Perspectives on Law Firm Sustainability

• Author: Howard S. Dakoff/John Dernbach
• Position: Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC./Professor of Law at Widener University
• Pages: 39-39

MARCH/APRIL 2011 ❧ Page 39

Copyright © 2011, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, March/April 2011

oTher views

Few law f‌irms will pursue sus-

tainability programs merely

upon a basis of “doing good.”

e reality is law f‌irms are for-

prof‌it businesses that have stake-

holders like all companies (owners,

employees, and clients) to

which they are account-

able.

ere must be a busi-

ness reason for doing good

or those projects are the

f‌irst items to be eliminat-

ed during dif‌f‌icult times.

Unless sustainability is a

part of a law f‌irm’s overall

business and governance strategy,

it will be relegated as a pet project

that will not be taken seriously.

Part of any strategy of a law

f‌irm should be an extension of its

brand — externally and internally.

Externally, it is “what a law f‌irm

is known for” and internally it is

“how employees or owners def‌ine

their own self worth through the

law f‌irm to which they are af‌f‌ili-

ated.”

If a law f‌irm can see sustain-

ability as an extension of its brand,

it will have a large impact upon

its stakeholders. It will increase

its bottom line and employee en-

gagement, retention, and produc-

tivity while signif‌icantly reducing

costs through waste and energy

reduction and improving loyalty

and productivity through stron-

ger staf‌f engagement. It’s no secret

(or shame) that law f‌irms want to

achieve higher prof‌its and employ-

ee engagement.

A law f‌irm’s brand represents

the promises the f‌irm is making

with key stakeholders, now and in

the future. Its brand is the face of

the f‌irm. A law f‌irm can be prof‌it-

able and successful while also be-

ing a good corporate citizen. Said

another way, a law f‌irm’s sustain-

ability policy can be a successful

marriage of genuine business ratio-

More than 250 law organizations,

including at least eight law schools,

are now enrolled in the Climate

Challenge.

e ABA Section on Environ-

ment, Energy, and Resources Sus-

tainability Framework for Law

Organizations provides a dif‌ferent

approach. (Bill Blackburn has led

the SEER ef‌fort on this policy.) In

adopting this policy, a law organi-

zation commits to sustainability’s

triple bottom line of economic

success, social responsibility, and

environmental responsibility. e

implementation guidelines state

that the policy is to be applied f‌lex-

ibly, so that law organizations “pri-

oritize and pace their ef‌forts toward

implementation over time.”

In contrast, some state bars have

focused on the environmental as-

pect of sustainability. Partners in

the Massachusetts Bar Association

Lawyers Eco-Challenge agree to

use their best ef‌forts to implement

green guidelines for law of‌f‌ice man-

agement, green guidelines for land-

scape management, or

both. More than 100

law of‌f‌ices have com-

mitted to meet these

guidelines. e Califor-

nia and Pennsylvania

bar associations have

adopted similar pro-

grams.

Oregon Lawyers for

a Sustainable Future has developed

a model policy for law of‌f‌ices that

focuses on waste reduction and

recycling, energy use, travel, com-

muting, and carbon credits. OLSF

has also published lists of specif‌ic

practices for lunch vendors, outside

meetings, tenant improvements,

and building managers.

ese approaches to law of‌f‌ice

sustainability are likely to grow and

evolve in the years ahead.

John Dernbach is a Professor of

Law at Widener University.

nale with responsibility to people

and natural resources.

Sustainability commitments are

not transitory but are part of a strat-

egy that should be included in a law

f‌irm’s business plan and budgeting

process. Sustainability is

not only an ef‌fort to “do

good,” but is doing good

as part of good business,

which creates a cohesive

workplace that employ-

ees value and enhances

client and community

awareness of a f‌irm and

its vision. Sustainability

must become part of a law f‌irm’s

culture to be successful.

Howard S. Dakof‌f is the Corpo-

rate Social Responsibility Of‌f‌icer for

Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC.

Perspectives on Law Firm Sustainability

John Dernbach

Howard S. Dakoff

The American Bar Association

has provided sustainability

tools that can be used in the

practice of law. In addition, several

state bar associations have

provided environmental

tools for f‌irms to use.

e ABA House of Del-

egates in 2003 endorsed the

internationally recognized

understanding of sustain-

able development as “si-

multaneous achievement of

environmental protection,

economic development, social de-

velopment, and peace, for present

and future generations.” e del-

egates also committed to promote

sustainable development and en-

couraged others to support it.

Two law practice tools were later

developed. A law of‌f‌ice can enroll

in the ABA-EPA Law Of‌f‌ice Cli-

mate Challenge by adopting speci-

f‌ied best practices for paper man-

agement or by joining EPA’s Waste-

Wise program, Green Power Part-

nership, or Energy Star program.