France: Paris

'Our CSR programme has continued to go from strength to strength this year. Our initiatives are very much welcomed and are supported wholeheartedly across the office. Although we still have a lot of work to do, I am extremely proud of our achievements thus far. We continue to play a leading role in the development of pro bono work in France through our involvement in the Paris roundtable and its steering committee and we have successfully strengthened relationships with our pro bono and community partners. We look forward to developing more projects with them through pro bono partnerships, team challenges and other ongoing programmes. Our ENGAGE Discovering Business project for disadvantaged schoolchildren was a huge success, and I for one was delighted to have been able to take part and share this experience with the pupils and our volunteers. Offering three of the students the opportunity to come back for a summer work placement was extremely important for us and we sincerely hope that the time these pupils spent in our offices will be prove invaluable in helping them make careers decisions in the future'.
Emmanuel Bénard, partner with responsibility for CSR in Paris and member of our community and pro bono committee

Pro bono in Paris

Our Paris office has provided pro bono advice to Reprieve in relation to the death penalty in francophone Africa. We are also involved in a joint Lawyers Without Borders and Save the Children project relating to property and inheritance rights for women and children in Africa in light of the HIV/AIDs pandemic. This work is part of our contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.

Since its inception in 2007, we have been actively involved in the Paris pro bono roundtable. Along with four other law firms, we are part of its steering committee, which is responsible for devising a pro bono development strategy in France. The committee is currently working on a co-operation project with Droits d'Urgence, which it hopes to launch early in 2009. Now recognised as a leader in the pro bono field in France, we were recently in consultation with the organising committee of the 2008 European Pro Bono Forum, hosted by the Public Interest Law Institute, with regard to the forum agenda and to provide speaker suggestions.

We are looking forward to generating our own pro bono files through partnerships with French-based human rights organisations.

ENGAGE Discovering Business initiative

In 2007, we began working alongside the French Ministry of Education, ENGAGE, IMS-Entreprendre pour la Cité, and a number of other businesses including Deloitte, HSBC, Linklaters, UBS and Walt Disney, on a project designed to welcome 14-16-year-old disadvantaged schoolchildren into the workplace as part of a 'discovering business' initiative that introduces them to corporate life and culture. As a result, we played a key role in drafting the 'Un jour, un metier' programme (and came up with the project name) and in April 2008, a group of 13 children from Paul Verlaine middle school (from the Parisian suburb of Les Mureaux) spent the day in our offices, along with two teachers and their headmaster.

The pupils were welcomed by a group of partners and associates and business services volunteers. They were supervised throughout the day by 23 volunteers and were divided into groups and set specific tasks relating to the work carried out in departments such as IT, design and print, travel, purchasing, etc. They also they took part in video conferences – including one with lawyers from our London office to practise their English.

The day was a huge success. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were astounded to discover that so many different professions could exist within a law firm. Our volunteers were delighted to have taken part and – to maintain links with the school and show the pupils that they have a place in the professional world – we invited three pupils to come back for one month's paid work experience in August 2008.

We will be working with IMS on new projects throughout 2009, including another discovering business day in April 2009.

Community Challenge

In 2007 and 2008, as part of Community Challenge, we worked with our community partners Unis-Cité and the CADA asylum seekers' centre. In 2008, we planted fruit trees at the centre, while volunteers from the IT department installed internet connections (so that residents can maintain contact with their families back home). Other volunteers painted the dining room and took part in a Halloween art workshop with the children.

For the third year running, our people gave blood in partnership with Don du Sang. In 2008, 10 per cent of people volunteered.

Maison des Himalayas

We continue to support the charity La Maison des Himalayas, (MdH), through donations and covering Christmas card printing costs. MdH runs a school for nomadic children in Manali, northern India, and in 2008 we decided to help finance a new project, Handimachal, which aims to meet the medical, education and integration needs of children and adults with disabilities in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh and its surrounding districts. Handimachal's main objective is to create a centre comprising a team of medical experts, an information bureau for the families and local social workers, a training school for disability professionals (the Handimachal School) and, at a later stage, a temporary reception centre for visiting families from isolated villages.