U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [3] has appointed Todd Stern [4] as special envoy on climate change. He will be the Obama Administration [5]'s chief climate negotiator in international meetings such as COP15 [6] in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, which will discuss a possible successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol [7]. Stern, an advocate of the U.S. taking significant action on global warming [8], has worked as a partner at the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr [9] since July 2001. The firm's website states [10] that he "counsels companies, industry coalitions and other institutions on a wide variety of public policy issues. He has represented clients in numerous House and Senate investigations. He has provided strategic advice to companies and institutions regarding problems that carry significant political or public relations risk. He has also frequently advised on crisis management [11] matters, including advising on the development and execution of media strategy that is sensitive to both underlying legal concerns and public relations imperatives." The firm's website does not identify which clients he has worked for.