This award highlighted best practice and innovation in social responsibility and community engagement. The judges looked for original ideas and noteworthy impacts.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's range of projects including supporting charity Crisis on its Urban Village project to provide free legal advice on housing issues made their entry stand out. Most notable was a programme designed to break the cycle of homelessness and social exclusion through providing work experience, job coaching, informal support schemes and pro bono legal advice. The firm offer 20 placements a year and to date have employed 14 people on a permanent basis.
Shortlisted: Allen & Overy (London)
Allen & Overy articulated an approach which was comprehensive and recognised that responsible corporate behaviour is central to what they do. The sheer breath of their activities in this area was what most impressed the judges. The firm was strategic around where their offices were located - they supported local schools with education projects; worked with vulnerable young people on mentoring schemes; assisted small businesses to understand how to engage and pitch to large law firms and companies, and also provided pro bono legal advice to charities.
Shortlisted: DLA Piper UK LLP (Birmingham)
DLA Piper had a dedicated CSR team operating a global programme of activities. Initiatives included a global sustainability initiative, raising awareness through a 'Cooling the Planet' conference; a three month pro bono secondment to the UN World Food Programme; non profit affiliate supporting global pro bono activities including the African Millennium Cities Project and they also assisted homeless people back to the workplace by providing employability skills and work placements.
Shortlisted: Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP (Colchester, Essex)
The judges were impressed with how Fisher Jones Greenwood used their resources. Projects such as Lawyers for Young People, which provided innovative legal advice services for young people in the care system; Tendering Outreach Project, which provided outreach drop-in advice services for disadvantaged groups in the community, and ProHelp which provided professional advice and support to charities and community groups in Colchester, were of particular interest to the judges.
Shortlisted: Linklaters LLP (London)
Linklaters undertook many activities in community engagement and social responsibility. The Crisis 'Changing Lives' programme provided financial grants and mentoring support to help homeless people realise their vocational ambitions and return to work. Thirty eight homeless people received funding to establish their own businesses and all reported an increase in motivation to achieve their vocational goal. The firm's community investment strategy focused on support on enterprise-related projects as a means of addressing social and economic deprivation.