As a public benefit law firm, our success is measured not simply by profits or revenue but by the impact that we have on our community and environment.
We strive to be transparent about our impact on our stakeholders and this dashboard is designed to show how we at Pote Law Firm are helping make Colorado a prosperous, sustainable, and clean place to live.
Here at Pote Law Firm, we believe in doing all we can in order to operate as a responsible and sustainable business.
In order to ensure that our sustainability efforts are measurable and significant at a global level, we set our goals based on the Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations, and we monitor our impact based on the B Impact Assessment developed by B Lab.
The efforts described below are just the start. As we grow and discover more opportunities to make an impact, we will update this dashboard accordingly.
As a small firm, we could not reach our goals alone. As a result, we partner with other amazing organizations to achieve our sustainability targets and to promote sustainable development. We work with:
These and other organizations, as well as their members, help us to mobilize our initiatives and allow us to share knowledge, expertise, and resources to promote sustainability within our organization, community, and beyond.
Together, we can create a sustainable future for all. If you would like to collaborate with our firm in partnerships advancing sustainability and businesses that do well by doing good, please Reach Out, Today!
No modern business can claim to be aiming at sustainable operations without attempting to offset its carbon footprint. As part of our efforts to combat climate change and to preserve the environment, we are a proud partner of 1% for the Planet.
We all share this planet together and the health and survival of all living things depend upon protecting our natural environment.
We seek to ensure that our world is not only habitable but beautiful for generations to come. This is why we have happily committed to donate at least 1% of all annual revenue to 1% for the Planet and the nonprofits organizations they support. Our giving priorities are focused on tackling the climate crisis and plastic waste.
In 2019, we donated nearly 10% of our revenue to 1% for the Planet and the environmental nonprofits they support! We aspire to match this commitment in 2020.
Furthermore, in order to reduce our firm's direct contributions to greenhouse gas emissions as well as our energy and water use, we have located our firm in LEED Gold office buildings.
Reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse is an important part of operating sustainably.
Preventing waste is the best way to reduce waste, and this is why we operate as a nearly paperless law firm. But we also know that there is more we can do, but we can't always do it alone. Accordingly, in our first year of business, we became an EPA WasteWise partner and endorser, committed to reducing our waste and encouraging other businesses to make a similar commitment.
In 2019, we established our waste baselines and have set a 5% waste-reduction target for 2020. Our 2019 assessment revealed food waste as a significant source of company waste that ends up in a landfill or incinerator.
As a result, in 2020, we are striving to compost more of our waste and hope to exceed our goal of an overall 5% reduction through this and other measures.
We have also committed as a WasteWise endorser to sharing information about the program with other businesses and encouraging those companies to adopt responsible practices and to integrate waste-generation information into their sustainability reporting.
By sharing information related to responsible consumption and reducing waste generation, we hope to do our part to ensure that people everywhere understand the importance of sustainability as a goal and have the means to implement relevant procedures and measures.
We are organized and operate as a public benefit law firm in part to protect our mission of ensuring greater access to justice and equal opportunity for all. Our pro bono efforts and commitments allow our firm to serve individuals and communities who may otherwise be unable to secure high-quality legal services.
We work primarily with Colorado Attorneys for the Arts in order serve creative businesses and individuals who are of limited means or from traditionally underserved communities. Last year we dedicated nearly 100 hours to services for pro bono clients and these clients were primarily creative entrepreneurs.
Moreover, our firm is part of the Modern Law Practice Initiative that serves the approximately 70% of the public who believe they cannot afford an attorney by making our legal services available on a flat or alternative fee basis.
At Pote Law Firm, we rarely charge any clients hourly. Instead, in all but a couple cases last year, our clients were provided upfront, fixed fees for services provided by our firm.
Pote Law Firm is a proud member of Good Business Colorado and Best for Colorado. In collaboration with these organizations, we have begun working in 2020 to promote policies in Colorado that support entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth, and decent job creation for all workers.
Another part of the way we advance this goal is by providing legal services to startups and emerging entrepreneurs, including those who might otherwise be financially unable to pursue their business dreams and contribute to the vitality of their communities.