Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law : Foley Hoag LLP

Amy K. Lehr

Amy Lehr is part of Foley Hoag’s unique corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice. In this role, she provides advice to major multinational corporations on best practices with regard to human rights, labor rights, and indigenous rights issues, as well as on stakeholder relations with local communities, host governments, security providers, and non-governmental organizations. Working with clients in a broad range of industry sectors, she provides advice on managing both the challenges and the opportunities of globalization, as well as on risk management issues, particularly those deriving from the Alien Tort Statute in the US. She also carries out human rights impact assessments and other forms of due diligence for clients.

Before law school, Amy worked for development NGOs in Southeast Asia, including Ashoka and Save the Children. During law school, she clerked at the International Criminal Court. Before coming to Foley Hoag, she served as a legal advisor to the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights.

BARS AND COURT ADMISSIONS

• Admitted only in California

Services

• Corporate Social Responsibility

Related Professional Experience

• Legal Advisor to the UN, Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie (2006-2008)
• Expert Advisor, Business Leaders Initiative for Human Rights (BLIHR) (2007-2008)
• Fellow, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard University (2006-2008)
• Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand, Lecturer

Education

• Harvard Law School, J.D.
• Princeton University, A.B., cum laude

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Provided advice to a large oil and gas company regarding the benefits and risks of conducting human rights assessments and other human rights due diligence.
• Conducted human rights impact assessments and human rights trainings for a company in Southeast Asia and Africa.
• Advised a large multinational company on the risks of contracting with private security and mechanisms to mitigate that risk.
• Advised a variety of companies on best practices, policies, and procedures for community engagement.
• Wrote a ground-breaking report on corporate engagement with indigenous peoples, including the right to free, prior, informed consent.

PROFESSIONAL/CIVIC INVOLVEMENT

• American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility 
• California Bar Association

SPEECHES AND CONFERENCES

• Panelist, Business and Human Rights conference, Business Leaders Initiative for Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva, April 2009
• Panelist, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights consultation, UN Special Representative on Business Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva, December 2007

PUBLICATIONS

• Author, Old and New Governance Approaches to Conflict Minerals: All are Better than One. Harvard International Law Journal Online (Nov. 2010)
• Co-author (with John Sherman), Human Rights Due Diligence: Is It Too Risky?, Harvard Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Working Paper No. 55 (2010)  
• Co-Author (with Sarah Altschuller), Corporate Social Responsibility, International Legal Developments in Review: 2008, The International Lawyer (Summer 2009) 
• Author, Sphere of Influence and Corporate Complicity, Companion Report submitted by the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/8/16 (May 2008) (provided research support and co-authored) 
• Contributing Author, Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/8/5 (April 2008)   
• Co-Author (with Beth Jenkins), By Invitation: From Corporate Spheres of Influence to Corporate Spheres of Responsibility, Ethical Corporation (Oct. 2007), available here
• Author (with research by Hong Kong-based law firm) Human Rights Policies of Chinese Companies: Results from a Survey, Sept. 2007, (Sept. 2007) 
• Co-Author (with Caroline Ashley, Peter De Brine and Hannah Wilde), The Role of the Tourism Sector in Expanding Economic Opportunity, Harvard Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Overseas Development Institute, International Business Leaders Forum, CSRI Report No. 23 (2007) 
• Author, Business and Human Rights: Mapping International Standards of Responsibility and Accountability for Corporate Acts, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/4/035 (Feb. 2007) (contributed sections) 
• Co-Author (with Michael Wright), Business Recognition of Human Rights: Global Patterns and Regional Variations, Harvard Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 31, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, A/HRC/4/35/Add.4 (Feb. 2007) 
• Lead author, NGO Report on Thailand, submitted to UN Human Rights Committee, presented it to the Committee in New York, (March 2005)