Amy K. Lehr

Associate - Washington, D.C.

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Contact Information

202.261.7389

202.467.9689

alehr@foleyhoag.com Download vCard

Amy Lehr is part of Foley Hoag’s unique Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice. In this role, she provides advice to major multinational corporations on best practices with regard to human rights, labor rights, and indigenous rights issues, as well as on stakeholder relations with local communities, host governments, security providers, and non-governmental organizations. Working with clients in a broad range of industry sectors, she provides advice on managing both the challenges and the opportunities of globalization, as well as on risk management issues, particularly those deriving from the Alien Tort Statute in the US. She also carries out human rights impact assessments and other forms of due diligence for clients. 

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Education:

  • Harvard Law School, J.D.
  • Princeton University, A.B., cum laude

Languages:

French, Spanish, Thai

Representative Experience

  • Provided advice to a large oil and gas company regarding the benefits and risks of conducting human rights assessments and other human rights due diligence.
  • Conducted human rights impact assessments and human rights trainings for a company in Southeast Asia and Africa.
  • Advised a large multinational company on the risks of contracting with private security and mechanisms to mitigate that risk.
  • Advised a variety of companies on best practices, policies, and procedures for community engagement.
  • Wrote a ground-breaking report on corporate engagement with indigenous peoples, including the right to free, prior, informed consent.

Professional Experience

  • Legal Advisor to the UN, Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie (2006-2008)
  • Expert Advisor, Business Leaders Initiative for Human Rights (BLIHR) (2007-2008)
  • Fellow, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard University (2006-2008)
  • Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand, Lecturer
  • Co-Author (with John Ruggie and Elizabeth Holland), The U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: The Legal Context and Operational Implications, BUS. LAW NEWS (State Bar of California, S.F., Cal.), Issue 4, 2012
  • Co-Author (with Sarah Altschuller and Andrew Orsmond), Corporate Social Responsibility, International Legal Developments in Review: 2010, The International Lawyer (Spring 2011).
  • Co-Author (with Sarah Altschuller), “Business and Human Rights in the United States,” Chapter in Global Business and Human Rights (European Lawyer Reference, 2011)
  • Lead Author (with Gare Smith), Implementing a Corporate Free, Prior, and Informed Consent Policy: Benefits and Challenges, Foley Hoag LLP, 2010, available at http://www.foleyhoag.com/publications/ebooks-and-white-papers/2010/may/implementing-a-corporate-free-prior-and-informed-consent-policy
  • Author, Old and New Governance Approaches to Conflict Minerals: All are Better than One. Harvard International Law Journal Online (Nov. 2010)
  • Co-author (with John Sherman), Human Rights Due Diligence: Is It Too Risky?, Harvard Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Working Paper No. 55 (2010)
  • Co-Author (with Sarah Altschuller and Suzanne Spears), Corporate Social Responsibility, International Legal Developments in Review: 2009, The International Lawyer (Spring 2010)
  • Co-Author (with Sarah Altschuller), Corporate Social Responsibility, International Legal Developments in Review: 2008, The International Lawyer (Summer 2009) 
  • Sphere of Influence and Corporate Complicity, Companion Report submitted by the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/8/16 (May 2008) (provided research support and co-authored) 
  • Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/8/5 (April 2008) (drafted sections, contributed ideas, and edited)
  • Lead Author (with Beth Jenkins), By Invitation: From Corporate Spheres of Influence to Corporate Spheres of Responsibility, Ethical Corporation (Oct. 2007) available at http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5504
  • Author Human Rights Policies of Chinese Companies: Results from a Survey, Sept. 2007, (Sept. 2007) (with research by Hong Kong-based law firm)
  • Co-Author (with Caroline Ashley, Peter De Brine, and Hannah Wilde), The Role of the Tourism Sector in Expanding Economic Opportunity, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Overseas Development Institute, International Business Leaders Forum, CSRI Report No. 23 (2007)
  • Business and Human Rights: Mapping International Standards of Responsibility and Accountability for Corporate Acts, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Doc. A/HRC/4/035 (Feb. 2007) (drafted sections, contributed ideas, and edited)
  • Co-Author (with Michael Wright), Business Recognition of Human Rights: Global Patterns and Regional Variations, Harvard Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 31, Report submitted by the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council, A/HRC/4/35/Add.4 (Feb. 2007)
  • Lead Author, NGO Report on Thailand, Submitted to UN Human Rights Committee and presented in New York, March 2005, available at http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp
  • Author, Humanitarian War? The Case of Kosovo, PRINCETON JOURNAL OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Spring 2000

Honors

  • Harvard Program on Negotiation Hewlett Research Fellow
  • Former Legal Advisor to the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie
  • Expert Advisor, Business Leaders Initiative for Human Rights (BLIHR)
  • Chayes International Public Service Fellow
  • Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Involvement

  • Council on Foreign Relations, Term Member
  • American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility  
  • California Bar Association
  • Speaker, Thomson Reuters Emerging and Frontier Markets Investment and Compliance Forum, Enhancing Investment Value through Effective Social Risk Management, New York, September 2012
  • Panelist, Business and Human Rights conference, Business Leaders Initiative for Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva, April 2009 
  • Panelist, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights consultation, UN Special Representative on Business Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva, December 2007
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Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • California