By Katie Vloet
U-M Law
Say you’re an attorney working on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for a company that wants to drill for oil in the developing world.
The government of the country says: Don’t worry; we’ll provide the security for your company while you’re here.
But the government decides that security means, say, shooting a villager who gets near the pipeline. The rest of the village blockades the road to the pipeline in response to the killing. What do you do?
Or you’re an attorney doing CSR for a clothing manufacturer. You know that the immediate source of the clothing doesn’t use child labor or pay unfair wages, but what about the people working in other parts of the supply chain? Do you go out to the cotton fields to make sure no children are working there?
These are the kinds of questions that Gare Smith, ‘83, grapples with every day.
The chair of the corporate responsibility practice at Foley Hoag, LLP, Smith provides counsel on compliance programs to address labor conditions,
community relations, security, indigenous rights, environmental stewardship, and the rule of law.
His clients include companies in the manufacturing, extractive, banking, nuclear, private equity, and high-tech sectors as well as governments and indigenous peoples.
The field of CSR is a growing one, and one that Smith sees as a potential growth area for attorneys—especially those with an interest in working around the world.
It’s also an area of the law in its infancy, so when Smith makes decisions about the questions posed at the start of this article, he is helping to establish precedents and best practices for others in the industry.
Smith, who has written three books on codes of conduct and international human rights standards, defines CSR as “a concept developed by
businesses to address social and environmental challenges through sustainable practices and respect for international normative standards.”
He believes that CSR is increasingly recognized as a mainstream business practice that helps to mitigate legal, reputational, and operational risks and
to promote company brands.
CSR is indeed a broadening field that is bound to attract more people in coming years, says Tom Lyon, Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology, and Commerce at U-M’s Ross School of Business.
He defines CSR as going beyond what is required by law to deal with social or environmental issues.
“For example, many companies are cutting carbon emissions domestically or abroad or are taking responsibility for offering health care in developing countries,” he says.
From Lyon’s point of view, though, it’s a field that makes more sense for graduates from business or environmental schools than for law school alumni.
“When I think of CSR, I think of something that is extra-legal, not something that is the work of the legal profession,” says Lyon, also a professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment.
David Uhlmann, on the other hand, sees a natural fit for lawyers interested in the field.
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