Corporate social responsibility

We aim to have a positive impact through our four main themes of CSR activity:

• increasing access to justice;
• supporting opportunity;
• charity partnerships and volunteering; and
• sustainable business.

Increasing access to justice

As a major law firm, we have a role to play in promoting fairer access to legal advice by providing free legal assistance to disadvantaged communities and to charitable organisations (thereby enabling those organisations to focus their economic resources on delivering support to their beneficiaries).

Partners, associates, trainees and paralegals across the firm volunteer to provide pro bono legal advice to a range of charities and community groups. Macfarlanes is a signatory to the national Pro Bono Protocol and to the Law Society's Pro Bono Charter, both of which confirm the firm’s commitment to providing pro bono advice.

Through our pro bono work we are able to help non-profit organisations and individuals who may not otherwise have access to legal services. Lawyers at all levels from partners to trainees (including our future trainees undertaking the LPC) are encouraged to take part and many make a significant contribution in this field.

These are some of the organisations with which we work:

Supporting opportunity

Our staff support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop their skills and aspirations for the future, through education, employability and enterprise support, work experience and mentoring programmes.

We focus on Newham, East London

As part of our efforts around social mobility, we work to encourage young people from less privileged backgrounds to broaden their horizons and to aim high in their education and aspirations. As a firm, we have chosen to focus our support on the borough of Newham which, of our neighboring boroughs, receives far less support from the corporate sector.

Macfarlanes partners with Inspire (the Education Business Partnership for Newham and Hackney), supporting students at local schools and colleges to develop the skills and qualities needed for the world of work.

Macfarlanes' community day

As part of the firm’s CSR programme every member of staff may take an unlimited number of days to volunteer for a firm-approved charity or community project such as:

• Gardening at Hammersmith City Community Gardens
• An art therapy session with adults with learning disabilities at Arts For All
• Weighing and sorting food at Harold Hill Foodbank
• Supporting chefs and packaging meals at Felix’s Kitchen

This also forms part of our trainee solicitor induction.