Creating A Sustainable, Community-Focused Legal Business

If you want to improve your public image, it’s important that you find ways to create a sustainable law firm that gives back to the local community in some way. Unfortunately, this is not a priority for many legal businesses and so they end up adopting negative practices that are damaging to the environment. The good news is, this is easily fixed. These are some of the best ways to create a sustainable, community-focused law firm. 

People tend to underestimate the strong link between wellness and sustainability . It takes a lot of resources to manage health problems, which means that a healthier population makes for a more sustainable community. It also benefits your business because you have fewer employee illnesses, increased productivity, and higher levels of job satisfaction. By investing in wellness programs and helping to create a good work-life balance for your employees, you can make the local community much healthier. 

There are plenty of great ways to improve employee wellness through subsidized gym memberships, cycle to work schemes, and on-site counseling services, for example. However, in the legal industry, you should pay close attention to drug and alcohol abuse issues. Lawyers have incredibly stressful lives, so levels of drug and alcohol abuse tend to be quite high. It’s worth investing in a drug and alcohol testing course for your health and safety officer so you can administer on-site tests to your employees. This will help you identify any employees that are struggling so you can get them some help before it starts having a negative impact on their health and your business. 

Creating wellness programs for your employees shows them that you are invested in their health and wellbeing, and it helps to create a sustainable society at the same time. 

Legal businesses deal with a lot of documents and printing all of that stuff out is incredibly bad for the environment. So, if you want to make your business more sustainable, investing in digital storage and going paperless is one of the best things you can do. 

In some cases, you will need to print things out for clients but most people can access things digitally, so send out emails by default and only print things out if people have specifically requested hard copies. You should also invest in software that allows you to collect electronic signatures on documents. 

By storing and sending everything digitally, you will save a lot of paper and ink, but there are other risks to manage. Security is a big problem when you store all of your documents digitally, especially as they contain private information about your client’s legal matters. So, when you switch to digital storage instead of keeping hard copies, make sure that you update your online security software to protect against cyber-attacks. It may be best to call in a managed IT service to help you implement your new digital storage systems and upgrade your security software. 

When you are finished with old cases, you are left with a lot of old documents that you no longer need. It’s important that you dispose of all of these files in a responsible way, but also in a safe way so you don’t compromise the privacy of your clients. 

The good news is that paper is easily recycled, you just need to make sure that you prepare it properly beforehand so none of the information can be recovered. Make sure that you have a good shredding policy in place so everything is destroyed before it is sent for recycling. As a legal business, you should already know that there are strict laws around data privacy and if you don’t take the necessary steps to maintain your client’s privacy, you could find yourself on the receiving end of a big fine. 

This is one that people always overlook but it’s vital to consider your office supplies procurement process. Do you know where all of the stationery, office furniture, and computers come from? If you are buying lots of unsustainable office supplies, your carbon footprint is massively increased, so you should reconsider where you source things from. 

When you are looking for office furniture, for example, buy solid wood instead of cheap furniture with a plastic covering. When buying things like pens, look for sustainable alternatives to plastic. These small things quickly add up and increase your impact on the environment, but they are easily fixed if you reconsider your office supplies procurement process. 

Pay particular attention to where you source electronics as well. Could you make do with refurbished equipment or do you need brand new computers every 4 or 5 years? Could you implement a bring your own device policy so employees can use their own computers instead? Both of these options save you money and make your business more sustainable at the same time.

Electronic waste is one of the biggest environmental problems we face right now and businesses have a responsibility to help tackle it. Legal businesses, like many other businesses, are heavily reliant on computers. Even if you buy refurbished computers, you still need to dispose of them once they have reached the end of their useful lifespan. If you just throw them in the bin, they will end up in a landfill where they can do a lot of damage to the environment. The local authorities should have a system in place to dispose of them properly, but you should consider some of the alternatives if you want to help your local community. 

There are plenty of great charities that collect unwanted computers and give them to people that cannot afford them. Some give them to schools or local community projects too. This is such a great way to dispose of electronics in a sustainable way and support local charities at the same time. 

Finding ways to reduce energy use around the office is one of the best practical ways to be more sustainable. There are plenty of small changes you can make around the office, which all add up to make a big difference. Swapping light bulbs for LED options or installing smart thermostats, for example, will help you reduce your energy use right away. However, it’s also about changing attitudes towards energy use and getting the whole office involved. 

By creating a culture of sustainability around the office, you can encourage your employees to be aware of the energy they use and make small behavioral changes to reduce it. Turning the computer off instead of putting it on standby, for example, is a prime example of a simple change that comes from an increased awareness. 

If you want your law firm to be more ethical and be an important part of the local community, you should offer pro-bono work to people in the local area. There are so many people out there that need legal support but cannot afford it. Your legal business has the expertise and resources to help people and, in some cases, change their lives. Some legal businesses exist to make money and nothing more, but if you want yours to be a pillar of the community, your priority needs to be providing a vital legal service to those that need it. 

If you get in touch with the local courts or a legal aid organization, they will be able to put you in touch with plenty of people that are in need of your help. 

Nonprofits need legal advice from time to time, so why not support a charitable organization by offering your services for free? You can help them out with any legal issues they may have and give them advice, and they won’t have to spend essential funds on a lawyer. Many legal firms do this while also supporting the charity in an official capacity as a sponsor . It’s best to partner with a charity that is somehow related to your area of law. For example, if you deal with a lot of domestic disputes, a charity that supports survivors of domestic violence makes an effective partner. While giving people legal assistance, you can then refer them to the charity for more help. 

A lot of legal businesses don’t consider their wider place in the community or the sustainability of their company. But it’s important that you think about the ethics of your law firm and take steps to reduce your impact on the environment and make a positive contribution to your local