Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that Rhys Davies has joined the Firm as a partner in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) & Impact Practice Group in London.
“Rhys is a talented lawyer with extensive experience counseling clients on the evolving ESG regulatory landscape, including the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, which is a key focus for our global sponsor client base,” said partner Alexandra Farmer, a leader of Kirkland’s ESG & Impact practice. “His regulatory experience is underpinned by a strong foundational knowledge of the substance of ESG, built through counseling clients on topics such as climate change, biodiversity and human rights. We are excited to welcome him to Kirkland.”
Mr. Davies has more than 15 years of experience advising private equity, public companies and project sponsors on the design and implementation of ESG strategies across a range of sectors, including energy and natural resources, infrastructure, real estate and technology. He also has broad environmental and social regulatory experience in both transactional settings and proceedings before administrative decision-makers, panels, tribunals and superior courts.
“I am thrilled to join Kirkland and eager to contribute to the Firm’s outstanding work in the ESG space,” Mr. Davies said. “Kirkland’s exceptional team and the diverse client base interested in ESG are among the many reasons I was drawn to Kirkland for the next chapter of my career.”
Mr. Davies graduated from the University of Western Australia with a bachelor of arts degree (with honors) and a bachelor of laws degree in 2006. He holds a postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge and a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. He joins Kirkland from DLA Piper, where he was the Firm’s International Sustainability & ESG Lead.
Kirkland’s ESG & Impact Practice Group, a dedicated practice group with over 20 attorneys in the United States and United Kingdom, provides clients with sophisticated, multidisciplinary advice and state-of-the-art market intelligence as they navigate the opportunities and challenges related to ESG and impact across the investment and operational life cycles of their investments and companies.
Kirkland is also committed to being a leader in corporate social responsibility, including by improving communities and the legal profession through philanthropy; embracing and promoting diversity and inclusion and wellbeing within the Firm and the legal profession; reducing the Firm’s environmental impact; and providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel.
