Categories
B Corp

Why Would a Law Firm Care to be a 1% for the Planet Member?

Why Would a Law Firm Care to be a 1% for the Planet Member?

Chris Mendenhall

Share Post:

We are a law firm. We are not an organization working hard to legislate, educate, and raise money for environmental causes. Yet, we live on this planet, too. It is our home. And just like mom shouldn’t be the only one responsible for cleaning the kitchen, we all have a responsibility to care for our home. We can all do our part to reduce our carbon footprints, drive less, recycle more, waste less, etc., but how can we make an even greater impact?

In 2002, Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia clothing) and Craig Mathews (founder of Blue Ribbon Flies) started 1% for the Planet to give businesses a way to make that greater impact by donating 1% of their revenue to environmental organizations.  These are organizations that are doing the heavy environmental lifting, dedicating their services, products, and missions to safeguarding our resources while still contributing to the economy and their communities.  This idea quickly took hold at a global level and today, there are more than 3,000 individual and business members putting their money where their mouths are and supporting approved environmental nonprofits.  Here’s how it works.

On the donor side, any individual or business can become a member.  Businesses pledge to donate 1% of their sales or revenue and individuals pledge to donate 1% of their salaries.  Contributions can be financial or via other in-kind donations like volunteer time, approved promotional support, mentorship, or pro bono services.  Membership dues to 1% for the Planet and certain other organizations also count toward contributions.  For the purposes of this blog, I will focus on business partners since that’s what we are.

Recipients of this support are nonprofit partners who are proven to be advancing the causes in one of these core issue areas: climate, food, land, pollution, water, and wildlife.  Any environmentally-focused nonprofit may apply for membership, or a business member may recommend new nonprofits for consideration.  New applicants are evaluated to ensure they meet the criteria and values of the organization, and thousands of approved nonprofit partners from over 60 countries comprise the current network.

After becoming a member, a business may choose which nonprofits they would like to support from that wide network.  We can choose one organization or many, and organizations are searchable on the website by name, location, and/or issue.  Our firm has chosen organizations that are either local or are somehow within our network of changemaking individuals.  As a firm, we are in still in the process of finalizing our donations for this year, based on the interests, passions, and concerns of the individuals who work here.  Our Corporate Social Responsibility Committee members have done the initial narrowing of candidates, but every teammate has a voice.  Last year, our firm contributed to such worthy organizations as A Growing Culture, Denver Urban Gardens, Cottonwood Institute, Cal-Wood Education Center, Conservation Colorado, The Leatherback Trust, and B Lab.  B Lab is a double whammy for us because it is the organization that certifies companies as B Corporations, of which we are also one!  For more information on B Corporations, see my last blog where I share why we’re proud to be using our business as a force for good.

Milgrom & Daskam is a group of talented lawyers and staff helping businesses navigate the legal challenges of doing their work, but we are also happy, outdoorsy, proactive people who care about the world we live in.  Our dedication and commitment to tying what we do for our clients to what we can do for our planet is what sets us apart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LEGAL ADMINISTRATOR

Chris’s life has meandered far from her degrees in sociology and elementary education from the University of Colorado but has now come full circle with the many years she put in as an administrator in the legal field.  After being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years and many subsequent years volunteering and working within the Boulder Valley School District, Chris operated a successful freelance office services business for a variety of clients, including Milgrom & Daskam.  Chris is happy to have now joined Milgrom & Daskam officially as the firm’s Legal Administrator.

More Articles

Uncategorized

Depositing Cryptocurrency Assets: A Cautionary Tale on Clickwrap Agreements

Earlier this year, a bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York issued a startling ruling in the bankruptcy case of In re Celsius Network LLC, et al., Case No. 22-10964 (MG). The dispute involved cryptocurrency owners who deposited their assets (such as stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), central bank currencies, and security tokens) into Celsius’s “Earn Accounts” that allowed Celsius to use those funds to generate yields across various “on-chain” and “off-chain” investment strategies. At the time Celsius filed bankruptcy, there were more than 600,000 Earn Account holders affected. Their assets totaled approximately $4.2 billion.

Read More »
Artificial Intelligence

Will Artificial Intelligence Kill All the Lawyers?

A recent article in the New York Times reminded me that more than ten years ago, lawyers were considered an endangered occupational species as our livelihoods were the most at risk from advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
Has AI been reading Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2 and trying to kill us?
Maybe. But I confidently predict that many of us will survive.

Read More »
Business & Corporate Law

We Can See Your Priva…cy Policy

Just about every business client that we counsel maintains an active website. These help drive user engagement, deliver news and updates on interesting products, and drive significant new business. Depending on how the website is curated, however, that extra business may end up being for us greedy lawyers and not for our well-intentioned client.

Read More »
Categories
B Corp

Steps Small Businesses Can Take to Combat Climate Change

Steps Small Businesses Can Take to Combat Climate Change

Milgrom Team

Share Post:

The science is clear, and when we look outside and see smoke-ridden skies, experience unprecedented flooding, or suffer the consequences of historic droughts, it’s in our face: climate change is here. Our climate and environment are changing–and how we interact with it should change.

As the recent and somewhat terrifying UN Report informed us, we are well past the point of stopping climate change. But we can slow it down. And we need to slow it down.

According to the UN Report, we need to halve greenhouse emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

How can small businesses help achieve these goals?

Much climate news has focused on the emissions and energy outputs of large, international corporations. And for good reason: their business decisions are expansive and have a significant climate impact in many sectors of the economy, government, and environment. These industry titans must change their behavior if we want to achieve the UN’s goals, but small businesses should as well.

Small businesses make up the majority of businesses in the United States. Despite their diminutive qualifier, small businesses have a big impact. Both in how they affect the climate and how they shape the fabric of our society and economy. Thus, any changes small businesses can make to reduce their carbon footprints are essential to meeting the UN’s goals.

Studies have shown that such climate action is also desirable to potential employees, who are increasingly drawn to employers with environmental initiatives. There are also branding benefits for certificates and labels associated with businesses that meet certain environmental standards that may draw in environmentally conscious consumers and/or clients.

Steps for small businesses to combat climate change.

1. Set Goals

Some goals may include reducing the company’s energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions. But most of us don’t have the expertise to meaningfully and quantifiably reduce our carbon footprint. Luckily, there are certification standards and organizations that help. For example, you can join the SME Climate Hub, sponsored by the UN which teamed up with Oxford University to create a library of tools and resources for small and medium enterprises for how to reduce their carbon footprints. These resources include but are not limited to: tools from the B Lab, Landlord-Tenant energy agreements, supply chain tools, guidebooks on reducing the environmental impact of freight logistics, company transportation toolkits, and many more.

The Climate Neutral Certified stamp is another popular certification that you can put on your business’ brand and marketing materials. This certification measures and directly addresses a brand’s commitment to stopping climate change. Some businesses that are Climate Neutral Certified include REI, Allbirds, Numi Tea, and Klean Canteen. The certification imposes a fee for every ton of carbon produced by the company, but that fee is used to invest in carbon reduction and sequestration projects around the globe and accomplishes carbon pricing.

Finally, if a business’ goal is to partner with environmental nonprofits, 1% For the Planet is an organization that pairs businesses, individuals, and nonprofits and commits 1% of the committed business’ profits to environmental nonprofits and organizations. Milgrom & Daskam is a proud 1% member.

2. Measure your climate impact

In addition to setting goals and potentially joining organizations and initiatives that direct small business leaders, it’s important for small businesses to measure their climate impacts. There are plenty of climate calculators for businesses to measure the impact of their brands, products, and services. These calculators take into account business’ energy consumption, emissions, and overall carbon footprints, and can be useful resources for informing businesses about how they can best reduce their environmental impacts.

3. Offset your emissions

Carbon offset programs are not perfect, but they have been found to be a powerful decarbonization tool. Furthermore, they provide small businesses opportunities for creativity. For example, companies can engage in tree-planting days to offset their carbon emissions. Companies can also purchase carbon credits that offset their emissions, which on average equal ~0.4% of a company’s revenue.

Some other ideas for business owners include encouraging employees to work from home to reduce commute-based emissions, incentivizing and paying for employees to use public transit and other climate-friendly travel options when commuting to work, reducing emissions produced by your business’ online activity and energy demands, using more sustainable packaging, or switching to natural resource energy for your business.

In conclusion, although climate change is daunting, all hope is not lost, and we as individuals, businesses, and communities can make meaningful changes to actualize the UN’s 2030 and 2050 goals to preserve our planet and everything it offers us.

For additional information, please contact us.

More Articles

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Ownership Issues and Considerations 

Intellectual property ownership issues are quite common. Such ownership issues often arise when proper agreements are not in place from the very beginning of a business engagement. Without a written agreement, a third-party contractor or an individual hired to perform certain services may own intellectual property rights in any resulting work product. For this reason, it is important to have such agreements in place when engaging others to perform services on your behalf. The discussion below highlights common ownership issues and considerations for the various forms of intellectual property.

Read More »
Business & Corporate Law

Recent Crypto Enforcement Actions and the Brewing Battle Between Regulators for Jurisdiction Over Digital Assets

Readers of my last, irresistibly juicy blog post, “First-Ever Court Ruling Means Your Utility Token May Be an Unregistered Security,” know that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently landed a blow against blockchain-based media company LBRY when a district court in New Hampshire held that LBRY’s native “utility token,” LBC, was an unregistered security.

Read More »
Entrepreneur & Startup

Entity Selection: How QSBS Could Save You Millions in Taxes

I often work with entrepreneurs starting new ventures. While there are multiple considerations for new businesses, the first important item to address is entity formation, governance, and finance/ownership. This is the starting point to get your venture headed in the right direction.

Read More »
Categories
B Corp

What are Certified B Corporations and Why They Matter

What are Certified B Corporations and Why They Matter

Chris Mendenhall

Share Post:

Some people think that capitalism is what’s wrong with our world. According to Wikipedia, “capitalism has been criticized for establishing power in the hands of a minority capitalist class that exists through the exploitation of a working-class majority; for prioritizing profit over social good, national resources and the environment; and for being an engine of inequality and economic instabilities.” While that’s not true for every business, for most companies, whether they are scraping by or striking it rich, the focus is on the business itself.

Nonprofits, on the other hand, are supposed to be the alternative structure for organizations that care more about the collective, public, or social benefits. The model was designed to be responsible, honorable, and transparent, but there is controversy about its efficiency and accountability.  Resources are not always managed as well as they could be, and efficacy suffers. Nobody goes into nonprofit work to become wealthy, but the trade-off is that they go home at the end of the day with the impression that they’re making a difference in the world.    

Does there have to be a trade-off? Can a business do good in the world and still make a decent profit? There are big, wildly profitable businesses whose mission is to provide life-saving drugs or medical equipment, for example, but what do we know of their inner workings? How do they treat their employees? What is their environmental footprint? For-profit companies’ lack of transparency means there is no way to know. This leads us to the question: what if a for-profit company could be held to high standards of accountability, transparency, and verified social and environmental performance? 

This is where Certified B Corporations enter the picture. B Corps are organizations all across the globe that have committed to balancing purpose and profit. They are required to care about more than their bottom line. They form a powerful community of like-minded people and companies driven to use their business as a force for good. There is no shame in making a profit if there are no values sacrificed to get there.    

The process of becoming B Corp certified is rigorous, as it should be. Organizations must verify that their companies meet high standards in the areas of governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. There is a very extensive evaluation that dives deeply into how companies measure up in each of these areas. There is paperwork to submit to substantiate your statements. There are follow-up questions from a team of individuals whose job is to make sure companies are not fudging their numbers or claims. There is a live interview with a certification team to further confirm that your company makes the grade. Then, once certified, there is a recertification process every three years in which companies must prove that they are not only living up to what they claimed but are encouraged to do better than they were before, and the evaluation questions change and evolve as the standards are further scrutinized in light of new global concerns.    

What is even more beautiful about certified B Corps is the community they create. There is a global “B Hive” of articles, resources, opportunities, and ways to connect with other values-driven organizations. There are independent “B Local” groups all over the country comprised of certified B Corporations that meet to discuss issues, network, educate, support, engage, and inspire. There might be community service events, webinars on global issues like climate concerns, and opportunities for learning about other companies, vendors, and professionals that care about their global communities as much as you do.

Personally, it gives me great pride to work for a law firm that chose to jump through the B Corp certification hoops and to live up to those lofty standards. As Milgrom & Daskam’s Legal Administrator, I look to the B Corp member directory first when choosing a vendor for everything from a financial advisory firm to handle our employee retirement accounts (Thanks, BSW Wealth Partners!) to a bakery to provide cupcakes for a firm birthday event. We know what they went through to get on that directory, and we know they share our values in providing their goods and services. There is something satisfying in knowing that we’re doing good work within a community of good people. Let’s do what’s right for our world!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LEGAL ADMINSTRATOR

Chris’s life has meandered far from her degrees in sociology and elementary education from the University of Colorado but has now come full circle with the many years she put in as an administrator in the legal field.  After being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years and many subsequent years volunteering and working within the Boulder Valley School District, Chris operated a successful freelance office services business for a variety of clients, including Milgrom & Daskam.  Chris is happy to have now joined Milgrom & Daskam officially as the firm’s Legal Administrator.

More Articles

Business & Corporate Law

Do Colorado Courts Still Enforce Liquidated Damages Provisions?

Do Colorado courts still enforce liquidated damages provisions? When are such provisions enforceable? As a litigator, I notice this is a frequent topic of conversation among my transactional attorney friends when they are drafting contracts with no real consensus. So, what does Colorado law say?

Read More »
Business & Corporate Law

The Importance of Morality Clauses in Contracts with Public Figures

In the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, opportunities for public figures to be called to the mat and canceled over their statements and behavior are plentiful. Whether looking at Kanye West, aka Ye, with his antisemitic statements on Twitter, “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, and a myriad of other public offenses, T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach’s affair, or Try Guys’ Ned Fulmer’s affair with an employee, when the transgressions become public, so do the calls from the public for the brands and companies they work with to cut them loose.

Read More »
Employment Law

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Colorado Business’s First Amendment Speech Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month in a case challenging the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) in a scenario similar to the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision of 2018. 303 Creative LLC, a Colorado based graphic design service is seeking to provide wedding website design services but only for opposite-sex weddings due to the owner’s religious beliefs that preclude her from providing the same services for same-sex couples.

Read More »