Market-leading ESG Partner Rebecca Perlman Joins Kirkland in London

Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that Rebecca Perlman has joined the Firm as a partner in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) & Impact Practice Group in London.

“Rebecca is a dynamic and talented leader in the ESG space and provides invaluable expertise in such areas as sustainability, ESG regulation and impact investing,” said partner Alexandra Farmer, a leader of Kirkland’s ESG & Impact Practice Group. “Her impressive background paired with her leadership capabilities further strengthen our growing practice in London. We are thrilled to welcome her to Kirkland.”

Ms. Perlman has more than 12 years of experience advising clients on matters relating to ESG-related regulation, soft law standards and voluntary compliance frameworks, ESG market disclosure and reporting, and matters relating to accredited organizations such as B Corps. She also helps clients with ESG-related risk management, stakeholder engagement and corporate sustainability strategy. She frequently advises on potential ESG issues in corporate transactions. She has extensive experience advising on sustainable and impact investment transactions. 

“Kirkland’s dedicated ESG practice group has ambition, scale and expertise that is unmatched in the legal industry,” Ms. Perlman said. “I look forward to joining the Kirkland team to serve an impressive and diverse client base.”

Ms. Perlman graduated from the University of Oxford with a bachelor of arts degree, and then completed her law conversion in London. She joins Kirkland from Herbert Smith Freehills, where she was head of ESG for the United Kingdom, United States and EMEA, and global head of sustainable and impact investment.

Ms. Perlman is one of only four lawyers globally currently ranked as a Band 1 leading advisor for ESG by Chambers Global. She is also listed as a “Next Generation Partner” by The Legal 500 and is named as a leading practitioner in the Legal 500 UK and EMEA Green Guides. She has been recognized in Financial News as one of 25 Rising Stars of the legal industry and in Real Deals' list of Future 40 ESG Innovators. She is listed in NatWest's WISE100 list of the UK's most influential women in impact investment and was the first ESG lawyer to feature in The Lawyer’s Hot 100.

Rebecca is a non-executive director of the Impact Investing Institute and The Big Issue CL CIC. She is a member of the City of London Law Society’s ESG Committee and of the Global Impact Investment Network's Policy Innovation Group. She is also the lead expert (Legal) to the CFA UK’s Impact & Investing Panel.

Kirkland's ESG & Impact Practice Group, a dedicated practice group with over 25 attorneys in the United States and United Kingdom, 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 across the investment and operational life cycles of their investments and companies.