Mary Beth Houlihan
Overview
She [Mary Beth] brought a level of sophistication as well as being able to discuss the latest ESG topics. I find Mary Beth to be an incredible resource.”
- Chambers Crisis & Risk Management (ESG) 2024
Mary Beth Houlihan is a sustainability partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her practice focuses on advising clients with respect to complex and dynamic ESG issues, including legal and regulatory compliance considerations, investor demands, and voluntary reporting frameworks.
Mary Beth is the go-to ESG counsel for numerous asset managers, providing them with advice on their firm-wide ESG policies and programs, commitments and disclosures, fund-level ESG strategies and communications, investor negotiations, and ESG-regulatory compliance and enforcement. This includes both public and private asset managers, with a particular focus on energy, infrastructure and real-estate strategies.
Mary Beth’s ESG practice builds upon almost two decades of experience providing counseling to financial institutions, investment funds, and private and public company clients in hundreds of complex corporate, real estate, and financial transactions, including helping clients to evaluate and address physical and transition risks from climate change, product and supply chain risks, legacy environmental issues, and the potential business implications of pending and proposed changes to ESG regulations.
Mary Beth is also a thought leader on ESG topics and has written on related subjects for such publications as Wall Street Lawyer, Law360, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, the ABA Environmental Disclosure Committee Newsletter, and Bloomberg BNA Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report.
Select Representative Clients
AE Industrial Partners, AEA Investors, ArcLight Capital Partners, Bain Capital Partners, Blackstone, Blue Owl Capital Inc., Cerberus Capital Management, Francisco Partners, GTCR LLC, KKR, L Catterton, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), Oaktree Capital Management, Orix Corporation, Quantum Energy Partners, Starwood Capital Partners, Summit Partners, TA Associates, The Carlyle Group, The Rise Fund (TPG Global), TPG and Warburg Pincus.
Experience
Prior Experience
More
Thought Leadership
Seminars
Moderator, “Interoperability of different sustainability initiatives and frameworks,” PEI Responsible Investment Forum: New York, March 4, 2025
Moderator, “Exploring PE’s Sustainability Challenges,” Kayo 2024 Women in M&A Summit, October 7, 2024
Moderator, “Developing an ESG Contract Toolkit Workshop,” PEI Responsible Investment Forum West, September 4, 2024
Moderator, “Climate Investing & Energy Transition,” Wharton Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference 2024, March 29, 2024
Speaker, “Briefing on SEC’s Final Climate Disclosure Rules,” Kirkland Webinar, March 12, 2024
Moderator, “Impact Investing Panel,” Columbia Business School Private Equity Conference, February 2024
Moderator, “Regulatory Shifts: Keeping Track of Changes At Home, Shifting Standards Overseas and Making Sense of a Patchwork Approach to ESG Regulation,” Private Equity Wire US ESG Summit, June 21, 2023
Moderator, “Integrating ESG,” Kayo’s Sustainable Investment Summit, June 12, 2023
Moderator, “Climate Investing and Energy Transition,” 2023 Wharton Private Equity Venture Capital Conference, March 31, 2023
Speaker, “SEC’s Climate Change Disclosure Rulemaking and the ESG Requirements for Investment Advisers,” AIC CCO Meeting, March 22, 2023
Speaker, “The New ESG Regulatory Landscape,” PEI Responsible Investment Forum, March 1, 2023
Moderator, “Investing Inclusively & Sustainably,” Columbia Business School’s 29th Annual Private Equity Conference, February 17, 2023
Speaker, “Deep Dive: Creating a Long-Term ESG-Focused Investment Portfolio,” PERE America Summit 2022, November 15, 2022
Speaker, “Sustainability in the Built Environment,” Kayo Women’s Real Estate Summit, November 7, 2022
Moderator, “ESG Strategies for Private Fund Managers: Navigating Investor Demands and Regulatory Hurdles,” Kirkland Inaugural ESG Legal & Compliance Summit for Private Funds, October 27, 2022
Speaker, “Accelerating Carbon Transition through Net-Zero Focused Strategies,” ACI’s 2nd Annual Summit on ESG, October 12, 2022
Moderator, “Conversations Between Private Equity Funds,” Kayo Women’s Private Equity and ESG Investment Summits, June 13–15th, 2022
Moderator, “Keeping Pace with a Fast-changing ESG Landscape,” PEWIN, May 19, 2022
Women in Climate Investing & Finance, April 2022
Presenter, “Understanding the Pendulum: Regulation for ESG Compliance Considerations,” PEI's Responsible Investment Forum: New York 2022, March 2, 2022
Moderator, “Panel on ESG,” Columbia Business School’s 28th Annual Private Equity Virtual Conference, February 4, 2022
Women’s Private Capital Summit, November 2021
Presenter, Kirkland & Ellis CCO Summit, September 29, October 6, and October 13, 2021
Publications
Co-Author, “SEC Adopts Amendments to Expand the Scope of the ‘Names Rule,’” Kirkland Alert, October 3, 2023
Co-Author, “ISSB Releases Final Global Sustainability Disclosure Standards,” Kirkland Alert, June 29, 2023
Co-Author, “SEC Continues Enforcement Scrutiny of ESG Claims by Investment Advisers,” Kirkland AIM, December 12, 2022
Co-Author, “DOL Final Regulation Eases Path for ERISA Fiduciaries to Consider ESG Factors When Selecting Investments,” Kirkland Alert, November 30, 2022
Quoted in “Uncertainty, Inevitability Abound as SEC Crawls Toward Finalization of ESG Rules,” The National Law Journal, August 15, 2022
Quoted in “A bid to level the playing field for LPs could be a setback for ESG,” New Private Markets, August 11, 2022
Co-Author, “Enhanced Disclosure Requirements and Potential Multi Jurisdictional Considerations Raised by the SEC’s Proposed ESG Rule,” Private Equity Law Report, August 2, 2022
Co-Author, “SEC Proposes Pair of Long-Awaited ESG Rules; Non-ESG Funds Swept Up as Well,” Kirkland Alert, June 3, 2022
Co-Author, “SEC Proposes Enhanced Disclosure by Certain Advisers on ESG Investment Practices,” Kirkland AIM, June 3, 2022
Co-Author, “SEC Proposes New Climate Disclosure Requirements,” Kirkland Alert, March 24, 2022
Co-Author, “ILPA ESG Resources: Iterative Roadmap Can Help LPs in Early Integration Stages,” Part Two of Two, Private Equity Law Report, October 19, 2021
Co-Author, “ILPA ESG Resources: Assessment Framework Utility Depends on Stage of LPs’ and GPs’ ESG Programs,” Part One of Two, Private Equity Law Report, October 12, 2021
Co-Author, “Flurry Of SEC Activity Shows Interest In ESG Terminology,” Law360, May 13, 2020
Co-Author, “Will the New SEC Guidance on Performance Metrics Impact Disclosure of ESG Metrics?” Wall Street Lawyer, March 2020 Issue
Co-Author, “To Lead or Not to Lead: Contrasting Recent Statements by SEC and ESMA Chairs on ESG Disclosure,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, March 16, 2020
Co-Author, “Potential Impact of New SEC Guidance on Performance Metrics on Disclosure of ESG Metrics,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, March 6, 2020
Co-Author, “Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing: What’s in a Name?” ABA Environmental Disclosure Committee Newsletter, May 2016
Co-Author, “The Heightened Importance of Worker Safety Issues in Corporate Transactions,” Bloomberg BNA Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report, January 11, 2016
Recognition
Ranked as “500 Leading U.S. Environmental Lawyers” in Lawdragon, 2025
Ranked as “Band 3: Environmental, Social & Governance Risk” in Chamber Crisis & Risk Management, 2024
Ranked as “Up and Coming” in Chambers USA: Environment: Mainly Transactional, New York, 2022–2024
Ranked as “Up and Coming” in Chambers Crisis & Risk Management: Global-Wide ESG
Memberships & Affiliations
Environmental Disclosure Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources
- Chair (2017–2019)
- Vice-Chair of Programming (2016–2017)
- Vice Chair of Year in Review (2015–2016)
Member, Environmental Law Institute
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
Education
- Columbia UniversityJ.D.2009Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
- Claremont McKenna CollegeB.A.2004