Watson Farley & Williams LLP stands out for its expertise in ESG issues impacting the energy, infrastructure, and transport sectors. Sarah Ellington, who co-heads the practice, regularly advises shipping and aviation companies on the development of ESG policies as well as the mitigation of human rights, greenwashing, and governance risk. Fellow practice co-head Nick Walker advises on the scope and implementation of ESG regulation within corporate and supply chain structures, financing provisions, and projects.
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Accolades
Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Sarah Ellington has proven time and time again to be able to provide better advice on ESG matters than her peers because of her wealth of multi-industry knowledge and availability. She does this while juggling multiple initiatives, actively contributing to the ESG space through alternative dispute means and impact investing instruments.
- Strong expertise across the team, with team members at all levels of seniority who do not shy away from forming opinions on challenging ESG topics (local and international).
- The team combines strong ESG and regulatory expertise with a pragmatic and business-oriented approach. They are responsive, collaborative, and able to translate complex sustainability and governance matters into clear and practical advice.
- Sarah Ellington has strong ESG regulatory and risk insight combined with a very good business sense. Her advice is always immediately relevant to the client and the specific context she is advising in. She is also actively involved in a number of ecosystem-building initiatives, including the LISI Foundation, which gives her a unique perspective on market developments and the broader context surrounding her advice.
- I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well WFW understands the commercial imperative.
- Sarah Ellington (partner) and Lauren Satill (associate) have been the day-to-day contacts. The area I have been most impressed with is how quickly they have understood the relatively niche requirements and sensitively managed said group to deliver coherent and compelling submissions.
Key clients
- Government of Guinea
- Carbon Trust
Work highlights
Advised a group of five interested parties in a Judicial Review relating to the UK Government’s Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) cap and floor scheme.
Advised the Government of Guinea on the ESG aspects of the barge transshipment arrangements for iron ore export from Simandou.
Acted for the Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme on a legal analysis of the coexistence of the UK’s offshore wind and fishing industries.
Practice head
Sarah Ellington; Nick Walker
Other key lawyers
Lauren Satill; Hamish Ungless