About Us
The Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) is a community of legal leaders who are using the practice of law to have a positive impact on people and the planet, and to accelerate the just transition. We believe lawyers are uniquely positioned to facilitate change and support the movement towards a more equitable system.
The Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers is unique in our operation. We are leveraging the expertise of lawyers to accelerate the shift of corporate models and capital to make sure business is truly a sustainable force for good, while drawing learning from across the spectrum of impact disciplines.
Our Strategy
We profile, connect, educate, inspire and mobilise impact lawyers – locally and around the world. Together, we aim to transform the role of the law and lawyers to accelerate the just transition. GAIL shares learnings that exist within our community widely to equip lawyers with the knowledge they need to take action.
What we are trying to achieve?
Lawyers are powerful advocates, champions and gatekeepers. Through our programming, we identify and showcase examples of some of the most impactful work lawyers across the world are engaged in. We highlight work that is capable of replication and multiplication and, by distributing insights and practical learnings effectively, enable lawyers in any part of the world to act on this knowledge.
What
We Believe
Mission
To grow the next generation of ‘impact lawyers’ who will advocate for and champion a rapid and just transition towards a truly sustainable and inclusive economy.
Vision
Our work will not end until the just transition has been achieved – and all lawyers are impact lawyers.
The Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) focus is on the contributions that impact lawyers make to the wider global impact ecosystem. Impact lawyers are legal leaders working to have a positive impact on people and planet – personal success is measured in positive impact, not profit.
Many are business and finance lawyers, some are litigators, some have other forms of expertise. Some work at major firms, others small. Some are senior, some junior. Some are practitioners, others academics.
Impact lawyers work in many of the areas below to influence the impact economy and the practice of impact law.
- Impact investing
- Climate change and the law
- Sustainable finance
- Environmental, social and governance factors
- Development finance
- Blended finance
- Business human rights
- The social role of business
- Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility
- Benefit corporations and B Corps
- Social enterprise and ‘for benefit’ enterprise
- Social value commissioning and procurement
- Cooperatives
- International cooperation
- Philanthropy and civil society
- The rule of law
- Future economic paradigms
- Systems change
- Public policy
- Sustainable supply chains
- Innovation and the law
In February 2022, esela – The legal network for social impact joined with the Benefit Company Bar Association (BCBA) and Red Latinoamericana de Abogados de Impacto (RLAI) to form the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers.
These networks saw a need for a global community of legal leaders using their careers to have a positive impact on people and the planet.
esela – The legal network for social impact was a non-profit global network of lawyers, advisors, academics and entrepreneurs. Their members shared a vision to create a sustainable and inclusive economy that promotes positive social impact.
Red Latinoamericana de Abogados de Impacto (RLAI) was a group of Latin American lawyers who worked to produce, systematize and disseminate knowledge and analysis on the legal aspects of an economy focused on creating a positive social and environmental impact on public policies, investments and commercial activities.
The Benefit Company Bar Association (BCBA) was comprised of lawyers who advise benefit corporations and other forms of business organisations that have as part of their purposes creating positive benefits for society and the environment. The association sought to share the knowledge and experience of its members, to educate other lawyers and the public at large, and to promote the concept of doing business in a responsible and sustainable manner.
esela History
In 2013, the European Commission asked the consultants ICF and the UK law firm Bates Wells to undertake a study to map the shape and nature of social enterprise activity in 29 European countries as part of its flagship ‘Social Business Initiative’.
The idea of a legal network for social impact developed naturally from the mapping study, as it became clear that no such network of experts existed. At a roundtable event hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels in January 2015, the European Social Enterprise Law Association (ESELA) was formed.
In 2018, ESELA became esela -The legal network for social impact. The rebrand of esela reflected the network broadening beyond social enterprise into impact in its broadest sense, as well as the growing membership outside of Europe.
RLAI History
In 2015, Red Latinoamericana de Abogados de Impacto (RLAI) was founded as a result of collaborative, open and committed work of many. It originated from groups of lawyers from many countries engaged in public policy discussions and initiatives led by Sistema B. Together, we made it possible.
RLAI contributed to debates on legal structures and the institutional environment related to business practices, legal formats and impact investments. It supported initiatives and organisations in the impact ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Our Latin American identity and desire for integration is linked by the understanding of the role of lawyers among the power of positive impact and of the legal design as a means to achieve justice, equity, diversity and social inclusion and to foster responses to the climate crisis.
BCBA History
In 2016, the Benefit Company Bar Association (BCBA) was formed by lawyers who were active in the enactment of benefit corporation laws in various U.S. states. The purpose of the BCBA was to build a community of lawyers who advise benefit corporations and other forms of business organisations that create positive benefits for society and the environment.
The BCBA sought to share knowledge and expertise, and encourage collaboration amongst lawyers interested in promoting positive change in business practices and business law.
The BCBA promoted and conducted conferences, seminars, and workshops to share global guidance and court decisions. Its programming equipped the BCBA community of lawyers to better assist their clients to conduct business in a responsible and sustainable manner.
GAIL adheres to The Imperatives for Economic System Change, co-created by Imperative 21 coalition.
The Imperatives
Design for Interdependence
- Recognize the interdependence of healthy people, planet, and economies
- Balance the relationships between the private sector, government and civil society
- Ensure that everyone has access to free and fair markets
Invest for Justice
- Remove structural inequality
- Ensure leadership and ownership are more inclusive, and investment more accessible
- Use technology to advance democratic ideals and human rights
- Promote greater voice, power and opportunity for those currently marginalized
Account for Stakeholders
- Measure success based on credible common metrics of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders
- Create incentives that reward business and investments creating social and environmental value
- Enhance standards of fiduciary duty
Constanza Connolly
President
Co-founder, Keidos Legal Impact
Constanza Connolly is an attorney at law from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and she obtained her Masters in Corporate Law from Universidad Austral.
She is specialized in corporate law, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions. She has a vast experience in business seeking social and environmental positive impact. She advises on the design and development of impact funds aimed at boosting sustainable finance and focusing on ESG (environmental social governance). She specialized in sustainable value chains and complex structures for the creation of solutions for non-traditional figures, including organizations with non-profit and for-profit “hybrid-structures”.
She recently co-founded Keidos Legal Impact, a consultancy focused on generating, facilitating and/or escalating the impact of organizations seeking to make sustainability central to their DNA. building the impact market in Latin America, and on developing public policies for the new impact economy.She co-founded the “Latin American Impact Lawyers Network” to boost impact businesses in the region and she is a member of its Board. She has been appointed as Vice President of GAIL Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers. She is also a board member of Argentina NAB – GSG Impact Investment Task Force. She actively participates in the “Latin America Payment by Result Network.
Michael Ryland
Vice President
Director, Centre for Social Finance Law
Michael Ryland is the principal and founding director of the Centre for Social Finance Law.
Michael has over 35 years of broad ranging experience in corporate finance, investment funds and commercial law, including 20 years as a partner at global law firms Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills. He has worked in Australia, Japan and Indonesia, and has spent two years as a full time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC).
Michael has particular experience in the law relating to social investment, working with a range of for-purpose and for-profit clients on social impact projects, both domestic and cross-border. This has included work on social investment fund structures, social impact bonds and other financial instruments, social infrastructure projects, social and affordable housing, disability services and accommodation, and community initiatives and projects.
Melissa Manzo
Board Secretary
General Counsel, AgDevCo
Melissa heads up AgDevCo’s legal team and has a background in international debt financing. Melissa and her team advise on the structuring and documentation of AgDevCo’s investments, on regulatory, compliance and governance matters applicable to AgDevCo in the UK and in its countries of operation in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the development of AgDevCo’s policies and procedures. Melissa sits on AgDevCo’s Executive Committee and is the Chair of AgDevCo’s Technical Assistance Committee. Prior to joining AgDevCo, Melissa worked at the international law firm Allen & Overy LLP for 12 years, where she advised on cross-border banking and restructuring transactions. Whilst at Allen & Overy, Melissa founded and managed its microfinance and social investment group and worked on a number of pro bono matters. She has also spent time on secondment to the emerging markets desk at Citigroup. Melissa has a BA in Oriental Studies from Oxford University and a postgraduate diploma in law from BPP Law School.
Alissa Pelatan
Europe Representative
Founder & Partner, AMP Avocats
Elizabeth Lange
North America Representative
Attorney, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Emiliano Giovine
Europe Representative
Partner, RP Legal & Tax
Frances Holliday
United Kingdom Representative
General Counsel, LeapFrog Investments
Gina Pereira
North America Representative
Founder, Dāna Stewardship Advisory,
Jessica Blumenthal
Africa Representative
Director, ENS
Juan Diego Mujica Filippi
Latin America Representative
Evolution Guide, Nativa
Luke Fletcher
Emeritus Director
Partner, Bates Wells
NanaAma Botchway
Africa Representative
Managing Partner, N. Dowuona and Company
Naomi Sander
United Kingdom Representative
Senior Legal Counsel & ESG-Impact Lead, Asset Green
Oliver Hunt
Secretariat Representative
Senior Associate, Bates Wells
Rachel Avellar Sotomaior Karam
Latin America Representative
Partner, Trotta, Eberhart, Sotomaior Karam
Roberto Randazzo
Emeritus Director
Head of ESG and Impact, Legance
Tze-Wei Ng
Asia Pacific Representative
Associate, Stephenson Harwood
Vivien Teu
Asia Pacific Representative
Partner and Head of Asset Management & ESG, Dentons Hong Kong LLP
Sarah Dobson James
Executive Director
Sarah is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers, a community of legal leaders who are using their careers to have a positive impact on people and the planet, and to accelerate the just transition.
Sarah runs GAIL from the offices of Bates Wells, the first UK law firm to become a B Corp, where she was previously Impact Economy Manager.
Sarah was named one of the top 100 Women in Social Enterprise in the UK and a finalist for the Rising Star award in 2023.
She is a Fellow of On Purpose, the profit with purpose leadership programme. Her career has spanned impact investment at Better Society Capital, as well as improving access to justice in the UK as Head of Trusts at Support Through Court, and in Kenya and Uganda at African Prisons Project.
Sarah was called to the Bar of England and Wales and holds qualifications in Law and English.
Keya Advani
Director of Programmes and Policy
Keya is the Director of Programmes and Policy at the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers, after previously serving as its Executive Director (Maternity Cover) during 2022 – 23.
Before this, Keya was a practising solicitor at Bates Wells, in the firm’s Charity & Social Enterprise department and part of its Impact Economy practice, advising businesses, financial institutions, NGOs, social enterprises, B Corps and impact investors on a range of legal issues.
She qualified as a banking & finance lawyer at Linklaters LLP in London and has worked and seconded with a range of organisations in the private and non-profit sectors internationally, including the Human Rights Law Network (India), the Global Justice Centre (USA), the Mary Ward Legal Centre (UK) and Big Society Capital (UK). She is a member of The Chancery Lane Project’s Advisory Group and was formerly a trustee of the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action (CIVA).
Keya has a BA in Comparative Literature from Hamilton College (USA), an LLB from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law from the National Law School of India University (India). She is committed to using the law as a tool to create positive change and is interested in collaborative, transnational ways to address global, systemic problems.
Bates Wells is the secretariat of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers and a Founding Member.
Bates Wells is a London law firm with a difference. The firm focuses on positive social impact as much as it focuses on being commercially successful. Bates Wells’ top tier legal advice is coupled with a real desire to drive change. It was the first UK law firm to achieve B Corp status, a certification awarded to businesses that balance purpose and profit, following a rigorous audit of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
Bates Wells’ clients are diverse –from corporate household names, to public bodies, to start-ups. Work for NGOs, not-for-profits, socially-focused investors and other impact organisations represents around 65% of the firm’s business.
Bates Wells has influenced some of the major developments in the UK social investment and purposeful business space, including:
- the design of community interest companies and social investment tax relief,
- advising the UK Government Inclusive Economy Unit on governance options for inclusive and purpose-driven businesses, and
- the creation of the statutory social investment power for charities.
Bates Wells challenges what is possible in legal expertise delivery. Learn more at bateswells.co.uk/better-business.