Our approach to corporate responsibility (CR) balances the type of business we operate and the people who work here, with the needs of our local and wider communities. By aligning those two elements, we have devised a CR strategy with three principal aims:
- to ensure that people who cannot afford legal advice have access to justice;
- to encourage a culture of community involvement and engagement; and
- to minimise our environmental impact
These aims are underpinned by our belief that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, to equality of opportunity and justice, and that we should all contribute in the creation of more inclusive society where people from all backgrounds and viewpoints can fulfil their potential.
Governance is provided in the form of our Corporate Responsibility Partner, Adam Johnson, who works with our Community Investment Committee, our Sustainability Group and the firm's managing and senior partners to drive the firm's approach to CR. Representatives from offices on our international network take responsibility for managing our approach to CR outside of London.
In addition to partner champions for many of our initiatives, we also employ a dedicated team of CR professionals to oversee and manage our approach. To guide the development of our approach to CR, the firm is a member of a number of organisations that help to inform our strategy. Amongst others these include: Corporate Responsibility Group; Chatham House; London Benchmarking Group; Advocates for International Development; Aldersgate Group; Royal African Society; and London First. For details of other organisations we work with see the 'Our partnerships' section.
More information about our approach can be found on these pages or by emailing corporateresponsibility@herbertsmith.com