Overview
Event Details
Over the last few years, the business and human rights legal landscape has evolved rapidly, raising the floor on responsible business conduct. At the same time, however, regulation and litigation risk can disincentivize innovation, particularly about systemic issues deep in global supply chains.
Please join Steptoe for a complimentary webinar series where we will draw on a number of case studies to explore how peer collaboration can help navigate the risk landscape while delivering practical impact for companies and stakeholders alike. Individual installments will focus on a distinct risk factor or strategic challenge and include relevant co-hosts such as Anthesis and TrustWorks Global—offering actionable insights into different pieces of the sustainability puzzle. More information on each installment is below for your reference.
These sessions are geared toward legal, compliance, sustainability, and ESG professionals; in-house counsel; risk managers; and corporate affairs teams.
Register now for one or more installments in this series to gain practical insights from leading experts—and learn how collaboration can unlock impact while managing legal risk.
Part One - Impact & Antitrust: Structuring Collaborative Sustainability Initiatives
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. EST
As corporate sustainability regulation and litigation proliferate, companies face growing pressure to conduct due diligence deep in their value chains while navigating increasingly complex litigation and trade risk. Industry collaboration is critical to deliver meaningful impact in response to these pressures—and is often encouraged by regulators—but it poses a distinct set of antitrust challenges. Adding to the complexity, we are seeing a divergence between the EU and US in regulator treatment of collaborative sustainability initiatives.
Join Steptoe and industry leaders for a practical discussion on emerging trends in antitrust and sustainability, with a focus on how to design collaborative sustainability initiatives that drive impact and mitigate legal risk. This session will explore a real-world case study and offer actionable guidance for legal, compliance, and sustainability teams.
Topics to Be Covered:
- The Collaboration Imperative for Human Rights and Sustainability
- Antitrust Risk Landscape in 2025
- Case Study: Structuring for Impact Without Violating Antitrust Law
- Navigating Per Se Risks: Price-Fixing, Market Allocation & Group Boycotts
- Best Practices for Legal & Compliance Teams
Speakers:
- Lee Berger, Partner in Steptoe's Antitrust and Competition Practice
- Ruxandra Cana, Partner in Steptoe's Human Rights & Sustainability Practice
- Robert Klotz, Partner in Steptoe's Antitrust and Competition Practice
- Yousuf Aftab, Partner in Steptoe's Human Rights & Sustainability practice
Part Two - Collaborative Redress: Structuring Collective Due Diligence to Address Systemic Harms
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. EST
As legal and stakeholder expectations regarding human rights due diligence intensify, companies are navigating an increasingly complex landscape of systemic human rights risks—including forced labor, child labor, gender-related harms and environmental impacts. Due diligence focused on such risks deep in the supply chain, however, can create a suite of business challenges.
This webinar, co-hosted with Anthesis, will draw on a practical case study to explore how companies can effectively collaborate to deliver meaningful impact efficiently, all while managing antitrust concerns.
Speakers:
- Mariana Abreu, Global Head of Human Rights at Anthesis Group
- Hideaki Roy Umetsu, Managing Partner at Mori Hamada, New York
- Charles Whiddington, Partner in Steptoe's Antitrust and Competition practice
- Yousuf Aftab, Partner in Steptoe's Human Rights & Sustainability practice
Part Three - Collaboration in Conflict: Structuring Collective Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence
Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. EST
Conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRAs) present some of the most complex challenges for responsible business: CAHRAs are frequently the source of the most salient human rights and conflict risks for stakeholders and the most significant risks to business—spanning legal, brand, investor, and operational issues.
This webinar, co-hosted with TrustWorks Global, will draw on a practical case study to explore how companies can effectively collaborate in CAHRAs to deliver meaningful impact efficiently, all while managing antitrust concerns.
Speakers:
- Josie Lianna Kaye, Chief Executive Officer & Founder at TrustWorks
- Sam Jones, President, Heartland Initiative
- Peter Nestor, Global Head of Human Rights at Novartis
- Yousuf Aftab, Partner in Steptoe's Human Rights & Sustainability practice
