Creating a sustainable law firm requires a comprehensive approach to address environmental and social challenges. Here are 5 ways that you can improve the sustainability of your business.
1. Sustainable procurement
The procurement process is incredibly important for both environmental and social sustainability. It represents a conscious decision on which other businesses a firm wishes to associate themselves with and therefore it requires careful consideration. Comprehensive background check on new suppliers can help inform your decisions when choosing where you wish to procure goods or services from. At the very least, they can identify potential risks, or even just flag where it would make sense to request more information from a supplier.
Going digital, using plastic alternatives, and opting for reusable products where possible are all a lot easier to achieve when you know exactly what is being offered by potential suppliers.
David Lock
Sustainability & Facilities Compliance Manager
Pinsent Masons applies a two-fold process to ensure that the necessary due diligence is carried out prior to and post contractual agreements within our supply chain. Firstly, the Procurement Gateway Portal requires the buyer as part of the initial process to answer a series of questions relating to a number of risk areas. Secondly, it is part of our standard contract agreements for our largest clients (by spend) that we use CDP. This is a not-for-profit charity which runs a global environmental disclosure programme to help monitor our supplier performances.
2. Travel
Reducing the environmental impact of employee commuting and business travel is another crucial step in becoming more environmentally sustainable. Encouraging employees to use public transportation or cycle to work can help reduce carbon emissions, but this does not necessarily help for international business.
Virtual meetings and remote work to minimize the need for travel, both domestically and internationally, and in doing so have a significant impact on carbon emissions across the workforce. Although remote working can present challenges across different jurisdictions, this can be overcome by agreeing times that are mutually convenient for all parties rather than assuming that one jurisdiction will conform to the other’s timings.
Rosie Mohammad
Head of Travel
We are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and fully support the use of more sustainable forms of transport across our global business operation. Use of the firm’s in-house technology, such as conferencing, represents a more environmentally friendly and lower cost alternative to travel.
3. Education
Creating a culture of sustainability (of any kind) requires employee engagement and education. Law firms can develop employee engagement programs that promote sustainability and provide employees with the knowledge and tools to make sustainable choices. Encouraging employees to participate in sustainability initiatives and recognizing their efforts can foster a sense of ownership and commitment to sustainability.
Mike Harvey
Head of Responsible Business
Education and learning on the environmental and social challenges we face as a society are key to creating transformative and meaningful change. It is also vital that we are all aware of how increasingly important these issues are to our clients, our colleagues and our candidates. Quality education is not only good for our environment and our society, it is also good for our business.
4.Waste reduction and recycling
Waste can be applied to a number of different areas of a law firm’s day-to-day operations, but the biggest potential win comes in relation to paper. Traditionally, law firms have been required to keep paper records of all open and (to an extent) closed matters. Practice management systems and cloud-based documentation platforms can massively reduce the amount of paper needed within a law firm whilst still allowing for proper record keeping.
Firms can also reduce waste generation in more traditional manners by introducing recycling bins around the office. As well as certain plastics, light bulbs, batteries, ink cartridges, and electronics can all potentially be recycled and all of these are frequently used in the modern-day office. Water waste can also be tackled in a fairly straightforward manner: low-flow toilets and faucet aerators are two classic examples of how this can be done.
Shirley de Roche
Property & Facilities Manager
Pinsent Masons champions a number of initiatives related to consumption of resources and waste, covering everything from prevention to disposal. We’ve seen a 75% cut in print volumes and have removed single use plastic disposables from our catering outlets. We’ve also seen our recycling rate increase to 70% across all Mitie managed waste services in the UK and are proud to say that 100% of all UK office waste is diverted away from landfill sites. Waste generation in our operation is less than 1% of our overall carbon footprint.
5. Flexible benefit policies
A large portion of this article has focused on environmental sustainability, but as mentioned above, sustainability also applies to social issues. The question of how an employer can ensure their benefits system is fair is a common one for senior management teams. For such a potentially complex issue, the solution is fairly simple – if you want to treat people equally, focus on the general benefit rather than the specific. An example of this would be entitlements to family leave. A policy allowing male employees to take additional leave when they have a new baby could be extended to apply equally to childless employees where they might also have a “family need” for leave from work.
Lindsey Cooper
Rewards & Benefits Manager
Benefits which include cover for families are available, however, this would be the employee’s choice as to whether they select this level of cover. Our benefits are flexible and available to all.
Conclusion
Law firms can play a role in advocating for sustainable policies and legislation. Although there are a number of things businesses can do to become more sustainability, following these 5 tips is a good way of starting this process.
For further information, please contact:
Henry Hilton, Pinsent Masons
henry.hilton@pinsentmasons.com
