Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG & Extended Producer Responsibility | Industries

Industry Contacts

Corporate Social Responsibility

Taft is at the forefront of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, employing a cross-disciplinary, highly collaborative approach to advise our clients on navigating diverse constituency pressures amid a rapidly evolving regulatory environment. Our team includes attorneys with specialized expertise who work seamlessly across practice groups.

We counsel public and private corporations, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, boards of directors, C-suite executives, financial institutions, and other financial sponsors on the full range of CSR and ESG issues that affect their businesses. This includes advising on ESG (including anti-ESG) considerations in public company and private equity M&A, fund formation and banking and finance, litigation and regulatory matters focused on E, S, and/or G matters, and compliance with disclosure requirements and related internal controls and procedures.

CSR and ESG matters continue to play a growing role in compliance and business strategy. Political shifts and changing investor priorities drive rising and sometimes competing demands from regulators, employees, customers, and advocacy groups. Among other considerations, CSR and ESG matters span governance, supply chains, environmental impact, labor practices, human rights, and disclosure practices.

Our integrated approach involves partnering with our clients to evaluate their business strategy, assess impacts, risks and opportunities, and provide sound and highly-tailored business judgment and guidance on compliance, market trends and investor expectations. We strive to provide the very best advice to all clients in all industries, irrespective of position on and approach to ESG issues, while being cognizant of tensions that may arise when clients, shareholders and other interested parties have different priorities and expectations.

Environmental and EPR

Regulatory expectations are evolving rapidly across jurisdictions, with extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws at the forefront of change. A growing number of states are adopting comprehensive EPR regimes that impose new obligations for packaging, products, reporting, and producer participation in Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs). At the same time, U.S. federal and state climate disclosure requirements remain in flux, adding further complexity to an already dynamic compliance landscape. Clients rely on Taft’s environmental and sustainability lawyers, including former in-house ESG and sustainability leaders, to navigate these overlapping and fast-developing requirements.

EPR compliance and strategy: Advise on multi-state EPR obligations, including producer status determinations, registration and reporting, PRO engagement, fee modeling, contract support, and integration into broader product stewardship programs.
Compliance: Navigate state and local climate disclosure rules, including greenhouse gas emissions, and related reporting.
Claim evaluation: Evaluate ESG and sustainability claims to mitigate greenwashing risk and support defensible disclosures.
Carbon and GHG inventory support: Support GHG inventories and programs through legal and governance work, including disclosure strategy and drafting, internal controls, supplier and data‑sharing terms, offset and credit diligence, assurance readiness, and coordination with external auditors and consultants.
Investigations and enforcement: Defend agency investigations and enforcement actions involving air, water, waste, and legacy contamination.
PFAS: Advise on PFAS risk across regulatory compliance, product stewardship, and supply chain management.
Supply chain and stewardship: Counsel on product stewardship, sustainable sourcing, emissions reduction, and supply chain transparency.

Corporate Governance

Our corporate governance practice integrates CSR and ESG considerations into board and management oversight of risk, strategy, and stakeholder engagement. We advise public and private companies, boards, independent committees, and investors on designing and implementing governance frameworks that align with evolving legal requirements, support effective oversight, and advance long-term, sustainable value creation.

Disclosure, Reporting, and Engagement
We advise on ESG-related disclosure in annual reports, proxy statements, sustainability reports, and website and other public communications. Our work includes helping clients navigate overlapping regulatory and voluntary disclosure regimes, calibrate materiality assessments, and ensure that ESG statements are supportable and aligned across disclosure channels.

Employment

Workplace practices sit at the center of corporate responsibility. Taft’s employment lawyers handle litigation, compliance, and program design for employers of all sizes.

Litigate and resolve matters involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour issues, whistleblower claims, FMLA, and wrongful discharge.
Defend high‑stakes class actions and individual lawsuits, with trial experience across jurisdictions.
Develop policies and handbooks tailored to the employer’s organization and culture, pay equity reviews, and related metrics.
Modernize employment policies and practices that reflect sustainable workplace goals and ethical sourcing expectations.
Integrate occupational safety into broader CSR frameworks, including OSHA defense and employee well‑being programs.
Address labor union-related matters that may implicate CSR principles.

International Trade

Global supply chains raise CSR risks tied to forced labor, sanctions, environmental mandates, and labor rights. Taft’s trade team guides companies through these risks.

Advise clients on compliance with Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and other forced labor laws.
Respond to enforcement actions and investigations from U.S. Customs and Border Protection related to UFLPA and similar laws.
Conduct diligence on potential foreign suppliers from a sanctions, forced labor, and CSR perspective.
Conduct M&A diligence on foreign supply chains of potential targets.
Advise on contractual terms in supplier, distributor, and customer agreements regarding export control, sanctions, forced labor, anti-corruption, and anti-boycott compliance considerations.

M&A

In our M&A practice, CSR and ESG considerations are integrated into how we assess risk, structure deals, and support our clients’ long-term value creation. We help strategic buyers, financial sponsors, and sellers understand how ESG factors can affect valuation, execution certainty, and post-closing performance in an increasingly stakeholder-focused environment.