Robert Bird (University of Connecticut): Sustainability as a Value-Creating Legal Strategy

An event in corporation with Max Planck Law.

About the Speaker
Robert Bird is a Professor of Business Law and the Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics at the University of Connecticut, and a Visiting Professor of Business Law at the University of Vaasa. Robert’s scholarship focuses on compliance, legal strategy, and business ethics. Winner of numerous research and teaching awards, Robert has authored over eighty publications in journals such as the Journal of Law and Economics, American Business Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and the MIT Sloan Management Review. Robert was also a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Vaasa, in Vaasa, Finland. Robert is the author of the 2025 book, Legal Knowledge in Organizations: A Source of Strategic and Competitive Advantage, published by Cambridge University Press.
You find more information about the speaker of the talk HERE.

About the Topic
Sustainability has become an increasingly influential business practice in both Europe and the United States. Most firms perceive sustainability as a costly but necessary burden on their operations. Sustainable practices, however, are not only a source of value protection from legal liability, but also a source of value creation and a basis for legal strategy. This presentation identifies five pathways that firms use when responding to sustainability mandates. Some of these pathways represent destructive responses, while others enable the organization to transform itself into a holistically sustainable enterprise. Sustainability is a moral imperative, but it can also be a strategic asset. This presentation shows how companies can embrace sustainability practices as a source of competitive advantage.

The lecture will be held as a hybrid event, both on site at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Mittelweg 187, 20148 Hamburg, and as a video conference via Zoom. Please register no later than Sunday, 23 August 2026 using this LINK.

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