Emily
Blower

Emily is a managing associate in the Disputes & Investigations team with a wealth of experience dealing with substantial and high-profile commercial disputes, including parallel proceedings (multiple proceedings arising from the same event).

She specialises in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) litigation and risk management, and has broad experience, including:

• Advising a private investment firm on the litigation and reputation risks associated with branding itself as a “sustainable” investor
• Identifying potential claims that could be brought against a financial institution that makes untrue/misleading statements regarding its environmental credentials, or those of its services and products.
• Researching financial institutions’ climate change related due diligence and disclosure obligations, and identifying the potential civil and criminal consequences for breach, including claims alleging greenwashing/mis-selling, securities law breaches and breach of directors’ duties, and non-judicial proceedings.
• Advising a global financial institution on its response to a letter from an activist NGO regarding its lending to carbon intensity businesses.
• Acting for an international company in a large-scale environmental mass claim arising in Africa, with proceedings in Africa and potential parent liability proceedings in England.
• Advising an NGO on a complaint to the UK OECD National Contact Point against a corporate accused of land grabbing and associated human rights abuses in South East Asia.
• Advising an international mining corporation on its environmental and human rights policies, as well as its ESG hard law obligations and ‘soft’ law requirements.

Emily also has a special interest in mass claims, acting for both defendants and class representatives.

Emily was a member of the team awarded Commercial Litigation Team of the Year (Legal Business Awards), Litigation Team of the Year (The Lawyer Awards) and Banking Litigation Team of the Year (Legal Week Commercial Litigation & Arbitration Awards) in 2019 for successfully defending Grant Thornton and others against claims brought by the Tchenguiz brothers relating to the collapse of Kaupthing Bank. In 2020, she was recognised in the Legal 500 rankings as a key lawyer in Simmons & Simmons’ financial markets disputes team (Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, Tier 2).