Atelier Aftab

Atelier Aftab (A2) is a New York-based law firm specializing in business and human rights. The team of US, UK, EU, Canadian, and Latin American lawyers brings a rare blend of legal expertise and on-the-ground stakeholder engagement experience, which it leverages to design cutting-edge solutions to navigate the full spectrum of human rights-related stakeholder and business risk—legal, brand, investor, and operations. A2's expertise has been forged in practice, with a decade advising Fortune100 companies across sectors and across the globe on human rights policy and protocol design, diligence across the corporate value chain, grievance mechanisms, and managing crises and disputes. The firm's approach is defined by precision, practicality, and coherence, to derive forward-looking guidance tailored to a dynamic risk and opportunity landscape.

A2 offers a comprehensive suite of services to help clients craft sustainability strategy and governance tailored to their legal imperatives, operational footprint, key stakeholders, and the business landscape.

1. Governance | A2 helps review and draft human rights policies and oversight structures to comply with regulation, meet stakeholder expectations, and anticipate emerging litigation risk.
2. Due Diligence | A2 has rare expertise in conducting human rights investigations and assessments to identify priority risks, shape forward-looking strategy, and manage material stakeholder concerns.
3. Grievance Mechanisms | A2 helps assess, design, and pilot corporate grievance mechanisms to align with legal and stakeholder expectations.
4. Crises & Disputes | A2 has substantial experience helping clients navigate crises and disputes, including before the US Congress, various OECD National Contact Points, national human rights commissions, and in litigation and arbitration fora.
5. Disclosure & Reporting | A2 helps clients draft and review sustainability and human rights reporting to advance a compelling narrative for regulators and stakeholders.

A2 has unrivaled experience in all dimensions of corporate human rights strategy and governance. Highlights of recent engagements include:

European Life Sciences Company: A2 conducted a global human rights risk assessment to (i) identify salient and material risks across the company’s global value chain; and (ii) assess the strength of all human-rights related policies and protocols with reference to the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (“OECD Guidelines”), and the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA). The project included benchmarking of human rights governance relative to peers; engagement with a broad array of internal and external stakeholders; and development of risk-specific and overarching governance recommendations with reference to material regulator, investor, and stakeholder expectations.

Fortune 100 Food & Beverage Company: A2 conducted a global human rights governance assessment with reference to the Guiding Principles, OECD Guidelines, emerging legal requirements in Europe, litigation risk in the US and UK, peer practice, and key stakeholder expectations. The project included an assessment of key policies and programs with reference to forward-looking governance expectations (legal and voluntary). It resulted in a revised human rights strategy to navigate emerging risks and opportunities; updated human rights and supplier responsibility policies; a restructured human rights team to address a broader array of salient human rights risks; and, a revised due diligence structure to meet emerging legal and stakeholder expectations efficiently.The A2 team is now conducting two human rights impact assessments at high-risk jurisdictions in Latin America and Asia.

Global Technology Company: A2 conducted a human rights governance assessment and a global risk assessment across the company’s value chain. The governance assessment focused on oversight structure for human rights risk management with reference to emerging legal requirements under the SCDDA, the Norwegian Transparency Act, and the Draft European Commission Corporate Sustainability Directive. The assessments resulted in a suite of practical recommendations to address the suite of priority human rights risks across the company's global value chain. The A2 team subsequently conducted two onsite human rights impact assessments in high-risk jurisdictions and is piloting a grievance mechanism to address supply chain risks in line with the SCDDA.

Fortune 100 Industrial Conglomerate: A2 conducted an integrated global risk and opportunity assessment with reference to the Guiding Principles, the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The assessment focused on the strength of human rights-related risk-management protocols and led to a set of prioritized governance recommendations, including restructuring oversight, revising policies, and developing functional implementation materials. The team has also conducted a gap analysis of the company's grievance process with reference to emerging law, resulting in a multi-stakeholder pilot process for supply chain grievances.