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.)