Lia Heasman, Speaker at WLG | regional Helsinki ‘24 - Castrén & Snellman (Finland)
Member Voices
Lia Heasman
Speaker at WLG | regional Helsinki ‘24
Castrén & Snellman (Finland)
1. Briefly describe your practice.
I am a sustainability lawyer and expert with an extensive background of 10 years in sustainability and human rights. The ESG and corporate sustainability service at Castrén & Snellman is the leading ESG practice among Finnish law firms. Our clients include a wide range of companies from family-owned businesses to listed companies. We monitor the latest developments in ESG regulation for our clients and provide training in the legal aspects of corporate sustainability that are continuously changing. Our particular focus in ESG advice includes mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, and investigations. We integrate our ESG know-how across all services in our firm.
2. You recently spoke at WLG | regional Helsinki '24 on "The Expanding Role of ESG: Navigating Regulations and Building Expertise Across Practice Areas." What is the key takeaway you hope delegates took away from the session?
My aim was to give the delegates a view on how ESG regulation is rapidly changing. There has been a shift in mandatory ESG regulation in the last few years and most of our clients are still playing catch-up. ESG is penetrating all areas of law and ESG must be incorporated throughout a firm’s service offering. Whether it is including ESG due diligence in M&A transactions or ensuring ESG is considered in long-term contracts, ESG is becoming more important to our clients. This means that in a law firm setting, we must consider how to incorporate ESG to our services, ensure we have ESG expertise in the firm, and build up capabilities with our lawyers related to ESG matters.
3. Do you forecast any major changes to the sustainability landscape in the next 12 months?
The so-called ‘ESG regulatory tsunami’ from the EU has not yet stopped and we are still expecting the finalisation of several regulatory initiatives. The real work now also begins with the implementation of the regulation. For example, the practical implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which aims to ensure that companies operating in the EU conduct due diligence with respect to human rights and environmental risks in their operations and chains of operations, requires due diligence processes calls for systematic and continuous activities that are reflected throughout the chain of operations. The directive will require companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for potential and actual adverse impacts on people and the environment. Companies must ensure that their business model and strategy are aligned with the objectives of the transition to a sustainable economy that limits global warming to 1.5 °C, and that their operations are aligned with the objective of achieving climate neutrality as established in the European Climate Law. Companies in the directive’s scope will have plenty of work ahead of them in the next few years.
4. What is a small change with a big impact that folks could implement to be more sustainable in their day-to-day lives?
I think that lawyers should better understand how to consider ESG in their work and how to promote ESG to their clients. Lawyers will play a crucial role in ensuring that our societies have green and just transitions. Legal professionals should not consider themselves or their work to be outside of ESG, but to try find meaningful ways to incorporate sustainability into the work they do for their clients.
5. What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
As a mother of two, my life is pretty full just balancing work and family. After relocating back to Helsinki earlier this year from Sydney with our family, we have all loved being able to spend our free time in the snow and skiing with the kids.