Going, and seeing, green

• Author: Danielle Bra
• Pages: 33-34

Being green is

bringing green t o a

handful of law fi rms.

“Sust ainable,” “g reen”

and “socially respon si-

ble” aren’t buzzwords ty pically equated

with law fi rms. But attorney s around

the country are u sing their sustainable

e orts to draw business by att racting

clients seeking law yers who embrace

this greener life style.

At Perlman & Perlman, a boutique

law fi rm headquartered i n New York

City that has si x partners, the practice

revolves arou nd responsible organi za-

tions, and it tries to u se its business to

do good in the world.

“We’re values-driven—everyone here

could make more working at a bigger

fi rm, but we choose to be here because

we want the fi rm to represent our per-

sonal values,” says Allen Bromber ger, a

partner at Perlman & Perlman.

Bromberger says his fi rm has alw ays

recycled, it has generous p ersonnel pol-

icies, and it is always look ing to make

the o ce even more su stainable. But

it’s one thing to tell clients that t he fi rm

is socially resp onsible, and it’s another

thing to prove it to them.

So he turned to B Lab, a B erwyn,

Pennsylvania-ba sed nonprofi t founded

in 2006, which cert ifi es for-profi t

companies that choose t o hold

themselves account able in the

social re sponsibility fi eld.

Just like Etsy and Warby Parker,

Bromberger’s fi rm went through a

complicated self-asse ssment appli-

cation to become a B Corp, or bene fi t

corporation . This included exami ning

job creation, t heir corporate resp onsi-

bility, the e ect on the community, and

the overall impact of t he companies on

their sta keholders.

Perlman & Perlman made the deci-

sion to become a B Corp in 2009, and

it was certifi ed in 2011. Every t wo years

it has to recert ify, but the hard work

is worth it in many ways , Bromberger

says.

“We use the B Corp logo throughout

our marketing mater ials, mostly to

indicate ou r values orientation to

the outside world,” Bromberger says.

“For people who know B Corps, this

branding is an attr actor.”

Perlman & Perlman partner K aren

Wu agrees, adding th at being a B Corp

forces the fi rm to live its values . She

notes that she strive s to send, receive

and maintain doc uments electronically

instead of on paper, and that member s

of the fi rm try to minimi ze use of

disposable plastic ite ms such as cups

or plates.

“As a fi r m that focuses on serving

nonprofi t s and socially responsible

businesses, I thin k it is important

that we operate with s trong values,”

she says. “I appreciate that the B C orp

certifi cation standa rds provide us with

a struct ured approach to conti nuously

evaluate our impac t on people, the

environment a nd the community.”

Meanwhile, the str ict B Corp audit

and renewal process i s also useful in

keeping the fi rm honest and forces it

to regularly t hink about how it does

business, accord ing to Bromberger.

“Being a B Corp signal s to other

values-dri ven businesses that your

law fi rm speaks that same lang uage,

shares the same va lues, and meets the

most rigorous s tandards for busine ss

as a force for good,” says Jay Coen

Gilbert, co -founder at B Lab.

‘WALK THE WALK’

When you speak the same la nguage,

you’re more likely to pay more for

services, a ccording to a 2015 Nielsen

survey, which report ed that consumers

are looking at websites t o learn about

the prospective busine sses’ practices

before hiring.

Of those survey ed, 66 percent say

they would pay more for or ganizations

JULY 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 33

Business of Law

PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVE WU; ALI MAZRAIE SHADI/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Law

Practice

GOING,

AND SEEING, GREEN

Several law fi rms have seen the business benefi ts of getting certifi ed as a B Corp

By Danielle Bra

“We’re values-driven—everyone here

could make more working at a b igger fi rm,

but we choose to be here beca use we want

the fi rm to represent ou r personal values .”

– Allen Bromberger

“I appreciate

that the B Corp

certifi cation

standards provide

us with a structured

approach to contin-

uously evaluate our

impact on people ,

the environment

and the community.”

– Karen Wu