Avoiding Greenwashing Liability: Sustainability and ESG Under Scrutiny

As Global Co-Chair of the environmental practice, Mr. Boer works with partners across the firm to find solutions for complex regulatory issues and resolve high-stakes environmental disputes. He also serves on the Firm’s ESG Board, which coordinates cross-boundary and cross-practice solutions to ESG risk and disputes. With a combined decade of experience working as a trial lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Environmental Enforcement Section and in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of General Counsel, Mr. Boer uses his government experience to effectively counsel clients as they navigate complex environmental matters. He represents clients in federal and state environmental litigation, in defense of environmental enforcement actions and citizen suits, in response to catastrophic environmental emergencies and chemical releases, and in connection with site cleanup and cost recovery. Mr. Boer has advised clients on the vast array of environmental statutes in the U.S. including the Clean Air Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Clean Water Act; the Endangered Species Act; the Oil Pollution Act; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. He routinely represents clients in environmental cases filed in federal district courts and California superior courts.

Mr. Gregg advises domestic and multinational clients across industries on their full range of ESG programs and compliance, including corporate climate and net-zero commitments, multinational reporting frameworks, carbon offsets, Greentech transactions, social responsibility, greenwashing, investigations, and litigation. He has significant experience supporting ESG initiatives, including most notably at a top-5 Fortune Global 500 company, where he served as Senior Corporate Counsel and the first attorney on the company’s Sustainability Legal team, which has twice been recognized by the Financial Times as one of the most innovative in-house legal teams in North America. In that role, Mr. Gregg provided legal partnership to business teams across multiple industry sectors on their highest profile sustainability initiatives, including the development of the company’s carbon offset strategy and purchasing program, circular economy initiatives, transportation decarbonization, sustainable shopping programs, product and supply chain sustainability, human rights policies and due diligence, and green claims. In addition to his ESG practice, Mr. Gregg also provides counseling and handles litigation matters across the spectrum of environmental matters, including in matters involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and project development, international environmental law, Superfund/CERCLA, Endangered Species Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and Native American law.