The Meritas Green Guide for Lawyers includes elements of the ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Change Challenge, as well as additional measures to help its members operate more sustainably. It is the result of a yearlong study by the Meritas Leadership Institute into how sustainability would present legal challenges to new and existing industries. Meritas is a nonprofit network of more than 170 independent law firms from around the world.

The guide it devised is divided into three tiers of initiatives: Sustainability Advocate, Partner and Leader. Each tier contains initiatives that fall into the Triple Bottom Line categories of people, profit and planet.

"The first tier is designed to raise awareness at law firms," Arnold said. "The idea is the first step to incorporating sustainability is to at least be aware of the firm’s footprint."

These first-tier actions include encouraging public transit for workers, recycling, switching to environmentally friendly cleaning products and conducting energy audits to identify ways to reduce energy consumptions.

"The second tier prompts law firms to start implementing sustainability and efficiency measures at the law firm itself," Arnold said, such as investing in Energy Star equipment and pledging to cut resource consumption by 5 percent. Dedicating pro bono services to an environmental or sustainability organization is included.

The third tier involves more rigorous measures, such certifying its office space with the U.S. Green Building Council, sponsoring a nonprofit to become carbon-neutral through the purchase of carbon offsets and allocating additional pro bono hours.

"The guide is a start, and then we’re going to rely on the creativity of the Meritas member firms to implement the guide in lots of ways we could never imagine," Arnold said.

Member firms will then share successes and challenges from implementing the initaitives, said Meritas President and CEO Tanna Moore.

"That’s one of our core initiatives, to share best practices," Moore said. "There are a number of firms that have gone through the ABA-EPA approval process ... and others that are just learning about it."

The guide’s authors tried to specifically address the unique role of attorneys through the pro bono work aspects and counseling of clients in sustainability matters, Arnold said. Yet many of the initiatives could be used by businesses outside the legal realm.

"We also had to make it something that appealed to not only attorneys but people who actually run the offices," Arnold said.

Scott used his law firm as a guinea pig for some of the initiatives listed in the Green Guide for Lawyers. "I wanted to see if these ideas were cockamamie or practical," Scott said. "Overwhelmingly, we found them extremely practical."

But he admits he did take some flak at first.

"One my partners said, 'I thought it was the dumbest idea I ever heard,’" Scott said.

The tune of his partner and other skeptics at his law firm changed when they saw the initiatives’ benefits: The company saved money and generated more business, including three new clients within a year that can be directly attributed to their new sustainability credentials.

"Now,” Scott said, “they are starting to become true believers."

Tilde Herrera is associate editor at GreenBiz.com.