Leonie Timmers
Leonie is an Of Counsel specialising in ESG (environmental, social and governance) and sustainable financing in the Madrid office.
She advises companies and funds on matters relating to sustainability reporting and due diligence, particularly pursuant to the SFDR, EU Taxonomy, CSRD, ISSB and CSDDD. She also advises on the review of external communications to analyse clients’ greenwashing and social-washing risk profiles and the development, implementation and maintenance of resilient ESG frameworks. Her other focus lies on sustainable and impact investing in illiquid asset classes and the implementation of the EU Sustainable Finance framework for funds and asset managers across Europe.
Before moving to focus on ESG, Leonie was a finance lawyer advising lenders, borrowers, sponsors, ECAs and governments on structured finance transactions including project finance, acquisition finance and real estate finance in a variety of sectors, both in the Iberian market and in emerging markets.
In the past decade, she has worked as external counsel in Latin America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe, giving her an insight into the cultural and business considerations faced by clients operating in these markets.
Recognition
Leonie is being recognised in ESG in legal directory Chambers Europe since 2025, when this category was launched, where she is considered ‘a great professional and a rising star in the industry due to her mix of hard competencies and commercial acumen.’
Experience & capabilities
Selected matters
- a leading European Energy company on strategic supply chain transactions, conducting compliance due diligence for several cross-border offtake agreements involving suppliers in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia
- a leading fast-moving consumer healthcare company on a global mapping exercise to identify laws and regulations whether in draft form, published or enacted (legal instruments) with which the company must comply in 43 countries in North America, EMEA, Latam and Asia
- an American manufacturer of office furniture and equipment on recurrent ESG advice on a wide range of matters, including sustainability reporting and disclosure obligations, reporting frameworks and greenwashing risk
- an European asset manager on the transformation of their energy transition fund into an Article 9 SFDR fund, including advice on the qualification of current investments as sustainable/taxonomy-aligned investment and assistance with the drafting of internal and external documentation
- a global professional association on the establishment of its ESG framework, including the development and implementation of governance structures, policies and ESG risk management procedures
Background
She has a dual degree in Law and International relations by the University of Sussex (UK) and a master's degree in Public international law (LLM) by Leiden University (The Netherlands). She speaks English, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian. She is a member of the Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid (ICAM – Madrid Bar Association), the Law Society of England and Wales and the Law Society of Ireland.
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