[SPN-Discussion] Final Reminder - November 14, 2006 panel discussion: "In an Era of Corporate Social Responsibility, What is the Role of the Courts?"

[Events]

FINAL REMINDER and EVENT UPDATE

If you are planning to attend the meeting, please 
RSVP by Friday 11/10 so that we can include your name on the list for security.

Date:  Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Time: 6pm
Agenda:
6:15 Welcome & Introductions
6:30 Panel Discussion
8:00 Networking
8:30 Close
Location:  Credit Suisse Auditorium, 11 Madison 
Avenue (Entrance is on 24th St.), Level 2B, New York
RSVP:  events at sustainabilitypractice.net
Panelists: Chris McKenzie, Director, Beveridge & 
Diamond PC; Chris Walker, Managing Director of 
Greenhouse Gas Risk Solutions, Swiss Re., MIchael 
Gerrard, Partner, Arnold & Porter,  LLP.
Moderator: Michael Gresty, Kinetix [business ecology]
Topic: In an Era of Corporate Social 
Responsibility, What is the Role of the Courts?

Historically, achieving social change in the 
United States has required extensive courtroom 
battles between activists and the status quo, 
often all the way to the Supreme Court (e.g. the 
abolition of slavery, equal rights, civil 
rights). Social unrest in the U.S. related to 
corporate dominance began in the late 1960s and 
early 1970s with campaigns against companies like 
the ITT Corporation for its complicity in the 
CIA-sponsored coup against the Allende government 
in Chile, or against Dow Chemical for producing 
Agent Orange. As Jane Anne Morris wrote in 
Corporate Social Responsibility: Kick the Habit, 
corporate management in the 1970s began to 
“answer to the people” out of fear of 
prosecution. Indeed, corporate response spurred 
by the risk of litigation was arguably a major 
driver in the first surge in “voluntary” 
corporate social responsibility during this 
period. However, this reactive approach was in 
many ways cheap and temporary. In the years 
since, the judiciary developed the Federal 
Corporate Sentencing Guidelines to ensure that 
good corporate behavior was rewarded. The 
guidelines even go so far as to make 
recommendations for appropriate corporate 
behavior. How has this approach – focused on 
offering CSR carrots as well as sticks -- served 
to incentivize corporate responsibility? How 
relevant is it in an age when many companies are 
already focusing on “beyond compliance” sustainability initiatives?

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Practice Network is located at www.sustainabilitypractice.net


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