This law practice earned the status of Certified B Corporation in Spring 2023
When I was in law school, Certified B Corps™ and Benefit Corporations did not exist. But the conversation around "using business as a force for good" was alive. For me, I began researching and advocating for this concept my senior year at the University of Idaho with my paper on "The Game Theory of Corporate Social Responsibility". I was so excited when my Corporations professor at Pepperdine started talking about SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP. I rushed to her office hours after class and told her that was my jam and I wanted to know more. I was her research assistant for a few semesters and helped her publish two articles arguing that current law allowed corporate directors and executives to do this work (read more about that legal analysis on my Education page!).
At the time, there was no Benefit Corporation legal status to protect these people, and lawsuits were inhibiting innovation. I eagerly followed along as the organization B Lab created the Certified B Corporation status and pursued legislative changes to create the new corporate form. At the time, I was working at a business law firm and happily observing (but not implementing) the development of these new tools. One of my main reasons for starting my own law practice was to "Help Awesome People Do Awesome Things" and really focus on supporting social entrepreneurship, cooperative culture, and the sharing economy. Law For Conscious Leadership *would* do this work!
I am so proud of myself (and my clients!) for earning this accolade. I don't usually use that term - "proud of myself" because it feels weird. But this really does mean a lot to me and I worked very hard to build a business that allows me to embrace my values and support those who are aligned. It means so much to me to be "seen" in this way. It didn't come easily, either!
Before this recent assessment, I tried three times to gain the certification and wasn't able to show enough points. The assessment is rigorous and you earn points in the areas of governance, workers, community, the environment, and customers. Well, I was a single member LLC (few governance points) with no employees (no worker points) who worked from home (few environment points). I couldn't get over the initial thresholds, even though I was undeniably committed to the concepts and theories. I was consistently writing articles, giving presentations, and guest teaching in classrooms. And I had succeeded in getting two of my other companies certified - The Vervain Collective and Warm Springs Consulting (which has been re-certified twice!). Supporting social entrepreneurship was clearly my passion and pursuit, but I wasn't able to meet the metrics. To be real, I was frustrated and heading down the "who cares?" path. But I knew that I did care and I really wanted it!
In 2022, I started the assessment again with renewed energy and spent months going back and forth with the assessment team explaining what I do and providing financial reports. My final hurdle was creating a report categorizing all of my client work into whether they were "nonprofit", "social purpose", or "low income/economically disadvantaged" and showing how the projects completed were associated with Certified B Corp values. While it felt tedious and invasive at first, it turned out to be so uplifting and validating! Preparing that spreadsheet reminded me how far I have come in my practice and how dope my community is.
MY CLIENTS ARE AWESOME AND THEY ARE DOING AWESOME THINGS!
I always knew that. And now I have the gold star to prove it! Ha!
I am honored to be the lawyer my clients choose. I hope that this new status as a Certified B Corporation™ helps me reach more people and continue on this incredibly fulfilling path. I am grateful.
At the time, there was no Benefit Corporation legal status to protect these people, and lawsuits were inhibiting innovation. I eagerly followed along as the organization B Lab created the Certified B Corporation status and pursued legislative changes to create the new corporate form. At the time, I was working at a business law firm and happily observing (but not implementing) the development of these new tools. One of my main reasons for starting my own law practice was to "Help Awesome People Do Awesome Things" and really focus on supporting social entrepreneurship, cooperative culture, and the sharing economy. Law For Conscious Leadership *would* do this work!
I am so proud of myself (and my clients!) for earning this accolade. I don't usually use that term - "proud of myself" because it feels weird. But this really does mean a lot to me and I worked very hard to build a business that allows me to embrace my values and support those who are aligned. It means so much to me to be "seen" in this way. It didn't come easily, either!
Before this recent assessment, I tried three times to gain the certification and wasn't able to show enough points. The assessment is rigorous and you earn points in the areas of governance, workers, community, the environment, and customers. Well, I was a single member LLC (few governance points) with no employees (no worker points) who worked from home (few environment points). I couldn't get over the initial thresholds, even though I was undeniably committed to the concepts and theories. I was consistently writing articles, giving presentations, and guest teaching in classrooms. And I had succeeded in getting two of my other companies certified - The Vervain Collective and Warm Springs Consulting (which has been re-certified twice!). Supporting social entrepreneurship was clearly my passion and pursuit, but I wasn't able to meet the metrics. To be real, I was frustrated and heading down the "who cares?" path. But I knew that I did care and I really wanted it!
In 2022, I started the assessment again with renewed energy and spent months going back and forth with the assessment team explaining what I do and providing financial reports. My final hurdle was creating a report categorizing all of my client work into whether they were "nonprofit", "social purpose", or "low income/economically disadvantaged" and showing how the projects completed were associated with Certified B Corp values. While it felt tedious and invasive at first, it turned out to be so uplifting and validating! Preparing that spreadsheet reminded me how far I have come in my practice and how dope my community is.
MY CLIENTS ARE AWESOME AND THEY ARE DOING AWESOME THINGS!
I always knew that. And now I have the gold star to prove it! Ha!
I am honored to be the lawyer my clients choose. I hope that this new status as a Certified B Corporation™ helps me reach more people and continue on this incredibly fulfilling path. I am grateful.
