Summaries This article assesses the role different forms of litigation can play in holding transnational companies to account for their social and environmental responsibilities. The incongruence between the increasingly globalised organisation of production and investment by transnational companies and the willingness and ability of governments and international organisations to regulate the social and environmental impacts generated by such business practices, creates an important challenge for development. This article argues that the renewed interest of academics and policy makers in questions of law and development presents an important opportunity to consider the role of law as an accessible and utilisable instrument by which the poor can exercise social control over the investments which affect their livelihoods.