Vinson & Elkins Appoints New ESG and Corporate Governance Attorney
Vinson & Elkins has hired Jon Solorzano as counsel in its Los Angeles office. He has a lot of experience with mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate governance, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). He most recently served as Senior Director of Legal & Corporate Development for The Clorox Company.
Solorzano's new job will include advising public and private companies and their boards of directors on ESG, corporate governance, sustainability issues, shareholder activism, risk management, securities law, and mergers and acquisitions. He will also co-chair Vinson & Elkins' ESG Taskforce.
Sarah Morgan, co-head of Vinson & Elkins' Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets practice and co-head of the ESG Taskforce, said, "Jon's experience building and managing a comprehensive ESG programme for a Fortune 500 company will help support our existing services and expand our sustainability offerings for clients.
"Jon’s regular engagement with institutional investors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), corporate strategic business units, and other key constituencies while at Clorox has helped the company implement policies and practices to address multiple stakeholder interests, mitigate risks, and enhance corporate objectives. His background implementing pragmatic ESG strategies and controls and disclosures in-house and the viewpoints of various stakeholders regarding the same will be extremely valuable to companies assessing and incorporating ESG practices into their corporate strategies.”
Solorzano worked at Clorox to help oversee the company's ESG strategy and stakeholder engagement. He often worked on strategy, processes for enterprise risk management, and ESG governance and reporting with senior executives and the board of directors. During his time in office, he helped come up with and put into action plans for climate change, plastics and waste, transparency in the supply chain, and diversity and inclusion.
Solorzano also served as the company's Assistant Corporate Secretary, working closely with the board of directors and executive team on issues such as corporate governance, fiduciary responsibilities, ESG risks and strategy, disclosures, ESG ratings and rankings optimisation, and proxy guidance. Solorzano led many acquisitions and divestitures for Clorox and its brands as the company's lead M&A lawyer.
Solorzano has also worked in Clorox's corporate development group, where he helped the company plan and carry out its inorganic strategy with a focus on strategic mergers and acquisitions and investments that helped the company reach its sustainability goals for climate and plastics.
“With the increased regulatory and multi-stakeholder demands facing companies, this is an exciting time to join Vinson & Elkins. The firm has an exceptional cross-practice group of lawyers who truly understand an array of governance and sustainability issues, and I’m looking forward to working with this impressive team to serve our clients,” said Solorzano.
Matt Dobbins, a partner in Vinson & Elkins' Environmental practice and co-head of the ESG Taskforce, said, "For many years, Vinson & Elkins has been committed to helping our clients navigate ESG risks and opportunities and build tailored strategies for their operations. We keep seeing more and more pressure from outside to pay more attention to these areas. Having someone of Jon's calibre join our multidisciplinary team adds depth at a time when investor expectations, voluntary and regulatory frameworks, and regulatory frameworks are changing."
Source: Vinson & Elkins
