Brook Detterman Quoted in The American Lawyer On Law Firm Sustainability

Beveridge & Diamond Principal Brook Detterman (Boston) was quoted in The American Lawyer in an article discussing the future of law firm sustainability, entitled “Trimming Travel Is Key to Cutting Law Firms' Carbon Footprint—and Client Satisfaction.” He commented on the possible connections between law firms’ efforts to improve sustainability and their evolving policies on business travel and remote work arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The practice of law is a very human thing, and I think lawyers want to connect with their clients,” Brook observed. “We do want to sit down face to face when it makes sense to do so.” Brook further observed that hybrid work policies are guided largely by concerns other than sustainability, and are “driven more by consideration of demographics and attraction and retention of talent than sustainability. I would think that office space and flying are much greater, as a chunk of footprint.”

“Sustainability is a broad word, and there are lots of lenses through which to view it,” he said. “Travel is one, commuting is one, and what we learned in the last year is that there are others. Human capital has got to be considered part of the issue.” Though policies regarding business travel and remote work have undergone significant changes in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic provided law firms with an added impetus to address sustainability and accessibility concerns while balancing sustainability, client relations, and talent development and retention strategies.

Brook serves as the president of the board of the Law Firm Sustainability Network. B&D has been involved in LFSN since its inception, and B&D attorneys were active in the development of LFSN’s American Legal Industry Sustainability Standard (ALISS), a web-based tool designed to help law offices assess and improve their sustainability programs. This year B&D received an ALISS Gold ranking, reflecting its strong sustainability achievements and ongoing efforts.

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