Matthew Karmel says climate work can be integrated across legal practice, with the Planetary Lawyer Project promoting incremental engagement and pro bono opportunities ahead of its 28 April boot camp.
Matthew Karmel, environmental and sustainability practice group leader at Offit Kurman in New Jersey and founder of the Planetary Lawyer Project, said the initiative was born out of a personal search for a more meaningful and sustainable legal career.
The Planetary Lawyer Project was launched around four years ago. Karmel said that, at the time, there was limited visibility of pathways into climate-focused legal work, particularly within private practice.
“I looked around and thought, I don’t really see anyone talking about this,” he said. “I wasn’t sure who to model myself after or what lessons to take.”
Karmel started the project as a way to fill that gap – initially as a platform to document his own journey, and later as a broader community for lawyers seeking to incorporate climate work into their practices.
“I started before I had anything built, just with the idea of talking about the direction I was moving in and seeing what came from that,” he said.
Since then, the project has grown into a network of nearly 2,000 subscribers, with events attracting several hundred participants from across the legal industry.
“What’s been incredible is seeing how many people want to be part of this,” Karmel said. “They come from all different areas, but they’re all looking for ways to do more climate work.”
At the core of the initiative is the idea that climate work is not confined to environmental specialists, but can be integrated into almost any legal practice.
“It doesn’t matter what your job is or what your expertise is – there is climate work for you to do,” Karmel said.
He pointed to examples across practice areas, from employment lawyers advising electric vehicle companies to intellectual property specialists supporting clean technology businesses.
“You can do labour and employment work for an electric vehicle company, real estate work for a renewable energy company, or IP work for clean tech,” he said. “I haven’t even mentioned environmental law yet.”
Karmel said that framing climate work in this way is essential given the relatively small number of dedicated climate roles within the legal profession.
“There are very few roles where climate work is the only thing you do,” he said. “The success right now is having climate be part of your practice, not necessarily all of it.”
That approach also extends to pro bono work, which Karmel described as both underutilised and critical to enabling early-stage climate initiatives.
“There’s so much climate pro bono that needs to be done,” he said.
Much of that work involves supporting organisations and projects that lack the resources to pay for legal advice, particularly in the early stages.
“Many climate solutions start without legal budgets, but they still need help with things like forming a nonprofit, hiring their first employee or navigating regulatory requirements,” he said.
His own pro bono work has focused largely on transactional, compliance and policy matters, including supporting community gardens, sustainability initiatives and circular economy projects.
“There are so many climate actions that have legal overlays but no way to pay for them,” he said. “That’s where lawyers can really accelerate things.”
Karmel said the impact of such work should not be measured solely against global outcomes, but in terms of tangible local benefits.
“I’m not doing this thinking I’m going to solve climate change,” he said. “But if I shrink the lens of what I’m trying to do, I’ve had tremendous impact.”
He cited a project during the Covid-19 pandemic that helped facilitate the redistribution of surplus food to communities in need as an example of the practical impact lawyers can have.
Such examples, he added, are important in countering scepticism about the value of pro bono work in addressing large-scale challenges.
“If you focus only on the global problem, it’s easy to become disillusioned,” Karmel said. “But if you focus on the impact you’re actually having, it becomes much more meaningful.”
The Planetary Lawyer Project’s upcoming Climate Pro Bono Boot Camp, scheduled for 28 April, is intended to translate that philosophy into practical guidance for lawyers at all stages of their careers.
The virtual event, which is free to attend and offers continuing legal education credits in the US, will feature a mix of practical sessions, case studies and career-focused discussions.
“We wanted to create something that shows people how to do this work, as well as why it matters,” Karmel said.
The programme includes sessions on topics such as climate litigation under the Inflation Reduction Act, intellectual property in the clean technology sector and “litigation light” approaches that allow lawyers to support cases without taking on full representation.
“We try to give people bite-sized ways to get involved,” he said.
The boot camp will open with a keynote from Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice, who will discuss the organisation’s litigation work and the role of lawyers in advancing climate action.
Karmel said the event has grown rapidly since its launch, with more than 700 attendees in its first year and around 1,000 in its second.
“We’re already seeing several hundred people registered this year,” he said.
The initiative is run in partnership with Green Pro Bono, a legal services organisation that connects lawyers with climate-related pro bono opportunities.
While Karmel does not attempt to track the full impact of the project, he said anecdotal evidence suggests it is helping to build a self-sustaining community of lawyers engaged in climate work.
“I hear stories of people going off and doing their own projects and having their own impact,” he said.
He added that creating accessible resources – including recordings of past boot camp sessions – is a key part of that effort.
“We’re trying to build a library so that people can do this work in whatever context they’re in,” he said.
Karmel said law firms are generally supportive of climate-related initiatives, particularly where they align with existing priorities such as pro bono work, professional development or business development.
“If you start from something the firm already supports and layer climate on top, it often becomes much easier,” he said.
He acknowledged that navigating internal constraints can require careful judgement, but said there are usually pathways available.
“Law is a conservative and often bureaucratic system, but there are ways through it,” he said.
Ultimately, Karmel said the goal of the Planetary Lawyer Project is to lower the barrier to entry for lawyers interested in climate work and to demonstrate that meaningful contributions can be made at any scale.
“You don’t have to do 100% climate work,” he said. “You can start with 1% and build from there.”
He added that this incremental approach reflects both the realities of the legal profession and the scale of the climate challenge.
“Doing more climate work is a journey,” Karmel said. “The important thing is to start.”
Details of the 2026 Climate Pro Bono Bootcamp can be found here.