This innovative programme will capitalise on the firm's existing breadth of expertise in the ESG and sustainable finance space to embed a deeper understanding across the firm of how ESG and sustainability issues affect clients' businesses. The Academy has been specifically tailored for the firm by its own team of ESG experts, in collaboration with faculty members from the Oxford Saïd Business School.

The first session took place in January with excellent engagement across the firm, with over 250 lawyers and Business Services colleagues in attendance. The full programme will consist of 10 monthly modules, covering topics such as climate change, natural capital, human rights, diversity and inclusion and corporate governance. The focus will be on sustainable finance and wider ESG topics, such as ESG litigation and investigations, which are relevant across all the firm's practices, and to all clients.

The programme is structured around a series of in-depth live sessions and will be supported by an extensive collection of reference materials. The firm will also be offering a certificated option for those who commit a minimum number of hours to the programme each month.

Travers Smith's Managing Partner, Edmund Reed, commented:

"ESG and sustainability are vital topics for all our clients and will become increasingly important as we look to the future, which is why we are so committed to investing in this comprehensive learning experience for all our lawyers and businesses services people, enriching our existing expertise and embedding an ESG and sustainability-aware approach to the delivery of our legal services. This is one of the most ambitious and far-reaching internal training programmes we have run in recent years.

I am already extremely proud of the pre-eminence of our work in the ESG space, driven by a cross-practice initiative which has encouraged accelerated growth in this area, and I am excited to see the firm take its market-leading knowledge and expertise to the next level."

Travers Smith's ESG practice was established over 10 years ago and remains at the forefront of the ESG legal sector. The cross-disciplinary ESG practice now includes over 15 partners and more than 50 lawyers from across the firm who have embedded ESG expertise within each of the firm's practice areas.

Read the firm's latest ESG Newsletter here for a wealth of knowledge on ESG and sustainability, including access to our pioneering ESG Timeline, our Sustainability Insights publications as well as overview of the ESG services we offer clients.