In-house counsel play a critical role in shaping a company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy and improving its ESG scores. Because investors are increasingly focused on ESG issues, in-house counsel must understand how ESG factors are derived and integrated into investors’ review of a company’s financial and reputational health.

Employers are continuing to examine how to properly identify, audit, and address equal pay issues within their organizations. To increase pay transparency and expand the limited “equal work” standard under federal law, US states have enacted pay equity laws that, among other things, prohibit salary history inquiries and require equal pay for “substantially similar” work.