Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP

We take our Responsible Business commitments as seriously as the quality of our legal advice. Our focus is about building sustainable relationships with our stakeholders. We aim to be a trusted employer and business supporting our clients, colleagues and communities.

We recently achieved Silver Sustainability Rating from EcoVadis which assesses our environmental, social and ethical performance. We are now in the top 4% of companies reporting in our industry.

We have a Responsible Business programme which covers a number of areas:

• Environmental – our aim is to minimise the impact we have on the environment by closely managing and measuring our environmental performance, building sustainable practices for the future and engaging with stakeholders.
• Community support – partnering with our chosen charity partners and supporting community projects. We make financial donations via our Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
• Volunteering – each colleague is entitled to 2 days volunteering per year.
• Pro bono – we support organisations whose objectives are about promoting access to justice and economies by supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Workplace – we are committed to creating and maintaining a safe and inclusive workplace where our people can achieve their work potential, and supporting access into the legal profession. We strive to create a diverse and inclusive culture to attract and retain the very best people.
• Governance – we apply the highest standards of professionalism, business ethics and risk management, building sustainable practices for the benefit of our clients.

Environmental activity is central to the firm and since 2013 we have reduced our total carbon footprint by 70%. We recently achieved ISO 14001 re-accreditation, recognising an effective Environmental Management System is in place that provides a framework for continuous improvement in our environmental performance. We annually complete business carbon reporting and certification with The Planet Mark which recognises continuous improvement, encourages action and aims to build an empowered community of like-minded individuals. In our latest report, we hit a new milestone with our carbon emissions now below 1 tonne of CO2e per employee.

With our community support, we feel that as lawyers and business professionals we can maximise our core business skill set and make the most significant impact by focusing our efforts on social inclusion. We support charities through fundraising, donations of items, carrying out pro bono advice and volunteering such as through food warehouse projects, gardening and mentoring and reading schemes. Our offices support a range of charities and projects local to their communities all focused on social inclusion. Each office has 2-3 charity partners that they partner with to have the greatest impact in the local community.

We concentrate our pro bono offering on supporting Access to Justice partners, student law clinics, our chosen charity partners and small charities with no legal budget. One example is our partnership with Greenwich University Small Business Clinic to support small businesses to access high quality commercial advice. The partnership has also widened access to the legal profession. Students at Greenwich come from a diverse demographic, they are often the first in their families to undertake ‘A’ levels, and often have no connections in the law particularly in commercial law firms.

We believe that every business has a role to play in inspiring and preparing young people for the ever changing world of work; to highlight the opportunities available to them, help them unlock their potential and ultimately contribute to a thriving economy. Since 2015 we've provided approximately 600 opportunities for students to come into the business and experience working life in a law firm. We offer a range of programmes including; skills workshops, insight days, work experience placements, career talks and career fairs, as well as our apprenticeship programme.

Our first apprenticeship programme was launched in 2014 and since then we've gone from strength to strength. Our proudest moment came in January 2017 when we won Best Large Newcomer at the National Apprenticeship Awards – fantastic recognition of the investment we’ve put into our Paralegal Apprenticeship. We're continuing to build on our successes by rolling out apprenticeship programmes in many areas of our business.