An Open Systems Approach to Law, Strategy, and Sustainability: The Role of the In-House Counsel in the Anthropocene Era

In an embarrassing rebuke, referred to by some as “the vote heard round the world” (Le Berre, 2021), the board of directors of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil lost a proxy contest in May 2021 mounted by a group of institutional investors who faulted the company for not adequately taking into account the effects of climate change and the likely ensuing global regulation of greenhouse emissions on the firm’s strategy and operations (National News, 2021).