Ireland’s largest law firm, Matheson, has today become one of the first Irish law firms to establish a dedicated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Group – a cross-sectoral legal services group which assists companies to navigate and respond to the rapidly evolving ESG landscape.
Led by 12 partners, the new group is chaired by Garret Farrelly, who also leads the firm’s energy, natural resources, utilities and infrastructure practices. Matheson clients will also have access to a new online ESG resource hub of knowledge and insights from the Advisory Group.
Announcing the new group today, Managing Partner Michael Jackson said:
“With a range of factors driving environmental, social and governance standards to the top of board agendas - and accelerating change in the operating environment for businesses - Matheson is enhancing our client offering with a dedicated, cross-disciplinary ESG Advisory Group. Having advised on many innovative ESG projects and represented both established market leaders and innovative market entrants, our ESG Advisory Group, chaired by Garret Farrelly, brings together experienced partners and their teams who understand the pace at which industry practice and standards, domestic and international legislation and the expectations of both investors and regulators are changing. By providing our clients with one integrated advisory group capable of supporting them in relation to all three pillars – environmental, social and governance - we believe that we can better assist them in responding to these changes when designing and implementing their ESG strategies.”
Chairperson of the ESG Advisory Group, Garret Farrelly said:
“ESG issues are without doubt a priority for companies operating across a range of industry sectors. The legal, regulatory and policy changes and trends we are seeing will have impacts for operating models in the short, medium and long term. Reflecting this, Matheson’s ESG Group brings together in one combined platform a strong collaborative focus with deep industry knowledge, providing legal expertise in the areas of climate action; energy, natural resources and utilities; waste and the circular economy; governance; employment practices; supply chain management; data privacy; sustainable commercial real estate and construction; sustainable finance; investment funds; environmental and planning.”
Chairperson of the firm and member of the firm’s ESG Advisory Group, Tara Doyle, said:
“ESG has become a core business consideration for clients operating in many different sectors. For example, there is a broad, deep and growing range of issues arising from the sustainable finance agenda - and we have been advising our clients on meeting the complex new obligations arising from the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan. The latest regulatory wave seeks to integrate ESG factors into investment decision-making, reduce the risks of ‘green-washing’ and facilitate the flow of capital into sustainable economic activities. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) has come into force this month, imposing a set of extensive new ESG disclosure requirements on a broad range of regulated financial products and services across the European Union. The increased regulatory focus on ESG reflects and addresses investor interest in socially responsible investment and ESG issues.”
As a leading Irish law firm, Matheson is committed to environmental, social and governance standards. Our sustainability strategy and our cross-firm Sustainability Committee is tasked with ensuring that the firm meets its objective of creating a sustainable operation and reducing our carbon emissions. The firm is a founding signatory to Pro Bono Pledge Ireland, an initiative which calls on legal professionals in Ireland to commit to promoting access to justice by providing free legal assistance to those in need; and its Diversity and Inclusion programmes have been recognised by the Irish Centre for Diversity. Matheson is the only law firm in Ireland to receive Gold Standard accreditation from the Irish Centre for Diversity for its D&I practices.
The members of Matheson’s ESG Advisory Group are: Garret Farrelly (Chair), Tara Doyle, Sally Anne Stone, Kimberley Masuda, David O’Mahony, Susanne McMenamin, Nicola Dunleavy, Bryan Dunne, Anne-Marie Bohan, Louise Dobbyn and Alan Keating. Tara Doyle currently serves as Chair of the Irish Funds ESG Sustainability Working Group and is a member of the European Funds and Asset Management Association’s Stewardship, Market Integrity, ESG Investment Standing Committee.
About Matheson:
- Matheson is an Irish law firm. Our primary focus is on serving the Irish legal needs of internationally focused companies and financial institutions doing business in and from Ireland.
- Matheson’s clients include the majority of the Fortune 100 companies and it advises 7 of the top 10 global technology brands, 7 of the world’s 10 largest asset managers, and over half of the world’s 50 largest banks.
- Matheson is headquartered in Dublin and also has offices in Cork, London, New York, San Francisco and Palo Alto. Matheson employs over 720 people across its six offices, including 97 partners and tax principals, and 520 legal, tax and digital services professionals.
- Matheson holds the Gold Standard Award from the Irish Centre for Diversity in recognition of the firm’s development and implementation of people-focussed D&I initiatives. Matheson was the first organisation in Ireland to be awarded this accreditation.
- Matheson’s female / male partner gender ratio is ranked the seventh most gender-diverse in Europe in The Lawyer’s Euro 100 for 2020.
- Matheson has been named Ireland’s largest law firm by the Law Society of Ireland, following the annual publication in 2021 by the Law Society of practicing solicitor numbers in Ireland in February 2021.
