Teams assembling at the Royal Courts of Justice at the start of the London Legal Walk 2009
'In the last five years the Law Society has been fundamental in helping us to
mobilise over 10,000 lawyers to raise more than £1 million '
Bob Nightingale, chief executive, London Legal Support Trust
The Law Society is committed to
operating as a responsible and sustainable organisation, and to helping
our members do the same. Some aspects of corporate responsibility work
have been embraced by the profession for many decades already. Our aim
is to develop, adopt and promote best practice across the board.
Acting on climate change
The Law Society supports solicitors to go greener through the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA), established in 2007 in partnership with DLA Piper and the charity Business in the Community. The LSA now has over 100 members representing over 20 per cent of solicitors in private practice in England and Wales and ranging from sole practitioners to global law firms. The LSA provides solicitors with practical and tailored tools and resources to help manage and reduce their carbon emissions and encourages law firms to disclose their carbon footprint using the LSA Carbon Protocol - a specially developed carbon footprinting tool. Recent initiatives include the production of guidance notes outlining the significance of climate change adaptation for the legal profession.
Promoting community investment
Whether through pro bono work, school governorships or helping pupils to understand their legal rights, we promote and support the contributions of solicitors to their communities. Each year we support a sponsored walk in London to raise money for London’s legal advice charities and National Pro Bono Week during which more than 4,000 people participate in events to highlight and champion pro bono work. New initiatives include a campaign to support and enable lawyers to act as school governors and a partnership with the Citizenship Foundation to put local practising solicitors in the classroom to help demystify the law and legal careers.
Funding charitable projects
Through the Law Society Charity the solicitors’ profession has provided essential funding support to many hundreds of projects that exist to further law and justice. Set up in 1974, the Charity is managed by trustees independently of the Law Society. Recent beneficiaries include LawCare, the International Lawyers for Africa programme and the Diversity Access Scheme. The Charity is currently urging the profession to donate unclaimed client funds to continue its support for these and many other good causes.