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Insurance
From ESG disclosures and climate activist litigation to modernising the workplace and cyber security through good governance, the themes and practicalities of transition are complex and far reaching. Our experts work collaboratively with our clients to provide strategy, support and creative business solutions in response to the full spectrum of issues.
Corporate and Commercial
Our corporate and commercial teams bring together a collection of experts covering everything from regulatory, data and technology law through to transactional and M&A activity.
ESG strategy, activity, reporting and compliance is an increasingly important consideration as investors demand greater transparency. Our Corporate team is able to help by exploring the legal risks and liabilities involved in transactional activity with recent experience advising clients in the renewable power sector; as well as carbon trading schemes, green bonds, advice on M&A, joint venture, development capital, responsible investments and governance.
Our Commercial Team combines a collection of experts able to address the following issues and more:
- Data compliance and risk advice on managing customer data, and specialist support on compliance and governance initiatives.
- Digital experts working at the leading edge of new developments such as Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, which benefits can be applied to tracking carbon and provenance records.
- Guidance from our contract and procurement experts to help our clients select the commercial and ethical decision that is right for them at every stage of the supply chain, and net zero carbon sourcing, purchasing, production and transportation process.
Employment
Flexi, hybrid remote, inclusion, stress and depression are part of the vocabulary of change in the workplace, each with an increased emphasis that reflects the rapidly evolving employer/employee dynamic.
The duty of care concept is changing, as employer responsibilities include mental well-being as well as physical safety, home as well as the workplace.
Our Employment lawyers advise on all strategic and operational aspects of this particularly dynamic area of law including:
- hybrid working policies
- well-being strategies
- remuneration structures
- discrimination
- harassment
- victimisation
- whistleblowing
Real Estate and Construction
The built environment generates 40% of carbon emissions in the UK. Achieving net carbon zero is high on the agenda of organisations with commercial property interests. ESG is an opportunity to drive value and increase investment opportunities. Developers, investors and occupiers need zero carbon buildings with modern amenities to avoid assets becoming stranded or obsolete.
We advise public and private sector developers on a wide range of development and planning issues relating to the environment, with particular reference to ecological and biodiversity net gain matters. We also advise on district heat schemes that use renewable energy to provide heating in a more efficient and responsible manner.
There is increasing interest in emissions from embedded carbon in buildings and our construction experts are involved in helping clients make the right selection of alternative materials and use technology to understand building construction and performance.
We have recently worked with the Social Market Foundation on the report, “Getting The Green Light”, to examine how our urban centres can more rapidly achieve net zero carbon.
Examples of our work:
- Housing and commercial developers on their rights and liabilities associated with sites adjacent to water courses, woodland or the green belt, including ecological and biodiversity net gain planning advice.
- Port of Sheerness on waste and landfill in the context of how it treats dredging from the estuary of the Medway.
- Clifton and Durdham Downs Committee on the submission to the Secretary of State for permission to carry out work on the downs to provide additional public facilities. The land is registered as common land and is adjacent to a SSSI and Special Area of Conservation.
- Advising Heathrow Hub on planning, environment and CPO matters for extension of northern runway. Including Development Consent Order/National Policy Statement relating to its proposal for Heathrow. This included key advice on the DCO/NPS air quality.
- Port of London Authority on their powers and duties with regard to a beluga whale which was inhabiting the estuary of the Thames.
- Advising Tameside Borough Council and the planning and CPO aspects of a new garden village at Godley Green; special circumstances required to obtain consent as well as biodiversity net gain and net zero carbon.
- Advising Sunderland City Council on the leases at their Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation facility, a project focused on low carbon technology.
- Multiple investigations for the Environment Agency into potential swage offences, diesel leaks, shipping consignments.
Further changes to these areas of Employment law are anticipated, including:
- A new Employment Bill
- Extended redundancy protection for women
- Introducing neonatal pay of up to 12 weeks
- “Day 1” right to carers leave
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Tipping
- Use this link for more detail on these changes and others:
Examples of our work:
- Advising on the potential set up of a second market carbon trading platform. Our involvement entailed advice on the corporate vehicle, market analysis, a viability study and guidance for the client on the framework within which the platform can operate.
- Acquisition of wind farm and solar sites for Sun Edison.
- Placing of share on the AIM market for GEM BioFuels, a rapidly growing biodiesel organisation.
- Fundraising and various commercial arrangements and an acquisition of assets from a renewable energy provider for Ceres Power, the world’s leading developer of low cost next generation fuel cell technology.
- Advising a bank on the establishment of a carbon credit trading scheme.
- Advising a social enterprise organisation on a suitable structure to deliver energy efficient projects in the UK.
To discover how DAC Beachcroft can support you through your ESG journey, please get in touch with us.
ESG: Helping
our clients adapt and thrive
To help our clients succeed, we offer a multi-service solution to ensure they can adapt and thrive in a changing landscape – one of increasing regulation and increasing litigation.
By listening, collaborating, challenging and innovating, we deliver bespoke solutions that help leadership teams and organisations identify ESG opportunities, exposures, risks and responsibilities – and achieve their ESG ambitions.
EXPLORE OUR ESG STRATEGY
DISCOVER HOW WE CAN SUPPORT YOUR ESG JOURNEY
DAC Beachcroft’s Pro Bono offering aims to assist social enterprises focused on addressing key ESG themes, and enable our lawyers with the opportunity to volunteer and help with issues they’re passionate about. Our work with Toast Ale, a social enterprise using surplus bread to brew beer and tackle food waste, is a recent example of how our lawyers have supported an organisation trying to make a difference.
Louisa Ziane, Toast’s Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, said, “Our 2021 Impact Report, published earlier this month, sets out our achievements to date and how we collaborate with other organisations to magnify our impact. We’re delighted to be working with DAC Beachcroft and grateful for their support to help us grow our impact.”
For more information about Pro Bono and volunteering activities at DACB click here.
Health
ESG considerations flow through almost every decision and activity undertaken by our health and social care clients, whether they be providers, commissioners, stakeholders or suppliers to the sector. Our expert team includes a breadth of experience and expertise dealing with every stage of health and social care service delivery and we are uniquely well placed to advise and support clients on delivery of their ESG objectives. This includes advising on:
Environmental
- Environmental considerations in NHS Estates
- Creation of environmentally friendly homes for later life living / social care
- Recognising social value and environmental considerations within procurement processes
Social
- Tackling health inequalities and levelling up
- Creating access to good quality social care services and collaboration between health and social care systems
- Provision of mental health support services and setting up new and innovative models of delivery
- Creation of additional capacity for NHS services including acute and mental health services
- Establishing new entrants to the social care and supported living market to increase capacity of community based care
Governance
- Understanding and managing the myriad of regulatory requirements across the sector and understanding how regulation can be used to create opportunities for growth and development of new services and new models of care delivery
- Provider level “well led” requirements and board development
- Information governance and protection of sensitive personal data in health records
Our experts can advise on a number of issues in this complex and interconnected landscape. Explore the boxes below to find out more on what we can offer, or find the right person who helps support that issue at DACB.
How DACB can support you
ESG pro bono
EXPLORE OUR ESG STRATEGY
Explore our ESG service offerings
DISPUTES AND INVESTIGATIONS
Businesses are under ever-increasing legal and regulatory pressure to demonstrate their ESG credentials and explain how they are mitigating the adverse impact caused by their activities and those operating in their supply chains. Increasing regulation, compulsory ESG disclosures and ever greater scrutiny by various stakeholders, comes with a heightened risk of disputes and regulatory investigations, and consequential financial and reputational damage.
Our Dispute Resolution team has a breadth of experience in handling complex disputes and regulatory investigations and is well placed to advise on these risks and potential liabilities.
We advise on a broad spectrum of ESG-related disputes, investigations and compliance issues including:-
- Value chain or supply chain litigation and compliance issues
- Regulatory investigations by the CMA, FCA, FRC and other regulators
- Handling enforcement action by the Environment Agency
- Responding to ASA and OECD complaints and advising on compliance with advertising and consumer protection regulations
- Internal ESG investigations and reputation management
- ESG claims by stakeholders, including by investors, activists and consumers
- Mis-selling investments or “greenwashing” claims
- Contractual disputes arising from ESG related projects or breach of ESG clauses
- Judicial review
Examples of our work:
- Litigation relating to the proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport and its associated environmental impact.
- Acting for a FTSE100 FMCG company in a contractual dispute relating to classification of manufacturing waste.
- Advising an international household name company on a potential judicial review of proposed environmental related regulations.
- Acting for corporates subject to enforcement action by the Environment Agency for alleged pollution of public water systems.
- Providing advice to multiple clients on consumer regulation and advertising codes, including Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 and CAP Code and compliance with the CMA’s Green Claims Code.
- Advising on alleged breaches of the major environmental legislation, including the Environmental Act, Hazardous Waste Regulations and Water Industry Act.
- Advising several high profile companies and charities on reputational issues (including media relations and defamation) relating to environmental claims and “greenwashing”.
- Advising on comparative advertising claims by client competitors which relate to sustainability or environmental credentials.
- Representing clients subject to investigations by the FCA, PRA and FRC, including with respect to alleged breaches of the Financial Promotion Rules and breaches of the FCA Handbook and PRA Rulebook.
- Conducting an internal investigation for a major UK entity in the aerospace industry in order to assess potential breaches of the Bribery Act 2010, and subsequent review of the entity’s systems, controls and governance.
- Successfully challenging a judicial review against an NHS Foundation Trust relating to the medical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria.
- Providing litigation support for a public body facing judicial reviews and a procurement challenge brought by a legal activist group; this had an important focus on how public bodies should conduct themselves when dealing with emergency procurements.
- Acting for various companies in claims relating to the mis-selling of investments.
Key members of our ESG team
Virginia Clegg
Senior Partner
T: +44(0) 207 894 6448
vclegg@dacbeachcroft.com
Emma-Jane Dalley
Head of ESG in Charities
T: +44(0) 117 366 2960
ejdalley@dacbeachcroft.com
Khurram Shamsee
Head of ESG in Employment
T: +44(0) 207 894 6566
kshamsee@dacbeachcroft.com
Tim Ryan
Head of ESG in GreenTech
T: +44(0) 207 894 6978
tryan@dacbeachcroft.com
Anna Hart
Head of ESG in Health
T: +44(0) 191 404 4177
ahart@dacbeachcroft.com
Helen Faulkner
Head of ESG in Insurance
T: +44(0) 117 918 2225
hfaulkner@dacbeachcroft.com
Andrew Morgan
Head of ESG in Real Estate
T: +44(0) 20 7894 6193
axmorgan@dacbeachcroft.com
Jonathan White
Head of ESG in Corporate & Commercial
T: +44(0) 207 894 6448
jdwhite@dacbeachcroft.com
Laura Berry
Head of ESG in Disputes and Investigations
T: +44(0) 20 7894 6343
lberry@dacbeachcroft.com