Dentons, the world’s largest global law firm, has set a pioneering example for the legal industry by delivering its first recorded end-to-end low carbon matter service offering in the UK, Ireland and Middle East (UKIME) region to Defra Legal Advisors.
The Road to Net Zero
The UK’s Government Legal Department (GLD) is an important client of the firm and one that is closely focused on achieving net zero, in line with the UK government’s commitment to reduce all UK emissions to net zero by 2050.
Within GLD, Defra Legal Advisors, which advises the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), instructed Dentons to assist it as part of a four-month project.
In line with the firm’s commitment to reach net zero as part of its adherence to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), Dentons adapted its service to Defra Legal Advisors to achieve a low carbon footprint.
Reducing Emissions
In collaboration with Defra Legal Advisors and Dentons’ internal sustainability specialists, the firm identified the factors associated with a standard matter to establish an emissions baseline, what changes had to be implemented to decarbonise the service and what data needed to be collected to calculate reductions.
The Dentons team identified areas including travel, printing, postage, meetings and the mode of data exchange as areas where it could reduce emissions.
The firm also used an innovative bespoke platform called Legal Front Door that was tailored to Defra to simplify instruction submissions and approvals.
The automated workflow allowed Dentons to triage and assign incoming instructions in less than an hour. Dashboards were also created for Defra to be able to monitor matter statuses and updates, which offered 78% lower carbon intensity than emails and allowed Defra Legal Advisors much better visibility and control over its legal spend.
44% Carbon Footprint Reduction
Ultimately, Dentons was able to bring down its carbon emissions associated with the service to Defra Legal Advisors by circa 120kg C02e, equivalent to 14,597 smartphones charges, reducing the carbon footprint by 44%.
It is hoped the approach can serve as a blueprint for other client work for the firm’s UKIME offices, allowing Dentons to decarbonise its services across the board on its journey to net zero and to assist clients in their own net zero goals.
Caroline Connolly, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Dentons’, said:
“Legal services represent a small but significant source of Scope 3 emissions for organisations that engage lawyers, and Dentons is eager to support its clients by reducing emissions associated with working together.
“Many of our clients are committed to minimising their emissions and negative impact on the planet, and we have identified how we can help them achieve this, simply by adjusting how we provide services to them.
“We believe we are among the first major law firms to offer a genuinely low carbon service and are proud to demonstrate that law firms can make a meaningful positive impact on the climate, in balance with their commercial aims.
“While we are delighted with what we accomplished for Defra Legal Advisors, ensuring this initiative has lasting impact will require us to further integrate and strengthen our proven net zero commitment into our everyday working practices and evolve our operations in partnership with our clients – something we are consciously working to do.
“We would like to thank Defra Legal Advisors and GLD for working with us to deliver and share this success.”
