The Energy Edit: Addleshaws head reveals plans to double revenue
Addleshaw Goddard’s energy practice has come a long way from doing the “weird renewables stuff” in the 90s, now aiming for £70m in revenue by the decade’s end.
The Hearing: ECHR ignites new era of climate actions, as City lawyers launch sustainable litigation toolkit
Welcome to The Hearing, your weekly insider’s guide to the UK litigation market, now brought to you on Wednesdays. Two days in to the Easter Term and there’s a definite green feel around London. Much of that has blown over from Strasbourg, which got the legal world all in a flutter yesterday. A big moment?: The […]
Bird & Bird names first responsible business boss
Bird & Bird has turned to DWF to fill the newly-created role of head of responsible business. Dan Noakes makes the move, where he held the role of head of ESG operations and business development at DWF for the last three years. Before that, Noakes has held similar roles in both the professional services and […]
Tired of firms paying lip service to ESG? Join a B Corp
Put your money where your mouth is: eight firms say they are doing just that.
Offices and flights are just the tip of the melting iceberg
There’s been a lot of chatter recently about the legal industry’s strides toward eco-friendly offices and revamped business travel policies, all in the noble quest to save the planet. This is all great, it really is, but unfortunately, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. If law firms truly aspire to hit their net zero […]
Revealed: The most polluting law firm websites
Hogan Lovells, Clyde & Co and Clifford Chance have the most environmentally polluting websites among UK law firms, data provided to The Lawyer has found. According to data from Website Carbon and compiled by TBD Marketing, Hogan Lovells is at the bottom of the list with its website generating 1,728.52 kg of CO2 per year. […]
The Energy Edit: Behind HSF’s bumper interconnector project
The energy crisis poses an opportunity for law firms to become experts in new areas of project finance – an opportunity HSF has grasped with both hands.
Freshfields tells its lawyers to fly economy
Lawyers at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will have to opt for lower-class travel options, according to the firm’s revised travel policy implemented in 2023. The move comes as part of the magic circle firm’s commitment to a 37 per cent reduction in business travel carbon emissions by 2027. The revised policy emphasises the need for efficiency […]
What Mr Bates and the Post Office can teach us about climate change
“You might think you’re thinking your own thoughts. You’re not. You’re thinking your culture’s thoughts.” Jiddu Krishnamurti We need to talk about our culture’s thoughts. These have been called different things: the dominant world view; our metanarrative; the hegemonic paradigm. Whatever the terminology, it comes down to the prevailing way of thinking, the story we […]
Freeths passes “rigorous” test to become UK’s largest B Corp firm
National law firm Freeths has become the first in the UK Top 50 to achieve B Corp accreditation. The firm received the thumbs up last month that it has been accredited B Corp, making it the largest firm in the UK so far to do so. B Corp accreditation is a private certification given to […]
Shoosmiths slashes plane emissions with staff incentives
Shoosmiths has significantly cut its business travel-related emissions, after introducing several carbon-saving initiatives across the firm. The firm reported that it has cut emissions related to air travel by 56 per cent between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 financial periods, while rail and road travel have seen a 15 per cent and a 9 per cent […]
Scale up and speed up: what we need to do about environmental governance
In the UK, as elsewhere, the environment is in a parlous state. Deeply concerning adverse environmental trends continue. Urgent action is needed to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Businesses often want to do the right thing and NGOs are active in the sector. Even so, the environment often lacks a ‘voice’, with few economic […]