Everyone Is Greener at Nixon Peabody
At least it's a better way to spend the firm's money than a theme song (mp3). From The Recorder:
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.
So what exactly will Ms. Kaplan do in this new gig? Send around annoying firm-wide emails telling people to recycle those reams of useless Westlaw print-outs? Tell associates to turn off the lights when they leave their offices (even if it will tip off the partners to their departures)?
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.
More after the jump.
Some rivals reacted skeptically when contacted by The Recorder:
"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.
But an environmentally-minded associate at another firm, who brought this item to our attention, supports NP's move:
Judging from the comments to your recent post on law office green policies, and of course your coverage of ThemeSongGate, this will open up Nixon Peabody to yet more snarking and criticism -- both from the plain old haters, and from the weird "screw the environment" crowd that seems to populate your readership.Nonetheless, I applaud this move, and expect other firms will follow suit in the coming year or two.
Is having a "CSO" the wave of the future? Or is it just silly? Take our reader poll.
Update: We are firm believers in recycling here at ATL. The WSJ Law Blog previously posted on this news here.
Nixon Peabody Appoints Chief Sustainability Officer [The Recorder via Law.com]
Everyone’s an Eco-Warrior At Nixon Peabody! [WSJ Law Blog]
Earlier: Biglaw Perk Watch: How Green Was My Valley Law Firm
(49) Comments
Firstity first
how much weirder will this firm get???
I thought I'd get first for the first time. Never really got it until now.
So, what, they pay someone $100K a year in order to reduce their energy bill by $25K a year? Effective!
"Greenzo, the first nonjudgmental business-friendly environmental advocate!"
install energy efficent bulbs. recycle. turn out the lights when you leave a room. save cases to disk instead of printing them out.
can i get paid now?
I hate my co-workers, most of whom consider themselves liberal, progressive, democrat, environmentalist, etc. yet leave their office lights on when the leave. We are a "no face time requirement" firm and most partners will tell you to go home early and enjoy it while you can if you don't have any work to do.
Why the charade? Why the dishonesty? Why the hypocrisy? Turn your light off and go home.
SteveHowe!
I applaud Nixon Peabody for taking steps to help avoid the coming global cooling that will destroy civilization.
It's rather too late to worry about environmental offsets and carbon emissions. Global warming is a reality. Just look at the Antarctica -- it's melting faster than your mind can grasp. Why else do you think Nixon Peabody partners are going on Antarctic cruises now? They know that their children won't ever see penguins and the ice.
And how much will they reduce associate bonuses to waste money on yet another useless position?
David - can you do a post on the outlook for corporate associates (not in Structured finance). what will 2008 bring - more slowdown in corp work? another repeat of 2000? i know that m&a is hurting - but what about other aspects of corporate law?
Waste of money.
I'm eco-friendly; when I print 200+ pages of case annotations, I print on both sides of the paper. The partners think it is annoying though. Maybe I should stop.
Seriously though, if you simply saved all those cases electronically instead of printing them and sticking them in the file (as required by your partner), you would save a lot of paper (and toner).
That seals the deal; I'm looking to lateral to Nixon Peabody. This firm is going places.
Average Surface Temperatures to 190!
Jeezus people. What a crappy bunch of comments. Not a single person has yet pointed out that everybody, including Carolyn Kaplan, is a winner at Nixon Peabody.
They are also an awesome family!
Lame...
this firm is bizzare
WHY O WHY AM I SO FIRSTY???
In unrelated news, associates bonuses will be donated to the enviornmental defense fund. Its the least you can do...
I am often first (no pun intended) in line to criticize dumbass "first" people. But I got it today and I have to say, there is something strangely compelling about it. Discuss amongst yourselves.
When I lived in the Virgin Islands we would only flush the toilet after #2 (water came from sistern) to conserve water. I am going to send Mrs. Kaplan a message about this practice.
I help ALL who drink me recycle... immediately! ;)
what a bunch of fools posting on here today - lame, lat, lame.
many fortune 500 companies are doing the same thing, and, indeed, some of them are demanding that their service firms follow suit. This is obviously good business sense and if it has the benefit of getting a few less self-entitled associate a-holes from printing thousands of wasted pages or needlessly burning power with absolutely no regard for anyone other than their prick selves, all the better. In 20 years, every company and firm will have a position like this. Kudos to Nixon Peabody for joining the growing number of companies that are ahead of the game.
Gallion OUT!
My firm installed motion detectors on all the lights so they turn themselves off!
This is such a sweet gig. Zero work (3:09 nails it) for BigLaw bucks. One could probably also arrange for lots of travel to conferences in exotic locales on the company dime. Too bad I have a conscience.
Sneaky: My firm has the same system. I simply release a pet mouse after I leave and close the door to keep the lights on.
Remember a couple months ago when the Gallion posts were funny in a total prick sort of way? Now the Gallion comments are all schoolmarmish douchebaggery. Is it the same guy(s)?
To: Associates
From: Partners
Re: Reducing CO2
Message:
Dear Priceless Associates,
Per our new policy of reducing CO2 emissions, Nixon Peabody respectfully requests that you stop breathing. This should be very easy, considering you've been dead to your loved ones since you accepted a position here.
Hey idiot 4:03 - how does "up to a quarter" of her time amount to "zero work"? The other 75% of the time, she'll person will be doing the same mind-numbing Biglaw drivel as everyone else.
WOW one employee is going to dedicate a whole 1/4 of her time to making the firm more efficient and environmentally friendly. what a TERRIBLE THING!!!!
stupid, stupid posters. my god. this site used to be good. now it is just a haven for law student pricks, lat's fed soc kissassing, and other stupid sh!t no one cares about. too bad.
Gallion OUT!
Gallion -- nobody is slamming the firm for being environmentally friendly. Yea the World!
The stupidity is having someone at a law firm in a position called "Chief Sustainability Officer" -- and then telling people about it in a press release. That is just plain strange. Of course, all those other firms without such a position will cease to exist soon (i.e., not be sustained).
I wonder if the frequent derision aimed at NP on this website will eventually effect recruiting or business. I imagine there's a tipping point. I'm guessing one more silly move and the firm begins to feel it.
my gf wishes i had a sustainability officer.
wait. what?
4:31 -- do some google searches and you will find plenty of coverage of many prominent companies naming people to similar positions, including, notably, law firms' big clients on wall street. It isn't stupid, it is increasingly common, and indeed some clients are demanding that firms clean up their act as part of those companies' overall environmental initiatives.
Sad to see people fight so hard against the inevitable and positive wave of the future. but i guess these trolls need something new to hate or derise every day to keep building themselves up in denial of their incredibly sh!tty Biglaw existence.
Gallion OUT!
Dear 2 pump chump,
What a loser.
Gallion -- It is STUPID. Really really STUPID. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. Yes, it is STUPID.
Tool.
5:31 is a troll. Of course Gallion is right. Have fun doing document review, BigLaw troll. Haha
Do you creeps have any idea how profoundly unattractive you sound? Life isn't about tearing down every single thing every person or firm does. I can only imagine how horrible most of you are in 'real life'. Go away.
None of you little 1L trolls even know who Gallion is (or should I say was pretending to be?)
Sad that that was by far the funniest set of threads in abovethelaw's history... all downhill from there.
peanut girl summered here
Firstity First - First of all, your use of "first" is not a pun. Second, posting the memoirs of your first FIRST experience is pathetic and boring.
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID
Anon OUT!
What am I missing here: Law firms don't produce any products, so how does the concept of a sustainability officer apply to a law firm? In most companies that have adopted this position, the person is charged with figuring out ways to produce or distribute products in a more environmentally sensitive way. How does this apply to a law firm -- I guess that's why it only takes up to 25% of one person's time. Really seems like a desperate attempt by a TT3 firm to suck up to GE and other companies leading the climate change charge. I'm sure this will make the rain flow.
"so how does the concept of a sustainability officer apply to a law firm"
Probably part of her job is (or should be) to answer that question.
Everybody already knows about double-sided printing, energy-efficiency strategies like lighting timers, and recycling. So maybe her job there is just working on enforcement and effectiveness, not really a big deal.
Later on, though, other opportunities might arise that will benefit from having somebody whose job it is to think about sustainability. If the offices are getting re-carpeted (a not entirely unusual occurrence in big buildings), she might look into what happens to that old carpet, and work with the building manager to get new carpet of a variety that doesn't need to be landfilled. If they're in the market bathroom renovations (of the non-third-tier variety), she gets to step in and suggest the ultra-low-water use toilets. When they buy computers, she asks whether they are RoHS compliant.
There's plenty of room for improvement at law firms.
Thanks, 9:30. Wow, it seems that Nixon really is a pioneer -- "ultra-low-water use toilets" and new carpet supervision by a law firm employee. And all this time I thought that is what the building owners take care of. I now want to work at Nixon and/or send that firm all my company's legal business. What a great place; everyone must be a winner there.
Yes, ultra-low-water-use toilets and all sorts of other non-sexy, expensive, and new things, which when they are adopted on a large scale, which they eventually will be, will contribute to great stuff like, you know, reduced aquifer depletion, less costly sewage treatment and (in New York at least) fewer combined sewer overflows, which is raw sewage in the rivers. Only an example, naturally, but one of many. Carpets are important too, and I notice you didn't say anything about RoHS compliance because I doubt you have any idea what it is.
If you think building managers would spend an extra dollar on things like that without pressure from the tenants, well... yeah ok.
Anyway good luck trying to get business from any company that has recently added anything green to their advertisements with an attitude like that.
I have friends that work at GreenOrder, the environmental consulting firm. In fact, one of the three partners is an HLS alum...and not the least arrogant guy I've ever met.
Anyway, they do a long of environmental consulting for law firms. No doubt they had a hand in this or similar initiatives.
Still doesn't change the thousands of pages I have printed in my years in law, but...now that stuff is more electronic, I do save a lot of paper.