Sustainability is an integral part of Alston & Bird’s culture and a core element of our corporate responsibility programs. While sustainability involves improving efficiencies and reducing our environmental footprint, it also encompasses more broadly our firm’s relationship with its people and communities and our collective role in maintaining the long-term viability of both.
Alston & Bird’s firmwide Sustainability Committee provides leadership, structure, and accountability to our environmental initiatives. The committee oversees firm policies and practices designed to reduce our footprint on the environment, promotes initiatives that have a positive impact on our local and global communities, and provides a platform for communication between attorneys and staff about these critical issues.
The firm took a leadership role in the legal industry by helping found the Law Firm Sustainability Network, sharing its vision with other green law firms to improve the entire industry’s sustainable practices. We not only talk the talk, we walk the walk. From comprehensive recycling programs to composting services, from waste reduction to reuse initiatives, we do all that we can to reduce, recycle, and reuse. We annually purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) to offset a percentage of the entire firm’s electricity use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage the further development of the renewable energy sector. We reside in LEED-certified buildings, like the Gold Certified Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles, and our home office in Atlanta achieved Gold LEED certification, the third-largest law firm space in the world to achieve this recognition.
Alston & Bird has made significant investments in its green credentials but is always looking for new ways to improve. We are inspired by the achievements of our clients, many of whom have garnered recognition for their impressive improvements in energy efficiency, waste reduction, and carbon footprint reduction. We believe that sustainable practices are necessary for a better future and are proud to be at the forefront of the green movement in the legal industry.
Affiliations
Alston & Bird is one of the founding firms of the Law Firm Sustainability Network (LFSN). Founded in August 2011, LFSN is a nonprofit organization of law firms and legal departments committed to promoting the benefits of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility throughout the legal industry. As a founding firm, Alston & Bird serves on the Leadership Council of the organization.
Alston & Bird has joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership through our purchase of RECs each year since 2014. The Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to use green, renewable energy as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. Alston & Bird became a member of the Green Power Leadership Club in 2014 by purchasing 50% of its electrical power, firmwide, from wind farms. Alston & Bird is committed to sustainability in all its forms and appreciates the EPA’s recognition of our efforts.
Insights
Alston & Bird Pilots New Law Firm Sustainability Tool
Alston & Bird Awarded LEED® Gold Certification
Professional Sustainability Services
Environmental issues increasingly affect business and industry in new and dramatic ways, presenting enormous challenges and opportunities to our clients. Alston & Bird’s Energy, Environmental, and Land Development practices present a world-class cross-functional team of more than 100 attorney and non-attorney market-leading experts on the issues that have become among the most important in the world.
Climate Change and Carbon Management
Energy: Project Development & Finance
Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)
Chemical & Product Regulation
Environment and Land Development
Real Estate
Legislative & Public Policy
Construction