How General Counsel Became the Corporate Conscience

The rise of ‘stakeholder capitalism’ means companies face pressure from all sides —  regulators, legislators, investors, employees, and consumers — to carry out business with integrity and transparency. Staff attorneys can, therefore, no longer simply provide counsel on a company’s compliance with the law. As such, general counsel are increasingly taking on responsibility for firms’ ESG policies, leading work in areas such as climate change, human rights, and diversity and inclusion.

Greenwashing is a corporate ESG risk that has recently received much attention. Companies “greenwash” by making misleading statements about their environmental standards and credentials. Earlier this year, German police raided the Frankfurt offices of DWS and its majority owner Deutsche Bank, as part of a probe into allegations of greenwashing at the asset manager.