By Mike Scott
Legal News
Craig Hupp envisions a time in the near future when many of Bodman LLP’s clients will require the firm to adhere to environmentally sustainable practices to be considered for future legal services.
When that happens, the Bodman partner and his colleagues will be well positioned to secure that new business. That’s because Bodman has developed a number of sustainable business practices over the last two years that allow it to not only better serve the environment, but also improve internal operations and save money.
“We have a couple of our major clients that are very focused on the issue of environmental sustainability and so two years ago our executive council made the recommendation to develop policies to adhere to this strategy,” Hupp said.
He was charged with leading a committee to research the topic and it didn’t take much time to implement it. The first step was researching what other professional service firms around the area and the country are doing to create a sustainable environment. It also reached out to the American Bar Association to determine what recommendations the ABA makes.
Once background research had been gathered, Bodman conducted an inventory study of its office products and supplies used. Hupp and his colleagues looked into ways that inventory could be adjusted to reflect environmentally-sustainable business practices and strategies.
“The concept of sustainability is expressed in many ways and one of the most common is the three Ps (planet, profit and people),” Hupp said. “Assessing what we had internally and seeing how we could take some short-term steps to create some sustainable practices was very helpful.”
As Bodman was in the process of moving its Detroit office to Ford Field and updating its Ann Arbor office, it was able to implement some building-specific steps. Examples included installing energy-saving lighting and motion detector devices that would reduce electrical usage.
But perhaps the biggest initial step to achieving environmental sustainability was reducing the impact of paper usage on the environment, Hupp said. Given that the legal industry is extremely paper-intensive, instituting and expanding a paper recycling campaign netted seven tons of recycled paper within the first five months in 2009, he added.
Bodman also went a step further, and researched the cost of purchasing paper with a higher recycled content (at least 30 percent comprised of recycled content). Over the course of a month, it tested many different types of recycled papers in its printers and found an option that not only was better for the environment but helped it to save hundreds of dollars over a short period of time.
“We were surprised at first that we could buy paper with recycled content at a cost savings,” Hupp said. “But we also found that many vendors that supply law firms in particular have a large line of recycled office products including and beyond paper.”
The cost savings aren’t insignificant. The annual savings from using ‘Earth Choice” copy paper compared to the prior brand of paper not made from recycled materials was estimated at $5,400, according to Hupp.
From there Bodman instituted a policy of setting firm printer defaults to print double-sided. And it emphasized the purchasing of other office products with a high level of recycled content.
Other major initiatives have included:
A variety of green purchasing policies, including the sourcing of recycled paper and elimination of plastic and Styrofoam products whenever possible;
Elimination of bottled water in all Bodman offices and the implementation of water filtration devices to ensure the use of high-quality water at no risk to the environment;
An emphasis on the purchasing of Energy Star IT equipment such as laptop and computer monitors;
Recycling of mixed-use office paper, batteries, plastic, glass, and aluminum (an estimated $4,800 in annual savings);
Transition of internal reports from paper to electronic format, and offering clients electronic billing options
Bodman’s comprehensive sustainability plan was developed, and is monitored on an ongoing basis, by a standing committee composed of legal, administrative and support staff led by Hupp. The policy includes goals and action items that address the three concepts which are often referred to as the sustainable business “triple bottom line” – the economic success of the firm, social responsibility within the organization and in the community, and environmental responsibility.
“From a business perspective, the greatest challenge we face in adopting sustainable business practices is giving environmental factors as much priority as pure economic factors when making business decisions,” said Bodman Chairman Ralph McDowell. “Sustainability requires that social and environmental considerations be part of the decision making process. This is a major shift for many decision makers.”
One of the best ways to approach this challenge is to demonstrate that many business decisions can have both economic and environmental benefits, McDowell said.
The success of Bodman’s efforts has also gained the attention of the ABA which in August 2009 honored Bodman with its “Law Office Climate Challenge Partner” certification. This designation is reserved for law firms that successfully implement best practices for paper management and energy efficiency.
Bodman’s commitment to sustainability is also reflected in its practice specialties. The firm’s Climate Change Team, which is part of the Environmental Law Practice Group, offers services such as negotiating deals between businesses and energy providers that allow the businesses to use wind, solar, and other “clean” energies in ways that benefit both parties financially.
The most obvious benefits are environmental and financial. But Hupp admits that the positive attention from local media outlets and clients has been valuable as well. Already one of the firm’s clients has indicated it requires vendors that it works with to show a high level of environmentally-sustainable practices, something Bodman easily meets.
“It is something that we can’t afford not to implement,” Hupp said. “It didn’t take a lot of time and you can research strategies and steps you can take pretty easily. I think over time adhering to environmentally-friendly practices will become a requirement rather than preference.”
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