A legal team from Morgan Lewis, led by partner Charles Sweet and of counsel Jeremiah Parker, has received the 2024 Grunin Prize for its work on the initial issuance of asset-backed notes under Calvert Impact’s Cut Carbon Notes program. The annual prize from the Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, which was shared with a legal team from firm client Calvert Impact Capital, is awarded to lawyers working on a project recognized for its innovation, replicability and/or scalability, and overall impact.
The Cut Carbon Notes program uses structured finance tools to address the outsized impact of greenhouse gas emissions from commercial buildings in the United States on climate change. The Cut Carbon Note is a secured, investment grade–rated, fixed-income product that finances sustainability upgrades for commercial buildings with the objective of reducing carbon emissions.
The five finalists for the Grunin Prize also included the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund II L.P. to accelerate the energy transition, in which the firm also played a significant role. The winners were honored on June 4 in New York City at the Impact Investing Legal Working Group and Grunin Center’s Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing—In the US and Beyond.
Three other matters involving Morgan Lewis lawyers were also showcased in the impact space prior to the Grunin Prize reception. In addition to a second project with Calvert Impact that adapted the State Small Business Credit Initiative loan purchase program to expand pandemic recovery funds, a joint venture with Living Cities to launch a group of funds investing in BIPOC fund managers as well as Spark+ Africa Fund with Jibu were featured in the conference’s Hall of Impact. Partner Tomer Inbar and of counsel Casey Oetgen also presented on tax-exempt organizations at the conference.
In addition to partner Charles Sweet and of counsel Jeremiah Parker, the Morgan Lewis team honored for its work on the Cut Carbon Notes program included partners Kevin Biron, Tomer Inbar, and Sarah Nelson and associates Ester Lee, Fiona Murphy, Chelsea Rubin, and Deborah Stern.
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