to reduce waste and to support the work of the Law Society Environmental and Sustainability in Practice Taskforce, materials will not be printed. Instead, they will be emailed before the event.
• Please see https://www.lawsociety.ie/Solicitors/Practising/CPD-Scheme  for the CPD hour required to be fulfilled in any given year
• For full programme details download the brochure
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• If you have technical or other queries, contact a member of the team on: lawsocietyskillnet@lawsociety.ie