ESG-in-Law Series Discusses Climate Disclosure Developments and Hyperlocal Impact Investment

May 2024 

By Patrick Miller 

California Lawyers Association’s Environmental, Social and Governance Interest Group recently released three new episodes of its ESG-in-Law video series. The episodes featured discussions with Shannon Morrissey and June Hu. They cover issues related to the new SEC Climate Disclosure rules and California Climate Disclosure laws, and the importance of making impact investment accessible to non-accredited retail investors. 

You can find these conversations at the Youtube Playlist link for the ESG Committee.  

Patrick Miller spoke with Shannon Morrissey about her career trajectory as an environmental lawyer and her increasingly diverse work in the ESG space, with an emphasis on the recent California climate disclosure laws (SB 253 and SB 261) and the SEC’s recently published climate disclosure rules, as well as a discussion of legal challenges being brought against these recent advancements and what the future likely holds for corporate climate risk analysis, emissions accounting and reduction. 

Shannon Morissey is Of Counsel at WilmerHale’s San Francisco office. She focuses her practice on environmental, natural resources and ESG matters, including environmental justice and related emerging policy issues. She has assisted clients in technology, real estate, mining, airline and other industries—including multi-national industrial corporations, manufacturers, and oil and gas companies, as well as major residential and commercial developers—on a wide variety of permitting, compliance, enforcement and litigation matters. 

Patrick also spoke with June Hu about her role coordinating Sullivan and Cromwell’s diverse and growing ESG practice, the need for collaboration across silos of traditional legal expertise, the role for early-career attorneys in this space, and the SEC’s recently published climate disclosure rules, as well as a discussion of legal challenges being brought against the same. 

June Hu is special counsel at Sullivan and Cromwell’s New York office. She coordinates the Firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice, and advises on a range of ESG, corporate governance, activism and takeover defense matters. In addition, June frequently speaks and publishes on ESG and corporate governance matters. As an author of the firm’s annual proxy season review and monthly ESG newsletter, she actively monitors evolving trends and developments in the ESG landscape in order to help clients navigate these evolving areas.  

Patrick Miller is a member of the California Lawyers Association’s ESG Interest Group and the founding attorney at Impact Advocates APC. This Los Angeles-based law firm focuses on commercial litigation, international arbitration, and ESG advisory services, such as implementing responsible supply chain frameworks. 

The information in these recordings is provided for informational purposes only. You should consult with an attorney before you rely on this information. This information should not be seen as legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. This interview is meant to be a general discussion and may not include all relevant information regarding the issues covered.