Business Wire India
Dhir & Dhir Associates, a full-service law firm founded in 1993, has serviced clients globally as a single-window legal and regulatory advisor. The firm has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad and a representative office in Japan. The firm is now geared up to set up the ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) Practice. The decision comes after observing sustainable development, governance, risk and compliance becoming a central stress point at all global business forums, including the World Economic Forum. In India, the firm would be the first to launch a dedicated ESG practice led by Sonal Verma, who, in his last stint, led the Governance, Risk and Compliance focused consulting business at Legasis Services, Mumbai.

“India Inc. is now leaning seriously towards ESG related aspects as a matter of global business consciousness. Of course, the courts will have to dive further into the related laws and carve out a holistic approach covering elements like CSR, gender justice, etc. It is indeed a pleasure to have Sonal lead this practice as he comes with significant experience in the GRC space and global know-how on ESG best practices. We will ascertain and support our clients on the ESG front as well here on.” said Alok Dhir, Founding & Managing Partner, Dhir & Dhir Associates.

The firm plans to build teams across its New Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad offices by bringing experts and professionals from the ESG space. The ESG Practice will be one of the most sophisticated and custom-tailored advisory across industry sectors, best suited to clients’ requirements and aspirations of being a strong ESG compliant entity.

“I am thankful and equally grateful to the firm for having entrusted me with the responsibility to lead the ESG Practice. For a decent time now, I have been working on the concept and discussing it with various stakeholders. It is indeed encouraging to have Mr. Dhir’s belief in setting up this dedicated practice desk.” said Sonal Verma, Partner & Global Leader - Markets & Strategy.

As a major industry engagement drive, the firm wishes to organize discussions, brainstorming sessions, strategic alliances, publish whitepapers, etc., to share its thoughts and recommendations regarding India’s probable journey towards a robust ESG framework.

“As a firm, we have always focussed on a diversified approach as far as building practice areas are concerned. It is a very strategic plan to expand the bouquet of services offered by the firm wherein we launched a dedicated COVID19 advisory desk a few months back and now have forayed into ESG as a domain expert. We look forward to setting up more of such niche areas of practice so that we deliver much beyond the mainstream advisory practices.” said Poonam Bisht, Chief Executive Officer, Dhir & Dhir Associates.