Global implications of the US actions targeting DEI schemes in the private and public sectors

Keith is an Employment Law consultant with over 25 years’ experience in the employment field, servicing a wide range of multi-nationals and executives on issues relating to breach of covenant, restraint of trade and confidentiality, cross border TUPE, international relocation, large scale restructurings, wrongful and unfair dismissal, discrimination claims and diversity. Keith has an extensive gender discrimination practice and regularly acts for senior female executives in relation to diversity and discrimination claims against UK and US multinationals. As a member of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council and its independent legal advisor, Keith was involved with other council members in drafting and submitting to Parliament in November 2022 a command paper in support of Covid-19 being prescribed as an industrial disease in certain sectors under Social Security legislation with payment of benefits on a no-fault basis. At the International Bar Association’s annual conference in Miami in November 2022, Keith was a member of a panel which addressed the conference on obesity in the workplace and whether this qualifies as disability discrimination in various jurisdictions including the UK. In January 2023 Keith was appointed as Ethics and Professional Issues Officer of the North American Regional Forum of the International Bar Association. Keith is a former Chair of the Diversity Committee of the International Bar Association. He is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and has given Employment lectures to the American Employment Lawyers Council and the New York Bar Association. Keith has written extensively for the IBA's Diversity and Employment Committee newsletters on diversity and equity, gender discrimination, the gender pay gap, discrimination based on political and philosophical belief, women on boards and gender politics in the workplace. Keith addressed the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section's International Committee Midyear Meeting in Madrid in May 2025 on: "The State of ESG in the EU and Beyond". In June 2025, Keith spoke at the IBA ESG conference in Paris on ESG issues relating to luxury brands along with fellow panellists, Francesca Secondari of Prada, Clemence Fallet of Bredin Prat and Ben Oakley of Vestiaire. In March 2026, Keith will moderate a session on ESG pushback in North America and the global impact at the IBA ESG conference in Paris. In May 2026, Keith will participate in the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section's International Mid-Year Meeting in Prague and will speak on the Employment Rights Act 2025 in the UK including the major impact of this legislation on worker rights, wages and security.

Clara is the partner head of the Business and Human Rights area at TozziniFreire Advogados. At TozziniFreire since 2011, she works in prevention, strategic planning, and litigation involving Human Rights impacts on the production chain of business activity. She conducts human rights due dilingeces, identifying, monitoring and addressing human rights risks and impacts. Her activities include the elaboration of internal policies, training, contractual mechanisms appropriate to the prevention and remedy of Human Rights violations. Clara has experience negotiating with supervisory bodies (such as the Public Defender's Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office), conflict resolution in legal disputes, mediation and arbitration, consultations with the affected community, among others. She is TozziniFreire's pro bono coordinator, with experience in philanthropic activities, strategic litigation, advocacy, and social impact businesses. She coordinated award-winning projects, such as the Mutirão Jurídico in Heliópolis and the Guide for the Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Clara is also a private mediator and has worked in Public Law and Environment Law at the São Paulo Court of Justice.