This fall, ILN members will have the good fortune to participate in a webinar with Pamela Cone, founder and CEO of Amity Advisory. Pam is speaking on the global movement behind corporate social responsibility and sustainability for law firms, and why firms should care, and in advance of that, I’ll be sharing some guest posts with you that may aid in your own efforts. Here is the second in our series.

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You might be surprised to learn what your clients expect from you. A growing number of companies have signed on to the United Nations Global Compact—more than 12,000 in 165 countries. They’re committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and they expect vendors and suppliers to also commit toward a more just and sustainable world.  Yes, this includes law firms and other professional service providers.

Partnership for the Goals—Using your legal expertise to lead change

As your clients and prospects embrace the UNSDGs, many, if not all would benefit from the skills, talents, and knowledge of the legal industry. Perhaps more than any profession, lawyers shouldn’t just BE the change they want to see in the world, but perhaps should be LEADING the change. As client companies step up, so should their lawyers—including in-house and outside law firms—to help achieve the changes necessary to progress toward these goals.

Goal number 17 – Partnerships for the Goals encourages signatory companies to ensure supply chain firms and vendors—including law firms—are also committed to making progress on the global goals. Hence, you may be seeing greater scrutiny than ever from clients during the RFP process, with probing and specific questions about your firm’s corporate responsibility and social impact programs. And these expectations go well beyond ProBono programs and Diversity & Inclusion efforts. This practice will only continue to increase as demands for change and the expectations of all stakeholders grow exponentially.

Goal #17 also encourages partnerships of all types to help make greater progress than any one organization could achieve alone. This is a tremendous opportunity for law firms to engage with their clients to work toward the global goals that are most relevant and material to them. Partnerships deepen relationships between companies when they collaborate to achieve even greater social impact.

Are your clients  signators of the UN Global Compact?

You can take these simple steps to learn whether your clients are signators of the UN Global Compact and/or are working on any of the UNSDGs.

  1. Simply ask. Being proactive in this conversation can only help your position as a trusted advisor for all your clients’ business needs—including social impact and sustainability—as well as legal issues.
  2. Refer to the UN Global Compact website. Use the website search function to find your clients’ names and determine if they’re signators.
  3. Review your clients’ websites. Most companies who have joined the UN Global Compact and/or are using the UNSDGs as a framework for their social impact programs celebrate this on their website. Their specific social impact initiatives often are tied to the relevant UNSDGs their program aligns with. Your clients’ website will reveal their priorities for social impact programs.

Pam Cone is the Founder and CEO of Amity Advisory, and Global Social Responsibility Officer at Milliman. 

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Photo of Lindsay Griffiths Lindsay Griffiths

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the…

Lindsay Griffiths is the International Lawyers Network’s Executive Director. She is a dynamic, influential international executive and marketing thought leader with a passion for relationship development and authoring impactful content. Griffiths is a driven, strategic leader who implements creative initiatives to achieve the goals of a global professional services network. She manages all major aspects of the Network, including recruitment, member retention, and providing exceptional client service to an international membership base.

In her role as Executive Director, Griffiths manages a mix of international programs, engages a diverse global community, and develops an international membership base. She leads the development and successful implementation of major organizational initiatives, manages interpersonal relationships, and possesses executive presence with audiences of internal and external stakeholders. Griffiths excels at project management, organization, and planning, writes and speaks with influence and authority, and works independently while demonstrating flexibility in thinking, especially in challenging situations. She also adapts to diverse and dynamic environments with constant assessment and recalibration.

JD Supra Readers Choice Top Author 2019

In 2021, the ILN was honored as Global Law Firm Network of the Year by The Lawyer European Awards, and in 2016, 2017, and 2022, they were shortlisted as Global Law Firm Network of the Year. Since 2011, the Network has been listed as a Chambers & Partners Leading Law Firm Network, recently increasing this ranking to be included in the top two percent of law firm networks globally, as well as adding two regional rankings. She was awarded “Thought Leader of the Year” by the Legal Marketing Association’s New York chapter in 2014 for her substantive contributions to the industry and was included in Clio’s list of “34 People in Legal You Should Follow on Twitter.” She was also chosen for the American Bar Association Journal’s inaugural Web 100‘s Best Law Blogs, where judge Ivy Grey said “This blog is outstanding, thoughtful, and useful.” Ms. Griffiths was chosen as a Top Author by JD Supra in their 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards, for the level of engagement and visibility she attained with readers on the topic of marketing & business development. She has been the author of Zen & the Art of Legal Networking since February 2009.