The past few years have been boom times for advocates of socially responsible business practices. The impacts of climate change, a global pandemic and a national reckoning on racial justice have pressed businesses of all stripes to take stock of their own practices, and renew their commitments to do good in the world and do better by their own employees.

These forces are putting new pressures on law firms to dust up their social impact bona fides — and some are finding that making social responsibility a strategic imperative is not just doing good, it may also be good business.

A sense of social responsibility has always been part of the legal profession. Pro bono work, the practice of providing free legal services to those in need, is built into the rules of professional conduct, with the ABA recommending that lawyers "aspire" to deliver at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services every year.

But firms are increasingly being pressed to view their social responsibility mandate as far broader than just the number of hours each attorney works on pro bono matters. Clients, attorneys, advisers and advocates are urging law firms to view social responsibility as a core part of their business strategy, rather than as a side project or something extra attorneys can do in a few hours a year.

"What law firms mostly so far have missed is that their biggest impact on society is the work they're doing for clients," said Pamela Cone, founder and CEO of Amity Advisory. "The real solution is not a few days of working on something meaningful and the rest of your life, you know, going back to the grind."

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