Why Transition Law?

Are you a legal professional who cares about climate change? Do you:

• agonise over the tonnes of paper your firm uses in preparing for litigation?
• want to  find out what your firm's environmental impact is?
• think that there must be more to sustainability at work than having a recycling bin?
• wonder if a sustainability approach can help make the law more - well, sustainable?

When I started a sustainability program where I work, I found there wasn't much information on how to operate a legal business sustainably. Most of the information is aimed at manufacturing and industry. But the law  and lawyers have their own environmental impact and legal firms are beginning to realise this. How much is actually achieved, and how much is just a feel good exercise, depends on whether the profession is willing to do the work to measure, monitor, and change its practices.

Why Transition? Transition is a  movement which aims to make communities more resilient as we deal with climate change and diminishing resources. I've adopted the term for this blog because I hope that law will make the transition to working sustainably. Here I'll be posting on innovations in sustainable legal business, tips on managing a sustainability program in a law firm, where to find useful information, and where to locate sustainable products. But as well as the practical side I will be looking at the philosophy behind sustainability, which embraces ethical business practices, social responsibility and fair labour standards as well as environmental initiatives. Let's see where it takes us.