Trio of big firms take the lead in ESG law

New field in survey recognizes law firms' work in helping clients with ESG

- K.C. Vijayan

Rajah & Tann, Allen & Gledhill, and WongPartnership formed the troika of leading firms in the field of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) law, which was added to this year's Best Law Firms survey.

The addition recognizes the work of law firms in helping clients with rising ESG compliance requirements here and abroad. ESG is a framework to measure an organization's business practices and performance with regard to sustainability issues.

Its importance led Rajah & Tann to launch a sustainability practice group in January 2021 to help streamline resources and knowledge sharing across the firm's practice groups advising clients on their ESG concerns.

"This collaborative approach is part of Rajah & Tann's DNA and puts us in a good place to provide a high standard of service to clients," said the firm's managing partner, Mr. Patrick Ang, at the time of the launch. He noted that sustainability had become an important area of focus for many businesses amid a growing web of ESG regulations and considerations.

To get up to speed and also be able to walk the talk, the firm hired an external consultant to work with it on its own sustainability and decarbonization efforts. It also signed up with LowCarbonSG, a capability-building program, supported by the National Environment Agency and Enterprise Singapore, to learn how to transition and track its progress to being net zero.