Senior partners’ statement

The past year has seen huge upheaval across the markets in which our clients and our firm operate. The financial services sector in particular has changed significantly and will continue to do so. This, we believe, will make 2009 one of the most challenging years to date for our clients and for us.

We are working hard to maintain the quality of our service to our clients and at the same time to manage our costs through a variety of means (such as freezing salaries for our lawyers and other staff in several of our offices), alongside our continuing efforts to manage our environmental impact by reducing travel and conferences and improving energy efficiency.

We feel that we are in a strong position to deal with this economic downturn. We began a series of organisational changes in 2007 to make us a more efficient and adaptable business, while at the same time maintaining our commitment to our core values: integrity; excellence; understanding of our clients and our communities; teamwork; and imagination.

Annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting helps us to stay focused on the goals we have set ourselves and on how best to achieve them in the complex world in which we all operate. We believe that proper understanding and management of our social and environmental impacts are important to the sustainability of our own business, and are also of value to our clients.

Now, as we reflect on the past year and think about the future, we wish to restate our commitment to minimising our contribution to climate change; to being an excellent employer and creating a positive impact on the communities in which we work (and beyond); to promoting human rights and improving access to justice for people in need; and to strengthening our activities in promoting diversity and greater inclusivity. We see our participation in the UN Global Compact as an important step forward in achieving our aims.

We are encouraged by the positive response to our CSR reports and activities internally and externally – from our clients and other businesses and through the awards that we have received in this area. We are even more encouraged by the participation of the people who work here, both as volunteers in our community and pro bono programme, and by their efforts to reduce our impact on the environment. Our desire is that this will continue, since the economic recession will only exacerbate social issues such as homelessness, deprivation and unemployment, as well as creating significant business challenges and pressures that will leave few people untouched.

We are focused on long-term success and we take a long-term view. Tackling climate change and investing in the talent of the future is important now and for future generations. This is about sustainability – combining professional success and social and environmental responsibility.

Our CSR report measures our programme using recognised benchmarks, and enables those who are important to us – in particular our clients, our people, and potential recruits – to see how we are doing. We find CSR a thought-provoking and challenging process and we hope that readers will find this report useful in improving their understanding of the firm and of the work and aspirations that it describes.

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  Konstantin Mettenheimer
  Senior partner
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  Guy Morton
  Senior partner

Konstantin Mettenheimer and Guy Morton, senior partners