April 1, 2008 - U.S. law firms are implementing green initiatives to cut costs and attract more corporate clients in today's flagging law market, New Jersey Law Journal reports. In addition to facing economic pressures to operate more sustainably, law firms are seeing market opportunity in reflecting the values of their increasingly environment-conscious client base.

"When it comes down to it, firms still need to be top-notch," says marketing director Lydia Bednarik, "but if they also share the values of their clients, they may have a leg up in the decision-making to hire."

Zacharie Mondel, co-founder of the Global Green Energy Consortium, agrees, noting that U.S. companies are looking for legal council with firsthand knowledge of environmental compliance issues. "There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace among companies that want to be in compliance," he says. "The business community wants to engage with someone who has experience: How green are we? How can you help us?"

Popular environmental efforts among law firms include joining voluntary government programs - such as ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge Waste Wise, Green Power Partnership, and Energy Star - and forming "green teams" to review the firm's environmental performance. And many firms aren't stopping there. After implementing their own in-house sustainability programs, many are branching out into environmental and related practice areas, such as fairtrade, renewables, and climate change.

International law firm Nixon Peabody last year became the first U.S. law firm to earn the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification for commercial interiors for its office in San Francisco. In November it followed up by hiring a chief sustainability officer (another industry first), rebranding itself with the tagline "Legally Green."

The green-law movement has also had a ripple effect among businesses that serve the legal industry. All State Legal, one of the biggest suppliers of law firm stationery and other paper products, recently earned chain-of-custody certificaton from the Forest Stewardship Council.