Emily Holland is a partner in the Sustainability Practice Group of Kirkland’s Washington, D.C., office. Emily is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the practice to ensure it delivers on its promise of integrating cutting-edge legal counseling on sustainability into Kirkland’s top-tier transactional and litigation practices. Emily also provides legal advice to a broad range of clients, including multinational corporations, private equity firms, project sponsors, governments, international organizations and NGOs, on complex and evolving issues relating to business and human rights issues.
Emily focuses on helping clients operating across vastly disparate legal, political and cultural contexts take an innovative, strategic approach to managing their human rights-related risks, demonstrate resilience and capitalize on emerging business opportunities. She has extensive experience advising on international and national human rights risk management frameworks, regulations and initiatives. She has conducted human rights risk and impact assessments, designed comprehensive, tailored human rights policies and governance protocols, helped to manage disputes and crises, and frequently advises on supply chain management issues. She is frequently consulted in relation to human rights laws and standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and specified applications, including in the digital environment.
Emily serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center (Business & Human Rights Practicum). In 2024, she was appointed to the U.S. government subcommittee on the implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct. She draws on a wide range of experience in international humanitarian and human rights prior to joining private practice, including conflict-affected contexts.
Before joining Kirkland, Emily helped to found and scale leading business and human rights and ESG and sustainability practices at leading international law firms.
Emily is also recognized as a thought leader in human rights and sustainability law. She is frequent speaker at industry and legal conferences, including events hosted by the American Bar Association, Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association, Ethical Trading Initiative, Global Network Initiative, Fund for Peace Corporate Accountability Roundtable, LSTA, PracticalESG and Shift. She regularly contributes to publications on topics relating to climate, business and human rights and sustainability legal issues, including Harward Law School’s Corporate Governance Forum and Law360. In 2011, Emily co-authored a book on a Liberian woman’s efforts to help former child soldiers emerging from war that was endorsed by Gloria Steinem and selected for Starbucks’ in-store reading club.
