Kirkland & Ellis Participates in Law Firm Sustainability Pilot Project

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce its participation in the pilot launch of the American Legal Industry Sustainability Standards (ALISS), a self-assessment tool for law firms to measure their implementation of environmentally-friendly practices. 

ALISS was launched by the Law Firm Sustainability Network (LFSN), a nonprofit organization whose membership includes many of the top U.S. law firms and legal departments committed to promoting the benefits of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility throughout the legal industry. The LFSN’s mission is to develop key performance indicators, foster knowledge-sharing, develop best practice guidelines, and recognize and promote sustainability innovations in the U.S. legal sector. Kirkland joined LFSN in 2013 and is one of the original participating firms in the organization. Today the Firm is one of about 40 law firm members.

Through use of an honor-based self-assessment tool, ALISS allows law offices to take stock of their efforts to promote energy efficiency, conservation of energy and resources, recycling, and related measures, and to identify opportunities to enhance their sustainability programs and practices. The larger release can be found here.

Kirkland, which is one of only 12 law firms participating in the pilot program, has already taken many proactive steps on the sustainability front, including earning LEED certification for its Chicago and Palo Alto offices; using building materials with recycled content and Energy Star-qualified equipment; and pursuing pro bono work and charitable giving focused on the environment.

Kirkland’s Green Teams, which consist of attorneys and administrators, identify and implement many of the Firm’s sustainability efforts. They also partner with external green organizations to advance the Firm’s sustainability influence within local communities.

Some of the programs the Firm has participated in include the NYC Carbon Challenge, a voluntary program for commercial offices, universities and hospitals in New York City to reduce their building-based carbon emissions by 30 percent or more in 10 years; Data Center Efficiency Projects, which try to improve the Firm’s data centers’ energy efficiency in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., by installing a monitoring system, upgrading the center’s cooling system controls and merging existing uninterruptible power supply systems; and the City of Chicago’s 2014 Green Office Challenge, in which Kirkland finished as the top-ranked large law firm in terms of its reduction of its environmental impact through internal sustainability initiatives.