Paul Barker Joins Kirkland’s ESG & Impact Practice
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Paul Barker has joined the Firm as a partner in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) & Impact Practice Group. Mr. Barker will be based in the Firm’s San Francisco office.
“Paul is a skilled international arbitration attorney with extensive experience in cross-border ESG and sustainable investment matters,” said partner Alexandra Farmer, head of Kirkland’s ESG & Impact practice. “His multi-jurisdictional knowledge will be an asset to our growing ESG & Impact Practice Group.”
Mr. Barker’s practice focuses on counseling global clients on ESG risk and opportunities, particularly in relation to climate change and energy transition finance and policy. He has a deep knowledge of a multitude of legal frameworks and dispute resolution forums, including under public international law, domestic laws, and special regimes.
“I really liked Kirkland’s forward-thinking investment in developing leading ESG services and believe it presents unique opportunities to help clients,” Mr. Barker said. “It is important that multi-national entities stay informed on ESG and climate-related regulatory requirements, and I am excited to join this exceptional team and help grow the practice.”
The Legal 500 ranks Mr. Barker as a Leading Barrister in Public International Law, UK Bar, and Who’s Who Legal recognizes him as a National Leader in International Arbitration, UK Bar. He is also a frequent speaker and contributor for leading conferences and publications, and is a research fellow at Stanford Law School’s Gould Center for Conflict Resolution.
Mr. Barker earned a law degree from Cambridge University, and a master’s degree in law from Columbia Law School. He joins Kirkland from Doughty Street Chambers, where he was a barrister.
Kirkland’s ESG & Impact Practice Group provides clients with sophisticated, multidisciplinary advice and state-of-the-art market intelligence as they navigate the opportunities and challenges related to ESG and impact investing across the investment and operational life cycles. Over the last year, as market and regulatory trends have made ESG a central component of its clients’ business strategies, Kirkland has integrated ESG into all aspects of its transactional practice, including investment funds, energy/infrastructure, private equity/M&A, capital markets, and debt finance. Kirkland partners with its clients to develop ESG and impact strategies tailored to their unique circumstances and goals, including integrating ESG into corporate and fund sponsor governance structures, forming impact funds and ESG-related SPACs, leading ESG due diligence, and structuring sustainability bonds and loans.
Kirkland is also committed to being a leader in corporate social responsibility, including by improving communities and the legal profession through philanthropy; embracing and promoting diversity and inclusion and wellbeing within the Firm and the legal profession; reducing the Firm’s environmental impact; and providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel.
