Australian Legal Sector Alliance - the value of networking

In November 2012 the Australian Legal Sector Alliance published its annual report. The ALSA was established about 2 years ago and has 41 members including firms of all sizes from across the country.

Of the 41 members, 27 submitted an environmental report to ALSA for 2011-12, and 24 of the 27 chose to publish their report. The ALSA says their membership represents nearly 20% of all Australian lawyers in private practice and the Reporting Members represent nearly 15% of the sector.  ALSA has chosen to focus initially on environmental sustainability, but plans to expand long term to include social and community issues.   .

ALSA is modelled on the Legal Sector Alliance of England & Wales which commenced in 2007.

The Executive Members  are Clayton Utz, DLA Piper, Henry Davis York, Jackson McDonald, Maddocks, McCullough Robertson, Norton Rose Australia and Swaab Attorneys.

ALSA reporting members measure their usage of electricity, paper and  business travel, and their disposal of waste. The 2011-12 report shows that paper usage is decreasing, however emissions from electricity and travel are increasing. I wonder whether the number of global law firm mergers which have occurred in Australia in the past few years have impacted on travel.

There are a number of advantages to belonging to a network like ALSA which should encourage law firms to join. Members share ideas and knowledge and benefit from each other’s experience. They can also benchmark their performance against that of other members and identify areas for improvement.  Also(although it is not clear that ALSA is doing this) they can use their buying power to obtain expert advice, and encourage their suppliers to improve their sustainability.

However, the measurement of the environmental impact of ALSA member firms’ activities is limited to their own direct impact. For example business travel is limited to travel by firm employees. It does not take into account travel that might be necessitated by the firm’s conduct – for example, witnesses having to travel to court, clients travelling to meet the law firm or their opponents being forced to travel as a result of litigation.

Law firms need to recognise that the way they conduct business also has an impact on the environmental impact of other sectors of society.  This is why the extension of sustainability to other areas such as ethics and social measures, and particularly alternative dispute resolution, is crucial to its success.