Community Involvement

Our lawyers and staff are actively involved in our community and we recognize those efforts at the firm and individual level. It is important to us as a firm and as individuals to give back to the communities, where we live and work. We take particular interest in partnering with organizations that have a direct impact on our local community.

Charitable Organizations

Our firm's major community and charitable program supports the United Way in its annual campaign. The United Way's focus on high risk groups and direct impact, local programs allows our firm members to feel a real connection to our fundraising and community activities. Each year our firm's commitment grows, both in terms of monetary contributions and time devoted to the United Way.

Similarly, for many years, our firm has supported families in need via the Family Services of the North Shore – Christmas Bureau. We have also eliminated paper based holiday greeting cards and instead donate the saved money to local charities that feed and house those in need during the holiday season.

Our lawyers and staff give their time and contributions to the following organizations:

• Canadian Cancer Society
• Society and Science publication of the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science's (CAAS)
• BC Society of Parenting Coordinators
• Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver
• Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland 
• Mainstream Association for Pro-Active Community Living
• Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada – Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary
• Jane Rowan Society (Little Flower Academy)
• Carital Continuing Care Society (Villa Carital)
• Italian Cultural Centre Society
• Pacific Cinematheque
• Port Coquitlam Emergency Preparedness
• Canadian Red Cross – Disaster Management Program
• Provincial Emergency Program
• PAOC – ERDO – Child Care Plus
• YWCA High School Mentorship Program
• Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter
• Leave no Trace
• The Parkinson's Society of BC
• Ovarian Cancer Canada
• Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia
• PoCo Minor Softball
• Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club

Pro Bono

Watson Goepel Maledy LLP recognizes that legal representation is not within financial reach of all members in our community. As a full service, regional law firm, several of our lawyers are committed to providing pro bono services to ensure that those in our community who cannot afford legal representation, especially those with the most acute need of legal services and advice, will have access to a lawyer.

Our lawyers and students work with the following agencies for pro bono work:

• Access to Justice pro bono
• Salvation Army pro bono

Environmental Sustainability

Our firm has been actively involved in greening our business through internal recycling as well as waste and power reduction programs. In addition we work with our suppliers and our landlord on coordinated programs to reduce our overall environmental impact. Like all businesses, we realize we can do more and therefore we are continually working on ways to reduce the environmental impact of our business and have a healthier environment for our firm members and our clients. We continue to solicit input from and involve our lawyers and staff in are green initiatives.

Watson Goepel Maledy LLP is committed to the following sustainable practices:

Purchasing

We work with our vendors and suppliers to source supplies and equipment that have a lower environmental footprint, for example; supplies with higher post consumer recycled content, lower energy consumption requirements or reduced packaging. We also coordinate with our suppliers to reduce the number of shipments made to our premises, therefore lowering their overall environmental shipping footprint.

Solid Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling

We have worked hard to reduce our use of paper and non reusable supplies in our practice of law. This is an ongoing process improvement philosophy that allows us to do our work more efficiently with less impact.
We have also reduced our use of disposables drink and food items and their packaging in favour of reusable cutlery, glasses and mugs. We source and reusable equipment and supplies where possible and recycle all of our paper and the majority of our supplies. We ensure that electronic equipment is either reused or recycled by organizations that adhere to the strictest standards.

Energy Reduction and Conservation

We have focused on energy reduction by turning off unneeded lights and equipment and sourcing new equipment with lower energy requirements.

Commuting & Transit

We encourage the use of mass transit and cycling by our lawyers and staff. We are part of the Translink Employer Pass program which provides a reduced rate for monthly transit passes to all our firm members.

Education & Communication

We develop and refine our ongoing communications and education plans for the firm's environmental initiatives as well as those sponsored by our building management company and our suppliers.

Ongoing Measurement & Assessment

We routinely measure and assess our various initiatives to see where improvements have been made and where further improvements are needed. This assessment includes the adoption rate of new environmental policies like turning off lights, recycling office supplies and designing our communications and change management processes to encourage maximum buy-in from all of our lawyers, staff and suppliers.