- Newly created role marks significant expansion of EY Law services for businesses on sustainability issues
- Michelle T. Davies brings over two decades of experience in the field to support EY clients around the world
The EY organization announces the appointment of Michelle T. Davies as EY Global Sustainability Legal Services Leader, a newly created role to focus on helping businesses around the world manage a rapidly expanding mix of legal issues relating to sustainability.
Davies comes to the EY Global organization from the UK firm Ernst & Young LLP (“EY UK”), which she joined in May 2022, as a partner in its Law business, focused on decarbonization, sustainability, and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
Davies will be based in London and will oversee a team of legal professionals, across the EY network of member firms, spanning 95 countries from around the world. The EY Global Sustainability Legal Serives team is comprised of individuals with a deep knowledge in sustainability, including energy transition and decarbonization solutions, sustainable agriculture, food and biodiversity, carbon credits solutions, corporate governance, sustainable supply chains, regulatory compliance, green finance, human rights and sustainable workplace solutions.
The EY Global Sustainability Legal Services team works alongside other EY Law multidisciplinary teams from across the organization to provide a full complement of sustainability legal services to help clients address their sustainability priorities and challenges.
The sustainability work that Davies and her team will oversee includes EY Legal Managed Services – which provide scalable global support on diligence reviews, contract amendments and new contracts which are ESG fit for purpose and ESG future proofed.
See related article: IBM and EY Team to Address Complex ESG Challenges and Drive Value-Led Sustainability
Davies explains, “Sustainability is one of the defining challenges of our time. In simple terms, every organization needs to change what it does, or how it does it, to remain valuable in the transitioning global economy. And no one organization can approach sustainability in a vacuum – it exists in an interconnected world of sustainability. Understanding the sustainability drivers of its key stakeholders in this respect will also be an integral part of its own sustainability success story.”
“In this global role, I will be laser-focused on helping businesses around the world understand and respond to the risks and the opportunities on all these fronts. We want to help ensure that businesses can not only tackle the immediate challenges but are equipped to optimize future value. I’m proud to be part of a business that is putting sustainability front and center of its client strategy.”
Key members of the EY Law Sustainability Team include Rob McNab, Partner, Energy Law, Ernst & Young LLP; Simon Collier and Carlos Almeida, EY Global Energy Law Co-Leaders; Paula Hogéus, EY Global Labor and Employment Law Leader; Kasia Klaczynska Lewis, EY EU Green Deal Center of Excellence Leader, Ernst & Young Law Tałasiewicz, Zakrzewska i Wspólnicy spółka komandytowa; Ossian Nilsson, Director, ESG Law Services, EY Godkendt Revisionspartnerselskab; Gemma Davis, Partner, Energy Law, Ernst & Young LLP; and Boris Scholtka, Energy Law Leader, Ernst & Young Law GmbH.
Davies’ appointment is the latest in a series of senior leadership hires into the EY Global Law team over recent months as the business positions itself for ongoing growth. Other recent appointments have included Clifton Harrison, EY Global Business Development Leader and Santosh Singh, EY Global Delivery Leader, Legal Managed Services.
Cornelius Grossmann, EY Global Law leader, says:
“The EY organization has incredible credentials when it comes to supporting businesses on sustainability, and we’re rapidly expanding the legal services we provide to clients across sectors and geographies to help them navigate increasingly complex problems. Davies and her team bring rich experience and unrivalled skills and I know she will be a huge asset as we look to expand the services we provide.”
