Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principle of corporate social responsibility. CSR is based on the belief that a demonstration of concern for the atmosphere, human rights, neighborhood development and the welfare of their employees can make a corporation more lucrative. And if not far more lucrative, at least a far better place to perform.
Law firms can learn from corporate encounter to generate their own social responsibility programs. Such applications can aid law firms to do properly by carrying out great. They can strengthen the firm’s reputation and industry position. They can assistance the firm identify with the culture and CSR activities of clients and potential clientele. They can assist lawyers and employees uncover a lot more meaning in their work and strengthen as human beings.
In the words of the social duty Karma Committee at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck: Be sort. Be generous. Be concerned. Donate time. Donate work. Donate revenue. Just come across a trigger and give. You’ll rapidly discover providing is also getting.
A panel discussion about how law firms can find out about CSR and introduce some of its elements into their own models was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing and advertising Association. The program was held May possibly eight at Maggiano’s Tiny Italy in downtown Denver.
Panelists integrated Sarah Hogan, vice president of Barefoot PR Bruce DeBoskey, lawyer and founder of The DeBoskey Group, which focuses on philanthropic advising Joyce Witte, Community Investment Advisor and director of the Encana Cares Foundation, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) and Amy Venturi, director of community relations & karma at Brownstein. Moderator was Cori Plotkin, president of Barefoot PR.
At law firms, the item is the individuals – the lawyers and assistance employees who deliver higher good quality legal solutions. It is an easy fit. There are quite a few techniques that this ‘product’ can contribute time, talent and treasure to socially responsible activities.
Social duty: Focus and approach
Law firm social responsibility is all about producing a difference within the community and the profession, and inside a firm. Even the most effective efforts will make no effect if spread too thin. You can not maximize the worth of your contributions or inform your story if your efforts are also diluted. To choose how to most properly invest its resources, a law firm desires a social responsibility concentrate and a method.
Social responsibility efforts will have to be authentic. Law firms and other entities should really usually prevent ‘green-washing’ – telling a story that is aspirational, but not definitely accurate. Know your self. Let your firm’s special culture and expertise decide which efforts to pursue and which to prevent.
When examining your culture, don’t limit oneself to companion input. Law firms are smaller communities, nearly like households. Any work to define culture and social responsibility should really represent not only the interests of lawyers, but the interests of all levels of help staff. Efforts should be meaningful throughout the firm. The added benefits to employee recruitment, retention and satisfaction can be exceptional.
DeBoskey outlined three sorts of neighborhood involvement and stated his belief that a superior social duty program involves components of all 3.
In a classic model, an organization ‘gives back’ randomly to the neighborhood when asked – as a superior citizen, rather than for any strategic purposes. In a social responsibility model, these efforts align with the capabilities of the company – like the legal abilities of lawyers. Each and every non-profit demands legal suggestions.
At law firm SEO ‘s most sophisticated, a social responsibility program requires employing your core product – legal services – as a tool for social modify. Volunteer with organizations like the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal Method at the University of Denver, or the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center.
A strong focus tends to make it a great deal less complicated to make decisions. Encana, for example, focuses its charitable giving strategy on problems surrounding its product — natural gas. Brownstein will donate dollars 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 hunting for added tips can come across beneficial sources within the Corporate Community Investment Network. CCIN is an association for pros whose key responsibility is to handle community investment applications in a for-profit business setting.
Quite a few corporations and a couple of law firms have basically made separate foundations to mange some of their providing. A foundation comes with much more restrictions and different tax solutions. As entities with a life of their own, on the other hand, foundations are extra likely than one particular-off efforts to continue a helpful existence.
Social duty: Good policies make very good decisions
Strategy and concentrate deliver the foundation for an helpful social duty policy. Most law firms are inundated with requests from excellent causes asking for their support. A policy helps 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 really tough to say no. A keenly focused policy tends to make it considerably simpler to do so and maintain the firm’s efforts on track.
Encana, for instance, uses a five-step tool to figure out the level of match among a request and the company’s strategic ambitions in the field of all-natural gas – with level 5 getting the biggest commitment and level one particular the lowest.
Level 5 efforts integrate core item or service and typically involve all-natural gas vehicles and energy efficiency initiatives applying natural gas. These efforts contribute to best practices and major trends in the market, when enhancing the company’s reputation as a leader.
Level four efforts focus on strategic partnerships and often involve sustainable and extended-term options like workforce improvement initiatives, signature applications (which can be repeated in other markets) and multi-year grants.
Level three efforts include strategic grants to assist with projects, applications or initiatives created to neighborhood non-earnings aligned with organic gas.