Rule 1.1 of the professional rules is about the duty of competence. Lawyers are required to have the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. In this ever-changing physical and legal world, to fulfill these duties, lawyers must develop new tools or at least sharpen that most essential of all tools—the capacity to learn new things and craft creative and effective ways to navigate through the complexity. Although basic legal concepts (e.g., what are cognizable interests in land, what is good title) remain largely unchanged, the duties and risks to parties in transactions are being radically transformed by new societal imperatives and technological (both knowledge and transactional) inventions.

Societal shifts are being driven in large part by climate change, which affects not only our private relations, but also has led to public law mandates. Lawyers need a basic understanding of climate science, i.e., they must become climate cognizant in order to competently advise their clients toward achieving value in their endeavors and for law compliance. It is not enough simply to tell a client that his building meets codes, but it is also necessary to explain that buildings may need to achieve prescribed levels of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The lawyer should understand how a building can become carbon neutral and in responding to persistent housing shortages, how an abandoned office tower can be repurposed for housing. ESG initiatives require the lawyer to understand how her client’s business operates in order to set and measure ESG goals.