Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principle of corporate social duty. CSR is primarily based on the belief that a demonstration of concern for the atmosphere, human rights, community improvement and the welfare of their staff can make a corporation far more profitable. And if not additional lucrative, at least a much better location to work.
Law firms can understand from corporate practical experience to develop their personal social duty programs. Such programs can assist law firms to do well by doing very good. They can strengthen the firm’s reputation and industry position. They can enable the firm determine with the culture and CSR activities of clientele and possible consumers. They can aid lawyers and employees obtain extra which means in their perform and improve as human beings.
In the words of the social duty Karma Committee at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck: Be kind. Be generous. Be concerned. Donate time. Donate effort. Donate income. Just discover a result in and give. You will speedily uncover providing is also getting.
A panel discussion about how law firms can understand about CSR and introduce some of its elements into their personal models was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association. The program was held Could eight at Maggiano’s Little Italy in downtown Denver.
Panelists included Sarah Hogan, vice president of Barefoot PR Bruce DeBoskey, lawyer and founder of The DeBoskey Group, which focuses on philanthropic advising Joyce Witte, Neighborhood Investment Advisor and director of the Encana Cares Foundation, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) and Amy Venturi, director of neighborhood relations & karma at Brownstein. Moderator was Cori Plotkin, president of Barefoot PR.
At law firms, the item is the men and women – the lawyers and help employees who supply high quality legal services. It is an quick fit. There are a lot of strategies that this ‘product’ can contribute time, talent and treasure to socially accountable activities.
Social duty: Concentrate and tactic
Law firm social duty is all about producing a difference within the neighborhood and the profession, and inside a firm. Even the greatest efforts will make no effect if spread also thin. You can not maximize the worth of your contributions or tell your story if your efforts are also diluted. To decide how to most effectively invest its resources, a law firm desires a social responsibility concentrate and a approach.
Social responsibility efforts ought to be authentic. Law firms and other entities need to generally stay away from ‘green-washing’ – telling a story that is aspirational, but not actually accurate. Know yourself. Let your firm’s unique culture and skills decide which efforts to pursue and which to steer clear of.
When examining your culture, never limit oneself to partner input. Law firms are little communities, practically like families. Any work to define culture and social responsibility need to represent not only the interests of lawyers, but the interests of all levels of help employees. Efforts have to be meaningful all through the firm. trusted legal advice to employee recruitment, retention and satisfaction can be outstanding.
DeBoskey outlined three forms of neighborhood involvement and stated his belief that a superior social duty strategy consists of components of all three.
In a regular model, an organization ‘gives back’ randomly to the neighborhood when asked – as a good citizen, rather than for any strategic purposes. In a social duty model, these efforts align with the capabilities of the company – like the legal capabilities of lawyers. Each non-profit demands legal advice.
At it really is most sophisticated, a social responsibility system involves using your core product – legal solutions – as a tool for social transform. Volunteer with organizations like the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal Technique at the University of Denver, or the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center.
A robust focus makes it considerably less difficult to make decisions. Encana, for example, focuses its charitable giving method on concerns surrounding its solution — natural gas. Brownstein will donate funds only if the request comes from a client, or if a single of their attorneys is a member of the organization and on the board.
Law firms looking for further advice can uncover precious resources inside the Corporate Community Investment Network. CCIN is an association for experts whose principal responsibility is to handle community investment applications in a for-profit small business setting.
Quite a few corporations and a couple of law firms have really designed separate foundations to mange some of their providing. A foundation comes with extra restrictions and distinct tax solutions. As entities with a life of their own, even so, foundations are a lot more likely than one particular-off efforts to continue a useful existence.
Social responsibility: Great policies make good choices
Approach and focus supply the foundation for an powerful social duty policy. Most law firms are inundated with requests from fantastic causes asking for their support. A policy assists you know when to say “yes” to and when to say “no.”
In the law firm model, where all partners are owners with a sense of entitlement to sources, it can be pretty complicated to say no. A keenly focused policy makes it a lot less difficult to do so and keep the firm’s efforts on track.
Encana, for example, uses a 5-step tool to identify the level of fit in between a request and the company’s strategic goals in the field of all-natural gas – with level five being the biggest commitment and level one the lowest.
Level five efforts integrate core product or service and frequently involve organic gas cars and power efficiency initiatives employing all-natural gas. These efforts contribute to very best practices and leading trends in the sector, although enhancing the company’s reputation as a leader.
Level four efforts focus on strategic partnerships and usually involve sustainable and long-term options like workforce development initiatives, signature programs (which can be repeated in other markets) and multi-year grants.
Level 3 efforts contain strategic grants to assist with projects, applications or initiatives produced to neighborhood non-income aligned with natural gas.