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Even lawyers are going green these days.

To strengthen their professional portfolios and better understand the needs of the developer clients, lawyers throughout the state and the nation are studying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional status from the U.S. Green Building Council Certification Institute in Washington, D.C.

More than 300 legal professionals have obtained this accreditation in the U.S., including 13 in Maryland, to help developers navigate the council's certification process, with its various levels of environmental friendliness.

John P. Davey and William M. Shipp, managing director and land use practice group leader, respectively, with O'Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore, a real estate law firm in Calverton, are the most recently accredited green lawyers in the state and the first in Prince George's County. The firm has 20 lawyers and three offices within the region.

"Increasingly, issues of sustainability are becoming more prominent in our clients' projects," said Shipp, a former chairman of the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce. "It's a little bit different than you would usually think, but when you think about it, lawyers are just as involved in the development process. … We need to become knowledgeable in these standards."

The process involves a month of classes, followed by a test on the LEED rating system's six areas: sustainable sites, water efficiency, green energy-atmosphere materials, durable and renewable resources, and indoor air quality.

Rex Wright, head of the Maryland chapter of the Green Building Council, said more lawyers are seeking accreditation so they can help developers prepare contracts for green buildings.

"It's a new area of liability," said Bryant F. Foulger, a principal with the Foulger-Pratt Cos. of Rockville, which is developing the green East Campus project in College Park, with the help of O'Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore.

The law firm also helped Opus East with its LEED Silver National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Weather and Climate Prediction at the University of Maryland's M Square Research Park.

LEED has four levels of certification; silver is below platinum and gold, but above certified.

"Making sure people understand the implications is important," Foulger said. "You won't know if your building is actually LEED silver until the tenant is in and you have certified the building. Then what happens if you don't hit LEED silver?"

Lawyers need to draft contracts to ensure the developer adheres to the LEED standards, with everything from construction practices to equipment and materials used in the building, said Arnold Kohn, general counsel for The Tower Cos., a Rockville developer.

Kohn was accredited this winter, wanting to provide the green-focused Tower with as much expertise as possible, and also earn himself another qualification in the process. Tower is upgrading numerous local buildings to LEED standards and worked on The Blairs apartments in Silver Spring, another green project.

"You're going to see more people doing this," Kohn said, adding that two other Tower lawyers are also accredited, along with other employees pursuing the status.

Shipp emphasized that green building is a growing area of commercial real estate development, adding that more lawyers in his firm will probably gain accreditation.

"Lawyers tend to want to be very specific, even if advising someone," Wright said.

The trend in LEED-accredited lawyers started about three years ago but has really picked up within the last 18 months. He joked that the legal interest surprised him at first, Wright said.

"It makes sense for anyone involved in the transactional side to understand the LEED process," Foulger said, adding that having accredited lawyers on the team "certainly wouldn't hurt."