Highlights and new developments

Many of our offices have close partnerships with local schools as part of our commitment to raising the aspirations and improving the skills of disadvantaged young people

'We see evidence of steady growth in responsible business activity across the international network of offices' - The Corporate Citizenship Company


PDF of our highlights brochure
PDF of our highlights brochure for China

Recent highlights: Corporate social responsibility

'I am happy to say that one of the factors that attracted me to Freshfields was that it positively encouraged pro bono and community work and acknowledged the value of CSR. I was impressed that Freshfields was the first law firm in London to produce a CSR report.'
Po-Laine Goh, new recruit

  • Winner, 2009 CSR Programme of the Year, Legal Business Awards (UK). 'By increasing transparency, Freshfields has undeniably pushed CSR at law firms to a new level.' In addition to praising our corporate social responsibility (CSR) report, the award citation also commented on our notable success in having made all our offices carbon neutral.
  • Winner, 2008 Law Firm of the Year Award, The Lawyer Awards (UK). Our achievements in the sphere of CSR were cited as a contributing factor to winning this award.
  • 'Standout' in the responsible business category of the 2008 Financial Times Innovative Lawyers report for our CSR report. We were praised for being the first to undertake a major international audit of ourselves as a responsible business which, 'has had a ripple effect in the legal sector, encouraging other firms to start similar work'.
  • Highly commended at the 2008 Law Society Awards in the Excellence in Social Responsibility – Community Engagement category for being the first firm to produce an independently verified international CSR report, for our broad and successful range of CSR initiatives, and for taking a 'bold step' in identifying areas of improvement and setting targets. 'Their approach demonstrates clear leadership in reporting and transparency and shows that their activity is not cosmetic.'
  • The establishment of a new CSR strategy group. This group links the activities of our working groups on the environment and diversity, our community and pro bono committee, and our CSR partners, giving strategic direction to our worldwide initiatives.
  • Joining the UN Global Compact, committing us to align our operations and strategies with 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption.