Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principle of corporate social responsibility. CSR is primarily based on the belief that a demonstration of concern for the atmosphere, human rights, community development and the welfare of their workers can make a corporation much more lucrative. And if not much more lucrative, at least a superior location to work.
Law firms can discover from corporate encounter to build their own social duty programs. Such programs can assistance law firms to do well by doing fantastic. They can strengthen the firm’s reputation and market place position. They can assistance the firm identify with the culture and CSR activities of consumers and prospective clientele. They can assist lawyers and employees discover extra which means in their work and improve 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 money. Just come across a cause and give. You are going to rapidly discover providing is also receiving.
A panel discussion about how law firms can find out about CSR and introduce some of its elements into their personal models was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Promoting Association. The plan was held Could eight at Maggiano’s Tiny 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 community relations & karma at Brownstein. Moderator was Cori Plotkin, president of Barefoot PR.
At law firms, the solution is the folks – the lawyers and help employees who deliver higher excellent legal solutions. It is an straightforward match. There are many approaches that this ‘product’ can contribute time, talent and treasure to socially accountable activities.
Social duty: Focus and technique
Law firm social responsibility is all about generating 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’t maximize the worth of your contributions or inform your story if your efforts are as well diluted. To determine how to most efficiently invest its resources, a law firm demands a social responsibility concentrate and a approach.
Social duty efforts should be genuine. Law firms and other entities should often avoid ‘green-washing’ – telling a story that is aspirational, but not really true. Know compensation legal services . Let your firm’s exceptional culture and expertise decide which efforts to pursue and which to steer clear of.
When examining your culture, don’t limit oneself to companion input. Law firms are little communities, just about like households. Any effort to define culture and social responsibility ought to represent not only the interests of lawyers, but the interests of all levels of assistance employees. Efforts have to be meaningful throughout the firm. The rewards to employee recruitment, retention and satisfaction can be exceptional.
DeBoskey outlined three forms of community involvement and stated his belief that a excellent social responsibility strategy involves elements of all three.
In a conventional model, an organization ‘gives back’ randomly to the community when asked – as a excellent citizen, rather than for any strategic purposes. In a social responsibility model, these efforts align with the capabilities of the company – like the legal capabilities of lawyers. Every non-profit requirements legal guidance.
At it’s most sophisticated, a social responsibility program requires using your core product – legal solutions – as a tool for social change. Volunteer with organizations like the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, or the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center.
A strong focus makes it much less complicated to make choices. Encana, for example, focuses its charitable giving approach on concerns surrounding its item — natural gas. Brownstein will donate money only if the request comes from a client, or if 1 of their attorneys is a member of the organization and on the board.
Law firms seeking for additional assistance can uncover important sources within the Corporate Neighborhood Investment Network. CCIN is an association for specialists whose primary responsibility is to manage community investment applications in a for-profit enterprise setting.
Lots of corporations and a few law firms have actually created separate foundations to mange some of their providing. A foundation comes with much more restrictions and distinct tax approaches. As entities with a life of their own, even so, foundations are more probably than a single-off efforts to continue a valuable existence.
Social responsibility: Superior policies make superior choices
Tactic and concentrate offer the foundation for an helpful social duty policy. Most law firms are inundated with requests from very good causes asking for their help. 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 resources, it can be extremely challenging to say no. A keenly focused policy makes it a lot a lot easier to do so and hold the firm’s efforts on track.
Encana, for example, makes use of a 5-step tool to ascertain the level of fit amongst a request and the company’s strategic objectives in the field of organic gas – with level 5 getting the biggest commitment and level one the lowest.
Level 5 efforts integrate core product or service and usually involve organic gas vehicles and power efficiency initiatives applying all-natural gas. These efforts contribute to best practices and leading trends in the business, while enhancing the company’s reputation as a leader.
Level 4 efforts concentrate on strategic partnerships and typically involve sustainable and lengthy-term options like workforce improvement initiatives, signature programs (which can be repeated in other markets) and multi-year grants.
Level three efforts involve strategic grants to help with projects, programs or initiatives made to local non-earnings aligned with organic gas.