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In the burgeoning green culture, law firms’ eco-responsible practices stretch from the courtroom to the kitchen.

The escalating energy costs and climate change concerns that have spurred the society-wide green movement in the U.S. have also prompted clients to expect a commitment to green practices from their lawyers.

Many law firms have responded with internal programs to reduce their own carbon footprints. Some have gone a step further by grouping practice areas under a green umbrella.

New York-based Nixon Peabody, for instance, has embarked on a full-blown branding campaign, “Legally Green,” which incorporates client service with the firm’s own internal commitment to green practice

Last year, the firm appointed Carolyn S. Kaplan, a lawyer in its energy and environmental practice area, to the post of “chief sustainability officer,” the first known such appointment in the legal profession.

It also integrated several existing practice areas into a group focusing on renewable energy, green buildings and sustainable development, climate change, green investing and environmental land use.

Nixon Peabody scored another green first last year when it became the first law firm to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation for the construction of its new office in San Francisco. LEED is a voluntary program designed to encourage green building construction.

The firm has 18 offices, and each has its own sustainability officer overseeing the green practices the firm has adopted. It places recycling bins throughout the offices, uses recycled paper, and works with landlords and building management companies to use nonpolluting cleaning supplies.

The firm also has Zipcar arrangements in several cities. Zipcar is an online-only rental company that allows customers to share vehicles placed at various locations in 21 U.S. metropolitan areas. It’s appealing to urban residents who don’t need a car all the time, and who don’t want to buy one.

Nixon Peabody also asks itlawyers and staffers to rent fuel-efficient cars when traveling.

‘It’s part of the culture’

Many other firms have adopted similar internal programs.

In San Francisco, Farella Braun & Martel launched its green campaign two years ago, and became the first firm in San Francisco to be certified as green by an environmental-activist consortium of Bay Areaompanies and government agencies.

“It’s become part of the culture here now,” says Sky Stanfield, an associate in the firm’s environmental law department and co-chair of its green task force.

The green culture of Farella Braun comprises a wide variety of practices, she says.
Plastic kitchenware has been banned and replaced by biodegradable items. Kitchens and dining areas have composting bins for uneaten food as well as the biodegradable kitchenware. The compost is hauled to away to the city’s composting facility.

The firm has switched to 100 percent recycled paper, and its printers print on both sides of every sheet. Another new policy calls for all client e-mails to be saved electronically and not printed out for their files.

Stanfield says it’s uncertain how such procedures are affecting the firm’s bottom line, but cost savings and profitability were never the point of the campaign. She estimates a slight increase in overall expenses. The firm has “dramatically cut down on our paper and toner usage,” she says, but the savings may have been offset by the increased cost of recycled paper.

Another firm that has gone green is Lathrop & Gage, with offices in Kansas City, Mo. and nine other cities. The firm’s chief executive officer, Joel B. Voran, says the firm provides lawyers and staff members with energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs for desk lamps, requires that heat and air conditioning be turned off at night and on the weekends, and provides bus passes at no cost.

In addition, the firm is developing an intranet site on green practices and will be exploring ride sharing through it, Voran says.

The firm also no longer uses paper and plastic in the kitchen and has turned to recycled paper.

Perseverance

People involved in green campaigns have a few tips for those law firms thinking of following suit.

“It’s fun and exciting, but it can be hard,” McGuire says. “The things you think will be easy can have all kinds of arms and legs. But you’ve got to persevere.”

A good starting point is the ABA-EPA Law Office Eco-Challenge, a project of the American Bar Association and the Environmental Protection Agency providing information on how law offices can reduce energy use and conserve resources. (Information is at http://www.abanet.org/environ/ecochallenge/overview.shtml.)

It’s also important, she says, that firms avoid a “top down” approach to starting a green campaign.

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