Thinking Globally: Luper Neidenthal & Logan's International Recognition Continues

Luper Neidenthal & Logan's own David Scott was recently quoted in a feature story by Univision, the largest Spanish language television network in the United States and serving Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba.



The story is part of the “Mundo Verde” (Green World) series and is titled “La Ecologia En Tu Trabajo” (Ecology in the Workplace)



The article references the Green Guide for law firms, created by the Leadership Institute of the Meritas international affiliation of law firms, and discusses how decreasing waste and increasing efficiency helps the planet as well as companies’ bottom lines. David served as chairman of the Leadership Institute and is excited to see that its influence is being felt internationally. Read more!

Thinking Globally: Luper Neidenthal & Logan's Involvement in Meritas Green Guide Reaches Latin America

Those of you who are familiar with our blog already know that Luper Neidenthal and Logan’s own David Scott was the chairman of the “Leadership Institute” of the international affiliation of law firms known as Meritas, and that the Leadership Institute group created the “Green Guide” for law firms to adopt more sustainable practices. Recently the Venezuelan affiliate of Meritas was recognized by the Latin Lawyer publication for its push toward sustainability, and David’s fellow Leadership Institute member Merritt Storr (of the Bahamas affiliate) was quoted in regard to applications of the Green Guide.

Venezuelan firm sets the bar for carbon cutting
Published 15 August 2008 – From LatinLawyer.com

As part of a push to be greener from all Meritas network law firms, Venezuelan firm Bentata Abogados thinks it has become the first firm in Central or South America to digitise all its files.

Karel Bentata, the firm’s managing partner says, “The impact of this project was 100 per cent positive. We are not aware of any negative impact.”

But the move was not without its challenges. Bentata explains,“Perhaps the difficult part is designing the workflow to be followed. This means that each file has to be checked and then scanned in order to finally eliminate the excess paper.”

“Also, there is an important human factor which is reluctant to change. However, by identifying a technology friendly manager or director to begin your project, you maximise the
possibilities of a success story, which fortunately was our case,” he explains.

In order to achieve total digitisation, the firm had to spend US$50,000 on consulting, licensing, and powerful new computer server. But this cost was offset, explains Bentata, as digitisation allowed the firm to sell 100 square meters of premium office space, used exclusively as a
filing room.

“We are now able to respond to our clients immediately and don't have to wait, sometimes 24 hours, to get the files to the attorneys, since we had a second off-site filing facility,” he adds.

This year, the Meritas network of law firms – to which Bentata belongs - published The Green Guide for Lawyers, a best practices handbook for law firms on reducing waste and increasing efficiency.

One of its co-authors, Merrit Storr, a partner with Chancellors Chambers in the Bahamas,
says the idea came about because the guide’s producers “did not think that law firms in the Meritas network were aggressively seeking either to go green themselves or were appreciating the opportunities that exist with clients whose businesses were trying to go green.”

He explains, “firms need to start thinking about reducing paper use, maybe by recycling; reducing energy usage; investing in sustainability education for its employees; and investing in
or contributing to organisations that are spreading the message of sustainability.”

Bentata says his firm has been working on reducing its energy consumption for years, through reducing the number of its light bulbs and eliminating bottled water, adding that personal printers are soon to be a thing of the past in its offices.

A flexible working-from-home scheme for employees is to be introduced next year, though its etails have yet to be finalised.

In addition to these developments, Storr encourages law firms to conduct an environmental audit of their offices, and promote carpooling and energy efficient vehicles.

Additionally, he sees an opportunity in “entering discussions with industrial clients to help them comply and get ahead of the regulatory changes that are inevitable in a world concerned with global warming.”DT

Read more!

Why Sustainability, Why Now?

Why Sustainability, Why Now?

The role of “Mindset” shifts in the greening of the law

by David Scott

Why does sustainability matter to a law firm? Why do we “all of a sudden” care when, from the time of Hammurabi to dawn of the 21st Century, sustainability was never even an afterthought for most lawyers?

When asked why Luper Neidenthal & Logan cares about sustainability, I usually say something like “it matters to us because it matters to our clients.” This answer is as true as it is oversimplified. Every lawyer knows that your clients want you to understand their business. So, if my client’s business faces challenges due to changing/evolving sustainability considerations, I can better understand those challenges if I have dealt with them myself. But this article is less about the “why,” and more about the “why now?”

The answer to the question “why now” is a bit more complicated and I don’t think that I could respond any more thoughtfully or comprehensively than a forward-thinking consulting firm has already done. Avastone Consulting issued a report called “Mindsets in Action” to explore the “influence of patterns of the mind, which shape our capacity to understand the world and allow us to take effective action in support of it.” Basically, over the course of the year 2006, Avastone studied ten corporations with diverse revenues (ranging from $1BN to over $100BN annually) that had shown an orientation toward sustainability in various industries, including metals & mining, high tech, foods, pharmaceuticals, industrial & consumer products, textile, and chemicals. The Mindsets in Action report, published in 2007, presents the insights gained through the study.

Instead of forming conclusions, the stated purpose of the report is to be a “catalyst for conversation, exploration and experimentation,” with the goal of helping to create a “sustainable future for people, organizations, and our one planet.” Whatever the reason(s), Avastone concludes, there has been a collective “expansion of consciousness” that has profoundly impacted “interior mindset development.” The Report defines the term “mindsets” as “interior patterns of mind, or frames of reference, from which individuals see sustainability and its importance.” The Report discusses various factors that will dictate the level of success of future sustainability efforts and focuses on “mindsets as a core underlying force for accelerating sustainability gains.”

Avastone concludes that leadership mindsets are the reason why sustainability is on the radar today and leadership is the most crucial factor to continued sustainability gains. Successful leaders in the sustainability arena will be those who attend to both “translation” (framing sustainability in terms that others understand and triggering effective action) and “transformation” (expanding perspectives through an understanding the role of one person, company, and/or industry in a broader, more complex context). Recognizing some inherent tension between Milton Friedman’s school of thought that “the business of business is business,” and the philosophy of corporate social responsibility, Avastone posits that global circumstances may have placed us on the threshold of an entirely “new paradigm for living,” and businesses will either adapt to a new world or be left behind.

In an effort to be consistent and rational, the Report develops five stages of activity (called “Gears”) as “milestones along the business sustainability journey.” The gears range from mere Compliance (Gear 1, the “business of business is business” perspective) to Redesign (Gear 5, large-scale system overhaul). Of all of the businesses surveyed by Avastone, none had fulfilled even Gear 4, though most had aspirations to eventually do so, and none appears to even aspire to Gear 5.

Learning about the deep-seated psychological, economic and social perspectives that have caused the businesses who took part in the Report to adopt a pro-sustainability mindset brings me full circle to why I think sustainability is now starting to matter to lawyers. In this age of the internet facilitating unprecedented communication and sharing of knowledge, we have a greater understanding of how human activities impact the planet and an ever-increasing recognition of how global forces shape our economy. Although we don’t have to look any further than the grocery store or the corner gas station to know that there is only so much oil/food/land/water to go around, it seems like only recently that we’ve been willing and/or able to make significant changes based upon that knowledge.

If, and how much, we’re willing to change is going to be dictated by the evolution of our mindsets. Fear can certainly be a great motivator, but might not lead to the most healthy or productive change. Aspiring to do better seems to have a better likelihood of long-term success. Avastone concludes that we ultimately face “transformation of consciousness” toward “a full and complete call to leadership – to live and fulfill the true nature of our human potential.” I know that it may seem odd for a lawyer to be talking about fulfilling the true nature of our human potential, but who would disagree that many lawyers could benefit from a transformation of consciousness? The point is that every industry has untapped potential and it will be fascinating to see our leaders make themselves known, and if/how those leaders are able to cause transformative development, in the months and years ahead.
Read more!

SWACO Summer Newsletter honors Emerald Award Winners - Luper Neidenthal and Logan, and many more...

The 2008 summer edition of News from SWACO has been released, and further descriptions are provided about all of the 2008 Emerald Award Recipients. Nearly 700 people were in attendance for the awards ceremony!

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David Scott Interviewed on GreenBiz Radio

Our very own David Scott was recently interviewed by GreenBiz Radio. The topic up for discussion? How law firms can work to become more environmentally friendly, the great results of doing so, and the challenges that come along with it...

Click here to listen to the Podcast : ... Listen





..... Read more!

How Green Is Columbus?

By Amanda Bucha

A recent report from the Brookings Institution shows that the Columbus metro resident’s carbon footprint is above the national average. Columbus residents in the metro area emitted almost one more ton of carbon from the highway travel and home energy use than the average American metro resident.

In response to this trend, Mayor Coleman recently signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and the Central Ohio Green Pact. According to their website, the Green Pact includes some of the following guidelines:

· Growing a Strong, Green Economy - Collaborate to make sure that Central Ohio develops a larger market share of green businesses. Work together to attract and retain green businesses, and celebrate and reward existing businesses that adopt sustainable practices.

· Educating and Engaging Our Communities – Encourage greater environmental stewardship by residents and local businesses. Reach out to our stakeholders and citizens to teach the value and practice of sustainable living. Make periodic reports to our community about our efforts.

· Preserving Green Space and Creating Greenways - Support regional efforts to conserve streams, wetlands, forests and the other important natural resources of Central Ohio and increase the amount of parks and recreation areas for our residents. Create an interconnected system of greenways and bike trails that provide opportunities for alternative transportation, outdoor recreation, and healthy living.

· Mass Transportation - Explore ways to improve and promote alternative transportation in Central Ohio; including exploration of mass transit, promotion and exploration of incentives for our employees to take the bus, bike, or carpool to work.

Some examples of ways the city is changing include the development of the new Scioto Mile Audubon Metro Park and the recent renovations of the Lazarus Building. The former is described as an 80-acre green sanctuary on the Whittier Peninsula, which will expand green space in the city. According to the Whittier Peninsula Advisory Committee, the mission of this new park is to “provide a natural area park on the Whittier Peninsula. The focus of this partnership will be environmental education, passive outdoor recreation, and the expansion of a quiet natural space near downtown.” Their vision is to “transform the warehouses, impound lots, and old manufacturing sites back to woods, meadows, and wetlands.”

The Lazarus building has been getting national attention as one of the most eco-friendly development projects in the nation. Its rainwater filtering system and “green roof”, which consists of a wide variety of plants, allow the building to recycle rainwater which is then used to heat, ventilate, and cool the building. Rainwater is collected in the roof tank and piped into a tank in the basement of the building where it is recycled. Because the plants use the rainwater, they help prevent it from entering the sewer systems.

Learn more about the Scioto Mile Audubon Metro Park and the Lazarus Building by clicking the links!

Resources:
McIntyre, Melanie. “Columbus’ carbon footprint among highest in the nation”. The Daily Reporter (Columbus, Oh) 2 June 2008: 1.

The City of Columbus. 30 Oct. 2007. The City of Columbus. 10 June 2008 <http://getgreencolumbus.com/PDFs/GreenPact.pdf>.

Columbus Metro Parks Whittier Peninsula Advisory Committee – Park Program. 25 April 2006. Columbus Metro Parks. 10 June 2008.


Matt Burns. "Green Lazarus building gets national accolade.” Columbus Business First. (25 Sept. 2007) 10 June 2008.
<http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2007/09/24/daily10.html?q=LAZARUS%20GREEN%20BUILDING>>

Read more!

Sustainability an Important Theme at Columbus Bar Association Annual Meeting

By Fred Luper



LNL was proud to fulfill the Columbus Bar Association’s request that our firm donate 400 CF light bulbs to include in the giveaway bag for the CBA Annual Meeting, held on Friday, June 6. We are even more proud to see that the CBA has adopted sustainability as a general theme for operations in the coming fiscal year and we look forward to contributing any way we can to help fellow member firms become more efficient and less wasteful. Read more!