Community and pro bono legal advice
'We see evidence of steady growth in responsible business activity across the international network of offices' - The Corporate Citizenship Company
'We encourage everyone in the firm to take community engagement and pro bono activity
seriously and to get involved in our volunteering programmes. We hope that everybody
will spend one day a year on community team challenges, and encourage those with
legal expertise to use their skills to the benefit of the wider community and to
get involved in other community activities. We believe we are here not merely to
make a living and attain our professional ambitions; but to achieve a wider vision,
a sense of the needs of the world around us and a spirit of hope and achievement
– and to this end we are greatly encouraged by the response of people at all
levels in the firm to our community and pro bono initiatives.'
Konstantin Mettenheimer and Guy Morton, senior partners
Our community investment and pro bono legal advice programme is fundamental to our approach to being a socially responsible and sustainable business. We are, therefore, delighted to have seen an increase in participation in our volunteering activities across the firm from 24 per cent and 25,000+ hours in 2006/2007 to 29 per cent and 30,000+ hours in 2007/2008.
Our programme is designed to make a positive difference to the communities in which we have offices and, more broadly, to make a positive difference to some of the wider legal and social issues that concern so many of us today.
As a law firm, we believe we have a responsibility to promote human rights and improve access to justice for people in need. As an employer, we believe we have a responsibility to invest in the next generation; to improve the skills necessary to gain and sustain employment; to develop the potential of young people in schools and colleges; and to encourage a wider range of people from different backgrounds into commercial law firms such as ours. We also tackle important social issues such as homelessness and wider social exclusion. We recognise that this is important to our own sustainability as our continued success as a business is linked to a thriving economy and to the wider society.
In keeping with our values of integrity, excellence, understanding of our clients and our communities, teamwork and imagination, these activities also provide an opportunity for our people to work with other people within the firm; they can be fun; they enhance the volunteers' own skills and development; and they are often personally rewarding as well.
Encouraging volunteering during working time
The involvement of our people is vital to the success of our community and pro bono programme. Everyone who works here is encouraged to contribute one working day each year to our team challenges, in addition to getting involved in our community and pro bono programme. In 2007, we held our first firmwide community initiative designed to enable even more people across the firm to participate in our programme. As a result, over 600 people in 23 offices got involved in team challenges that year; in 2008 that figure increased to nearly 700.
Strengthening our pro bono programme
We aim to double our pro bono hours by 2011 and, to that end, in 2008 we rolled out measures across the firm to strengthen our pro bono programme and to encourage greater pro bono activity across all departments and all offices.
Matched funding
In 2008, people in our offices in China and Hong Kong raised funds in response to the Sichuan earthquake and the cyclone in Myanmar, which were matched by the firm. We have now launched a matched funding scheme for charity fundraisers in our office in London and other offices are planning to launch similar schemes.
Click here for more highlights on:
- CSR;
- climate change and the environment;
- community investment and pro bono legal advice; and
- our people and diversity
Our community and pro bono data has been compiled according to London Benchmarking Group (LBG) measurement principles.