B&D is proud to participate in Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy (LSE). LSE, a Stanford University initiative, matches non-profits and start-ups working in environmental sustainability with law firms that provide pro bono legal services. In 2023, the 20 participating firms collectively provided over $26 million in pro bono on sustainability matters. LSE recently featured B&D’s pro bono sustainability work in the organization’s Annual Report for 2023.

Since 2019, B&D has provided more than $2 million in pro bono legal services to support environmental sustainability, with over $750,000 provided in 2023. LSE’s Annual Report highlighted B&D’s participation and our commitment to provide at least $250,000 of pro bono legal services for ongoing and new sustainability matters in 2024.

The report specifically calls out our work with Climate ReFarm, a public benefit entity dedicated to helping individuals and organizations meaningfully offset their emissions by funding climate action in our food system. B&D counseled Climate ReFarm in developing a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction methodology focused on minimizing and reducing GHG emissions in the food industry. The firm also assisted in drafting commercial agreements related to potential carbon credit sales as well as project development agreements with participants.

In 2023, B&D provided pro bono support to help organizations, including:

• Assisting the Allen Auglaize Coalition for Reasonable Energy’s involvement in the Birch Solar Project, a 300-megawatt solar-powered electric generation facility, permitting process before the Ohio Power Siting Board, and the subsequent appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
• Serving as legal counsel to Farm Unity, an organization dedicated to connecting local Maryland communities through community farms. B&D helped Farm Unity receive 501(c)(3) status and regularly assists with organization governance-related legal tasks. With the help of B&D, Farm Unity has donated over 600 pounds of produce in the summer 2023 season alone to hundreds of individuals on Medicaid.
• Providing ongoing support to Sudbury Valley Trustees, a regional non-profit land conservation organization. SVT works to protect natural areas and farmland for wildlife and people in the region between Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2023, we continued litigation in Massachusetts land court to enforce the terms of a conservation restriction designed to protect sensitive wildlife habitat, water, and wetlands resources.
• Supporting the Chesapeake Conservancy’s work to protect land from development and provide sustainable land uses, including public access for recreational purposes, and provided legal support for its acquiring a building in Annapolis, Maryland, that now serves as the Conservancy’s new home and a conservation center that will provide space for collaboration among environmental groups. B&D lawyers also supported ongoing efforts to create a new Chesapeake National Recreation Area.

Brook Detterman, Boston Office Managing Principal and Chair of B&D's Sustainability Committee, said, "I am proud to be part of a firm that values sustainability alongside our flourishing pro bono initiatives and look forward to furthering our efforts in 2024."

As one of the nation’s leading environmental law firms, B&D takes a leadership role in sustainability for law offices. In its offices across the country, B&D translates its values into action, improving the firm’s sustainability and reducing its environmental impacts through the work of its Sustainability Committee. The firm also participates at the “Leadership” level in EPA’s Green Power Partnership, purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in an amount equivalent to 100% of its electricity usage across all of its offices nationwide.