Corporate Responsibility and the Business of Law - Foreword

Oct 22, 2026

Corporate Responsibility and the Business of Law examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) intersects with legal practice, emphasizing the need for lawyers to integrate litigation and policy dimensions of CSR work. The text discusses debates over whether expanded legal “moral liability” will improve social and environmental outcomes or mainly drive compliance-focused, minimalist solutions. It also outlines a Swedish initiative promoting OECD and UN Global Compact principles, including support for studies, seminars, and knowledge dissemination, and provides author background and acknowledgements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages45

Reading Time1 h 53 min

AccessFree to download

Foreword: framing the issues

About the Swedish Partnership for Global Responsibility

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Corporate Responsibility and the Business of Law Halina Ward September 2005 Halina Ward Director, Business and Sustainable Development International Institute for Environment and Development 3 Endsleigh Street London WC1H ODD UK [halina.ward@iied.org](halina.ward@iied.org) [www.iied.org](www.iied.org) Foreword: framing the issues ‘The great debate for lawyers in the coming century .. whether the ascendancy of economics, competition and technology, unrestrained, will snuff out what is left of the nobility of the legal calling and the idealism of those who are attracted to its service’. The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, Legal Professional Ethics in Times of Change, address to the St James Ethics Centre Forum on Ethical Issues, Sydney, 23 July 1996 ‘Most lawyers no doubt welcome the trend [towards extension of formal legal liabilities with new forms of ‘moral liability’], but it is worth asking whether the net result will be improved social and environmental performance on the part of targeted industries and companies, or whether it will be little more than a feeding frenzy for the legal profession –forcing companies back into compliance mode and minimalist solutions.’ John Elkington, Editorial, SustainAbility Radar, October/November 2004 An evolving challenge that faces lawyers is the need to more securely integrate the litigation and policy dimensions of CSR lawyering –for lawyers to merge their reactive and proactive inclinations. This may of course cause structural as well as cultural clashes within the traditional model of large law firms – as one UK-based litigator has put it to me…‘ironically it is in the lawyers’ financial interests for their clients to become embroiled in costly litigation.’ Professor David Kinley, Lawyers, corporations and international human rights law, The Company Lawyer, Volume 25 No. 10, 2004. Scene: Gage Whitney Pace attorneys, Midtown Manhattan Female Lawyer: The ships will be registered in Libya and Panama, so they won't be subject to the OPA, which wouldn't allow an American company to keep a tanker like this in service very long. Sam [also a lawyer with Gage Whitney Pace]: Actually. I have a thing. I have a thing I was going to mention, just a proposal to throw out there…Instead of buying these ships? Don't buy these ships. Buy other ships. Better ships. That's my idea. Mr. Cameron: But Sam, we want these ships. This is as little as we've ever paidfor a fleet. Sam: Well, there's a reason why they don't cost a lot of money. They're 20-year old single hulled VLCCs that nobody wants. When they hit things, they will break. And they will hit things, because they don't have state of the art navigation systems… Mr. Loch: Sam, I thought you told us that you covered our liability. Sam: I did. Strictly speaking, I did. But there's a broader liability to think about. People drove past Exxon Stations after the Valdez. Mr. Cameron: We've got PR firms for PR problems. Sam: I think I have an obligation…Maybe they want to buy safer boats, but we never gave them the option. Mr Gage: Are you trying to get fired? Edited extracts from an episode of US television drama ‘the West Wing’, available online at [http://www.westwingdatabase.com/wwscripts/2-01.php](http://www.westwingdatabase.com/wwscripts/2-01.php) About the Swedish Partnership for Global Responsibility The Swedish Partnership for Global Responsibility was introduced by the Swedish Prime Minister together with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Trade, Development Cooperation, Industry and Environment on 7 March 2002 with the purpose of promoting the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the principles set forth in the UN’s Global Compact. One important aim of the initiative is to facilitate the ambitions of Swedish companies and organizations to implement corporate social responsibility in practice in the fields of human rights, environment, core labour standards and efforts to combat co

FAQs

What central challenge does the text highlight for CSR-focused lawyers?

Lawyers must more securely integrate the litigation and policy dimensions of CSR work, merging reactive and proactive inclinations.

How does the document describe the debate around “moral liability” for companies?

It questions whether extending formal legal liabilities will truly improve social and environmental performance or instead lead to a compliance-driven “feeding frenzy” for legal services.

What is the purpose of the Swedish Partnership for Global Responsibility initiative mentioned in the text?

It promotes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Global Compact principles to help Swedish companies implement CSR in practice across human rights, environment, labour standards, and anti-corruption efforts.

Oct 22, 2026

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