Law Firms: It’s Getting Easier to Be Green

I.    Introduction

The current surge in environmental awareness is affecting the way our nation does business, across a variety of industries. [1]  The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes has come to the unequivocal conclusion that our planet is getting hotter, and former Vice President Al Gore’s popular documentary on global warming has helped to create awareness about environmental issues. [2]   Beyond any altruism towards the environment, law firms are discovering that like any other business, they can ultimately profit by taking steps that benefit the environment. [3]  This article explores the legal industry's negative impact on the environment, and examines the nature and origin of the sustainability, or “green,” movement throughout law firms today.

II.    How Lawyers Affect the Environment

A study conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has shown that a lawyer on average uses up to 100,000 sheets of mostly virgin pulp paper per year; the production of this paper alone releases up to 4.5 tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. [4]  The adoption of simplistic paper management practices recommended by the EPA may reduce such emissions by up to two tons per year. [5]  Wendel Rosen Black & Dean of Oakland, California, made a simple switch from using 30% to 100% recycled paper. [6]  According to a calculator developed by the EPA, this simple change by the 130-employee firm resulted in the elimination of 40,000 pounds of greenhouse gases, as well as the saving of 260 mature trees, 24,000 gallons of water, and 33,000 kilowatt hours of electricity (enough to power 3.4 homes for a year). [7]

Electricity use and commuting also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions, which then lead to concerns over global warming. [8] Indeed, the energy required to operate personal computers, network servers, and data centers account for .75 percent of the global annual total of emissions, which is comparable to the level of all the greenhouse gases produced by the entire population of the world’s airplanes in a year. [9] 

III.    Initiatives

Previous to the current surge in environmental awareness, some in the legal profession have made efforts to help the industry decrease its environmental footprint.  More than a decade prior, a group of firms in the Seattle area founded the Law Firm Waste Reduction Network. [10]  This group published a guidebook (available in digital and print format) for legal professionals, educating their audience on strategies such as recycling and source reduction. [11]  Other firms across the nation are now belatedly affirming the efficacy of these environmental policies and discovering the financial benefits which accompany their adoption. [12]

        A.    Internal Initiatives

Homegrown efforts within firms may be basic, but helpful steps to a comprehensive and formal law firm policy regarding environmental sustainability.  Many firms are creating internal task forces to examine potential ways to reduce their total carbon footprint, while others have individuals pushing for small changes.  Nicole Kilbert, a real estate lawyer in a medium-sized Tampa firm, convinced her fellow attorneys to put aside the Styrofoam cups and begin drinking their daily coffee from reusable mugs or biodegradable mugs. [13]  A Denver green law firm that operates “virtually paperlessly” has found that their reduction in paper usage has created valuable cost savings for clients, who bear the cost of copying and mailing incurred by their case files. [14]

Other firms have installed energy-efficient lights, buy bus passes for their employees, and one firm even offers cash incentives for their employees to purchase hybrid cars. [15] Arnold & Porter, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, takes into account the severe damage that airline travel wreaks on the environment by offsetting its millions of airline mileage traveled by the firm’s lawyers per year. [16]  Knowing that planting one tree offsets the emission of about 50 pounds of carbon dioxide, the firm calculates the amount of miles flown and purchases a corresponding carbon offset from Carbonfund.org, which uses the funds to plant trees and build windmills. [17]

Firms are gathering together to share their experience and ideas concerning such initiatives, with the more environmentally advanced firms taking a leadership role. [18]   DLA Piper has joined forces with the Law Society to set up a coalition to help drive environmental sustainability efforts in the legal sector, a so-called “green alliance.” [19]  Arnold & Porter held a conference in February for other Washington, D.C. firms, entitled “Law Firm Green: The New Black – Achievable Green Initiatives,” partnering with Nixon Peabody LLP’s Chief Sustainability Officer as an event panelist. [20] 

        B.    External Initiatives

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 incentivizes businesses to create or move to an energy efficient building, providing subsidies and tax deductions for energy improvements to commercial workspace. [21]  The United States Environmental Protection Agency has specifically targeted large law firms with their ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, which encourages law firms to take specified steps to conserve energy and resources, thereby reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. [22] The ABA and EPA have paired to create a  comprehensive list of ways that law firms may advance sustainability efforts. [23]  Paper management practices include instituting policies of double-sided printing on recycled paper, and energy consumption tips run the gamut from simple strategies of turning off equipment when not in use, to complex upgrades of ambient lighting systems.  [24]

Firms may participate in the Office Climate Challenge by choosing one of three EPA programs.  [25]  WasteWise challenges firms to reduce paper use and increase recycling, while the Green Power Partnership requires firms to obtain a percentage of their electricity from renewable resources.  [26]  The third option is the EnergyStar program, wherein law firms adopt energy management plans to reduce electricity usage by a minimum of 10 percent.  [27]   Mere participation in the program gives law firms the title of Law Office Climate Challenge Partners; firms reaching a threshold level of conservation are then identified as Law Office Climate Challenge Leaders.  [28] 

Alongside the government, private organizations are helping law firms reduce their carbon footprint.  Lawyers For Forests provides an “Eco-Kit for Law Firms” that provides not only tips to reduce paper, energy and water consumption, but even provides “audit sheets” and step-by-step checklists for short term, medium term, and long term initiatives. [29]  Media coverage of law firms has highlighted green initiatives as a hot topic, but recognizes that beyond a buzzword, sustainability is becoming a way of doing business. [30]  Later this month, American Lawyer Media’s (“ALM”) Legal Times publication will issue a special edition exploring topics varying from carbon offsetting to green office space, as well as provide an overview of initiatives currently in place at a sampling of firms. [31]

Private industry is also finding it profitable to assist law firms in their pro-environmental objectives.  The Seattle Public Utilities company founded Resource Venture, a service providing free resource conservation assistance to law firms. [32] Other enterprising companies have written computer software that helps monitor the power being consumed at the office, and can estimate the number of kilowatt hours, trees, and gallons of oil being saved by power-saving modes.  [33] Printing software written for the paper-intensive legal industry may also be employed, allowing for double sided printing and drivers that eliminate white space and images from the print queue.  [34] 

IV.    Conclusion

The positives for implementation of environmental strategy include not only financial benefits from government programs, but also recognition as a sustainability driven company that brings in clients and recruits talented employees.  [35]  The compelling social benefits are complemented by business smarts in retaining a new marketing and public relations tool. [36]  Indeed, environmental law as a practice is a lucrative and fast growing practice, as many industries and manufacturers also consult counsel on how to take advantage of government pollution “credits.” [37]  Sustainability policies in the legal industry may be new to the scene, but because of many and varied benefits to both the environment and the firms themselves, it looks as though sustainability is a legal business practice that is here to stay.

Endnotes:

[1] Nancy Weil, Why Green is Better, CIO Mag., Mar. 28, 2007.
[2] Id.; Maria Kantzavelos, Firms Taking Steps To Reduce Environmental Footprints, Chi. Law., Sept. 2007, at 24.
[3] Kantzavelos, supra note 2.
[4] Mark Hansen, Ending the Paper Chase: ABA, EPA, Seek Smaller Eco-Footprint From Law Firms, 94 A.B.A.J. 62, 62 (2008). See also Joel Makower, Law Firms and the Greening of the Brief, Newstex Web Blogs, July 7, 2007 (discussing a sample New York firm of 300 lawyers that consumed 312.5 tons of paper for its annual copying and printing needs, attributing a 800-page-per-day usage of paper per each lawyer throughout the year).
[5] Hansen, supra note 4. 
[6] Elizabeth Brown, Law Firm Puts Its Green Idea in Black and White, San Francisco Bus. Times, July 7, 2006, http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2006/07/10/focus4.html.
[7] Id.
[8] Hansen, supra note 4. 
[9] Weil, supra note 1.
[10] Makower, supra note 4. 
[11] Id.
[12] Kantzavelos, supra note 2.
[13] Christina Rexrode, Rooting for Green, St. Petersburg Times, Oct. 14, 2007, at 1D.
[14] Press Release, Green Law Firm Serves Denver With Workers Compensation Attorney and Personal Injury Law Services, Minimizes Environmental Footprint and Saves Clients Money (Feb. 8, 2008) (on file with the author), available at http://www.injurylawcolorado.com./news-2-19-08.html.
[15] Kantzavelos, supra note 2.
[16]Tara Weiss, Flying Under A Green Flag: Companies Are Learning to Offset the Environmental Effects of Biz Travel, Forbes, May 18, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18729388/.
[17] Id.
[18] Registration Form, Law Firm Green: The New Black, http://www.nixonpeabody.com/linked_media/publications/Law-Firm-Green_registration-form.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2008) [hereinafter Law Firm Green].
[19] DLA Piper, Law Society Spearhead Green Drive, The Lawyer, Oct. 17, 2007, at 9.
[20] Law Firm Green, supra note 17.
[21] Thomas Watson &  Erik Barstow, ‘Going Green’ Comes With Plenty of Benefits, New Hampshire Bus. Rev., Feb. 29, 2008, available at http://nhbr.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/INDUSTRY17/357837305/.
[22] Abanet.org, The ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, http://www.abanet.org/environ/climatechallenge/overview.shtml (last visited Mar. 10, 2008)
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Hansen, supra note 4. 
[26] Id.
[27] Id.
[28] Id.
[29] Lawyers For Forests, Becoming Forest-Friendly: An Eco-Kit for Law Firms (2003) (on file with author), available at http://www.lawyersforforests.asn.au/pdf/lff_forestfriendly_ecokit.pdf.
[30] Going Green: Inside the Law Firm Eco-Revolution, Legal Times, http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/dc/goinggreen_march31.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2008).
[31] Id.
[32] Seattle Law Firms Go Green!, Resource Venture: A Service of Seattle Pub. Util., Winter 2007, at 1, available at http://www.resourceventure.org/news-events/seattle-law-firms-go-green (follow “Legal Services Newsletter” hyperlink).
[33] Brett Burney, Getting Law Firms to Boot Up to Green, L. Tech. News, Aug. 10, 2007, http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1186650120029.
[34] Id.
[35] Watson & Barstow, supra note 21.
[36] Id.
[37]  Margaret Graham Tebo, Hot Practice: You Don’t Need to Enjoy the Outdoors to Find Work In Environmental Law, 28 A.B.A.L.J. Stud. Div. 2 (1999), available at: http://www.abanet.org/lsd/stulawyer/oct99/hotprac.html. See also Vicki Salemi, Green Degrees for Future Environmentalists, http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=7506228 (noting that the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that environmental job growth across industries through the year 2014, with advanced degrees such as law degrees becoming more necessary as specialties emerge in this still unexplored arena.)