E006 - Leilani Weier from Linklaters

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Hi, Leilani. Thank you very much for joining us on the Green Element Podcast. How are you today?

Hi, Will. Yeah, I'm very good today, thank you very much.

It's so funny, we've been chatting beforehand and I'm now having to say hello again. This is ridiculous.

Yeah, no, everything is very good for us this week. It's been World Environment Day, so we've probably had our most energetic week of the year.

Oh, brilliant. Oh, brilliant. How did that go?

Very overwhelmingly well. It's probably— it's the best event we've had in 10 years in terms of employee engagement and awareness.

Okay. Oh, brilliant. That sounds really good. I know that we've actually got a meeting next week, so I'm sure I'll hear more about it then as well. So tell me a bit about your business, what your purpose, and who do you work with?

Okay, so we are a leading international law firm. We operate in around 30 countries and then have country desks that service other countries around the world. Our core business is delivering legal advice in very complex multi-jurisdictional transactions. And our purpose is all about delivering legal certainty in a changing world. So how I fit into that is as a business that has a purpose and is very tied into our clients' needs, being responsible and being a responsible business is absolutely where we need to be and where we want to be. So my role in the firm is actually to support the environmental sustainability aspect of that responsible business stream.

Okay, and what's your business superpower?

Yeah, I think the fact that we have such enormous collaboration around the world. I mean, feedback that we certainly get from clients And whether that be an external client or an internal client is the fact that we can mobilize ourselves and collaborate across borders in all time zones and really are a firm where the sun never sets.

Okay, interesting, interesting. And can you tell us a bit about how you engage your staff, suppliers, and customers with your mission and purpose?

Yeah, okay, so I think let's start off first of all with, I guess, We, as a business, last year we revised our culture and values and purpose. So we reached out to all of our employees. There was a Jam session. Everyone was involved. We reached out to clients. What did they expect of a leading legal advisor? And those were all set and they're available on our website. So our culture and values and purpose. And as part of that, of course, environmental sustainability fits into that. So people— I mean, what was quite interesting is when we did our strategy refresh the year before then, we— with the jam I was talking about, we actually had some employees start a green— best green law firm chat group, and that generated lots and lots of ideas in terms of what people would like to see within the forum.

Okay.

And so, and obviously it was a global chat group, so I was able to take away a lot of ideas to run forward with our strategy over the last 2 years from that. And I think being more of the in-house role that I have, I do actually see what our clients ask us. So when we are working with clients on pictures, panel pictures, even supply chain requests. All of those environmental and sustainability questions come through my team. And what I've really noticed over the years is how many more clients ask us, and that alignment with our clients is really important. So one of the things is, I guess, our people want it. We can see it's something that our clients are expecting of us and that we would want to do and we want to lead in this area. So those two combined as just two interested parties that I can give examples of.

And I'm not asking to give names, but is it a particular sector or industry that you can see these questions or this interest coming more from, or is it literally just cross-industry across the board?

Is it large, small, medium, Yeah, I think that's a really good question actually, Will, because the sectors where these started, I think really I would say if I think back 10 years and I think about one of the clients that really did engage with sustainability in their supply chain was probably in the insurance sector.

Right, okay.

And that's not unexpected given you look at where the insurance sector is today in terms of mitigating and adapting their business models to climate change. So it probably started, I saw it come through insurance. Obviously, the energy companies are very interested in working with their suppliers. Even some of the professional service companies have got, you know, they really want to lead by example. If they're advising their own clients, they want to be doing it too. So I would probably say insurance, energy, professional services, and corporates. Corporates definitely, particularly telecommunications companies, are really looking into their supply chains in terms of environmental sustainability. So I guess if I had to list a few, they would be the ones that spring to mind.

Okay. And as an international law firm, have you found that it's particular countries that are leading the way, or would you say that it's pretty across the board? I mean, I would imagine you deal with, I mean, a request that may come in from Delhi, you know, from India or America or China. You've got, I know you've got offices in Hong Kong, but would Do you see that level of detail or not really?

I think that— and I can— there's a real— that's a really good question to ask because it gives me the opportunity to define the fact that I will— where I sit in the organization will be with more the supply chain pitch requests, panel pitch requests. But also on the legal side, the questions do come in. So, talking specifically about the supply chain side, I would say that the European market, companies with headquarters in the UK, companies with headquarters in Brussels and Paris and Madrid, those countries are probably the absolute leaders in this that I've observed. And then it reaches out into Gradually seeing a few come in from the Americas and also from Asia. I would probably say that Asia, we would be expecting much more engagement on these issues coming, you know, probably in the next 3 to 5 years because our Asia offices and clients— I mean, the interest in green bonds and sustainability just on the client side with what they're asking of their legal advisors has really changed in the last few years.

Interesting. Ah, good. That's actually really good to hear though, that it is across the board. I was hoping you would say that and not, well, yeah, it's just this one country, and yes, actually it's just a couple of companies, and yeah, that's it really. But you've just painted a really positive picture around the world as well, which is really, really useful for our listeners. So when it comes to running an ethical and sustainable business. What has been your biggest struggle so far, and can you tell us a bit about how you've overcome it?

Yeah, I think from the operational in-house side of things, the— probably some of the biggest challenges, even myself as a manager of a team and also as setting the strategy for the organization for environment in-house and, you know, how we respond to our clients' requests is very much— there's so much we can do, where do we direct our energy? And in many ways over the years, I think over the last 10 years, it's been looking at the priorities. So I think when I first came into the role, it was all about energy efficiency and doing everything you can possibly do with energy efficiency. Yes, our other impacts of waste and everything were there, But the focus was on energy, and you can see how that's gradually changed. You know, it's gone, it's really gone through all the impact areas of energy, how we use our resources, getting our recycling percentages to increase. And obviously the focus now is very much on single-use plastic. So I think the biggest challenge sometimes in this sector from my own personal professional point of view is knowing what to focus on. And not confusing people, not confusing colleagues and fellow employees as to what is the message that we are telling them this year, or what are we asking them to do, and how do we manage that change effectively so nobody feels like anything's being taken away from them, that they're only contributing.

Okay.

And I think you need resource to do that, actually.

If you could offer one piece of advice to our listeners which would help them with their purpose, what would that be?

I would say listen. Listen to your people, your clients, and be a leader in the advice that is coming through to you really from your key stakeholders. And don't be afraid to be the one in front who takes the leading role or does something that seems a little bit obscure, because actually that will probably be the way forward for everybody else behind you.

I like that. I like that. It's a good piece of advice. And what's the best way that we can connect with you and learn more? This could be also an opportunity to understand You know, how, you know, where can we learn more about what it is that you're doing at LingLators and the kind of work that you're doing from an environmental perspective? Do you have a sustainability page? Do you have stuff that we can look at?

Yes, we do. Our linglators.com/responsibility, our environmental sustainability page, has been freshly updated this last week, so you can see what we're doing around the world on that page. And we've also had our carbon neutrality announcement came through, came out on Tuesday to coincide with World Environment Day. So if you have a look at that press release, you'll see our leading thinking with how to have a carbon neutrality project, but also to incorporate our business skills through pro bono. So we're looking at pro bono opportunities through that project with the Gola Rainforest in Sierra Leone and Climate Care. To see how we can actually put our skills to a good use.

Brilliant. And I know that you're leaving for another position. Are you allowed to say what position you're going to and where you're moving to, or is it still under wraps?

I can probably talk about that. I'm, yeah, I'm moving to one of the international banks to work on in a new team for sustainability, and I suspect my first— one of my first projects will definitely be looking at the TCFD recommendations and scenario analysis, which I'm really looking forward to.

Oh, brilliant. Well, congratulations on that. It'd be nice to have you back at a later stage to hear more about what's— how you've been going and how the new job is, etc.

Yeah, thank you. It'd be a pleasure.

Thank you very much for your time today. Thank you, Leilani. Thank you.

Thanks, Will.

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