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Nixon Peabody Appoints Chief Sustainability Officer
Firm may be the first to create an official position in this area
The Recorder
November 26, 2007
Nixon Peabody has appointed a chief sustainability officer, hoping not only to reduce the firm's environmental impact, but to increase its impact on clients.
Carolyn Kaplan, a counsel in the firm's energy and environmental practice, will spend at least a quarter of her time in the new position.
While many firms are making green strides internally, Nixon says it's the first law firm to create an official position targeting sustainability. Along with doing the firm's part for the environment, it may bring in more of the climate change work expected in upcoming years. The firm plans to make sure clients are aware of its efforts -- and the legal expertise the firm offers in such areas.
"We recognize in this changing climate of climate change there are a lot of issues business are trying to address that are creating new challenges," Kaplan said. "Going through this experience internally is helpful to us in better advising clients."
Other firms -- including Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Goodwin Procter -- have made similar efforts, but without dedicating a position solely to thinking green.
"It's a pioneering move," said L. William Nason, a recruiter with Watanabe Nason Schwartz & Lippman. "It's the first I've heard of it and it would seem to make sense."
It can cut costs and may make sense as a morale builder, but not everyone sees it as a way to attract business.
"I don't think it hurts, but no client is going to go to a firm because they have a chief sustainability officer," said Randolph Visser, an environmental law partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.
Attracting business really comes down to building strong practices in areas such as land use, energy and regulatory compliance, he said. Goodwin Procter's Rachael Wexler, who started a sustainability program in the firm's L.A. office that has spread firmwide, agreed that strong practices are key. But she said a focus on environmentalism has other benefits.
"Recruiting has gone through the roof," she said. "The students love this stuff."
Like Kaplan's new position, Wexler's less formalized role includes promoting such conservation efforts as two-sided printing (on 100-percent recycled paper), powering down computers at night and using mugs instead of paper cups for coffee.
Similarly, Pillsbury Winthrop recently folded its diversity efforts into a more encompassing new role for a "director of corporate social responsibility," dealing with pro bono work, environmental sustainability and more.
Pillsbury has had an environmentalist bent for a while now, said Chairman James Rishwain. The firm created a climate change-focused practice group last year. Rishwain stressed the importance of being ahead of the curve, showing clients you're the go-to source on an emerging trend.
"We positioned ourselves early on, before it was hot, and people remember that," he said. "The best way to be a market leader is to understand the emerging trends and anticipate clients' needs."
So far, firms like Pillsbury and Nixon Peabody are definitely ahead of the trend. Lawyers say they haven't yet seen a dramatic influx in work related to climate change, but they expect it to filter down over the next five or 10 years as tougher regulations go into effect.
"Once the regulations are in place, that's when the largest amount of work is going to be generated," Sheppard's Visser said. "That's when 70 percent of companies that don't have the in-house expertise to address regulations are all of a sudden going to look up and say, 'What do we do?'"
MEANWHILE ...
Kaplan said the position has two aspects: looking internally at ways to reduce the firm's production of CO2, or its carbon footprint, and determining how attorneys can use the firm's experience to better understand clients dealing with environmental regulation and related issues. Both of those could make the firm greener in the financial sense, too, she said.
Internally, Kaplan said, she and the firm's operations director will identify ways to be more environmentally friendly, from using environmentally sound cleaning supplies to improving the recycling program.
Kaplan is also aiming to have more of the firm's offices receive the U.S. Green Building Council's certification, using as a model their San Francisco office, which received the certification this year. The office's more unusual ecological features include measures such as floors made from old walnut orchard trees that have stopped bearing fruit.
Turning from the bottom floor to the bottom line, the firm hopes internal steps that showcase its ecological savvy will help raise its profile in the growing arena of climate change law. That includes work such as advising clients on tax credits and the climate change legislation winding through state and federal systems. Kaplan also keeps an eye on emerging opportunities, such as a recent trend toward green mortgages, "a way of increasing borrowing power by making a home energy efficient."
"A lot hasn't happened yet, so it's helping [clients] understand what's coming down the pipe," Kaplan said.
Other firms are going green in their own way, but without any formal titles. Sheppard Mullin is looking informally at what it can do as a firm to reduce its carbon footprint, creating a committee to come up with ideas.
The internal moves toward sustainability are a sign that law firms are aggressively trying to show they're prepared to serve clients' needs in this area, said Dan Hatch, the head of Southern California partner recruiting for Major, Lindsey & Africa.
"They're all trying to see around the corner and have some vision," he said.
Kaplan acknowledged that not all clients care what the firm is doing internally: "Some clients care, and some probably don't care at all -- it probably mirrors the general population."
But, she said, it's also important from the perspective of corporate responsibility, similar to doing pro bono work or striving to create a diverse workforce.
"I think we're ahead of the curve, but everyone is interested -- it's such a growth industry."
