Case studies

Using the data from the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, Freshfields has learnt that air travel and electricity are where it needs to make the most significant carbon reduction. Since 2005/6 Freshfields has been collecting data and holding monthly conference calls with environmental coordinators across the world to help manage its climate change impact.

Freshfields has experienced significant cost savings, as well as other indirect benefits, by reducing its PC energy waste

Gotelee and Goldsmith. Medium sized firm based in Ipswich.

Regional firm based in the Black Country. Employing approximately 165 staff over three operating offices in Brierley Hill, Stourbridge and Kingswinford.

Irwin Mitchell is an international law firm with seven offices throughout the UK and two in Spain, with a PC estate of approximately 2,500 computers. The firm decided to look at its computer usage as a way to make energy savings.

As a global law firm with 30 offices in 23 countries measuring its carbon footprint seemed like a daunting task. But having overcome that challenge, Linklaters has now set a target of reducing its carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 from a 2006/07 baseline.

Occupying its building as a tenant created challenges for Martineau in seeking to footprint its energy usage and identify reduction measures. The firm believes there are advantages to working together with other tenants and the landlord.

As a national law firm with 6 offices, we have wanted to play our part in reducing our carbon footprint. We have looked at each office individually to see what is being done, what can be done and what needs to be done. The following case study is an example of how we reduced paper deliveries to our Cambridge office.

Nicholas Moore, specialist employment lawyers, has discovered that working remotely means that its lawyers are more accessible to clients, lawyers are happier not commuting every day and they have reduced the firm’s carbon footprint. The firm has now expanded its environmentally friendly initiatives to other areas of their business.

The Law Society Group comprises: the Law Society of England & Wales, the representative body for solicitors; the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA); and the Legal Complaints Service (LCS). The Group operates from 4 main sites and an environmental report with set targets and objectives up to 2011 can be found on the Law Society website.

The Law Society has developed an environmental management system to reduce the impact of the business on the environment.