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International Edition

Law Firm of the Year

Neville Eisenberg, longstanding managing partner of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), was on hand to collect the Law Firm of the Year Award, which was decided by the judging panel on the night. BLP beat strong competition from the other contenders. It won the judges' approval for the transformative journey it has been on under Eisenberg's watch. Since its creation via the merger of Berwin Leighton and Paisner & Co in 2001, BLP has been the definition of the innovative, upwardly-mobile City law firm.
2 minute read

International Edition

CSR Initiative/Programme of the Year

The Legal Response Initiative (LRI) is the result of collaboration among lawyers based at Oxfam GB and World Wildlife Fund UK and a number of law firms and barristers' chambers. Its purpose is to provide pro bono legal advice to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) taking part in the ongoing United Nations climate change negotiations. By doing so it seeks to redress the imbalance between the level of legal representation enjoyed by the world's richest nations and the advice at the disposal of the least developed nations, who rely on NGOs to support them. The LRI provided legal advice at last year's Barcelona and Copenhagen sessions and two sessions in Bonn this year. Liaison offices based at the conferences passed on legal queries to a 'situation room' in the London office of Simmons & Simmons.
2 minute read

International Edition

Off the clock - how pro bono can enhance lawyers' fee-earning work

I was recently honoured to receive the International Bar Association (IBA) annual Pro Bono and Access to Justice Committee Award and was asked by the IBA to provide my pro bono biography. Most lawyers I should imagine do not have a pro bono biography; pro bono work is often undertaken ad hoc. I was no exception. When putting this together, I was genuinely surprised by the large number of pro bono projects I have been involved with over my nine years at Allen & Overy (A&O). There has been no great plan behind this. My pro bono commitments have been rather opportunistic in a sense.
8 minute read

International Edition

CC signs up to £1m pro bono deal to provide trainees for legal aid work

Clifford Chance (CC) has pledged to provide pro bono support worth £1m to legal aid practice Law For All (LFA) over the next five years. The magic circle firm has signed a five-year agreement with longstanding pro bono partner LFA, which sees CC commit to supply up to five full time-equivalent trainees each year to the organisation - an investment CC estimates at worth more than £1m over the period.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bakers creates pro bono director role to lead on CSR initiatives

Baker & McKenzie has appointed Madeleine Schachter as global director of pro bono and corporate social responsibility (CSR), with the appointment coming as the firm moves to strengthen its CSR initiatives with clients. In the newly-created role, New York-based partner Schachter will work exclusively on CSR matters, including pro bono work with an emphasis on international humanitarian rights, constitutional law and civil rights issues.
2 minute read

International Edition

Clifford Chance places value on pro bono efforts of £17m a year

Clifford Chance (CC) has estimated the value of its pro bono activities last year at £17m - breaking convention among City firms by defining the value of its non-profit efforts. The figure is contained in CC's 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report, which estimates the value based on 57,071 hours invested by its lawyers in community and pro bono efforts. The firm's non-legal staff committed a further 2,274 community hours while the Clifford Chance Foundation paid out £2.4m in charitable donations.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC partners with client Citi for pro bono microfinance launch

Clifford Chance (CC) has launched a dedicated group to bolster its global microfinance activities, which are focused on providing loans to develop businesses in poor regions of the world. The group consists of around 100 lawyers based throughout 20 offices and comes as part of a project launched in the firm's London base.
2 minute read

International Edition

CC litigation partner made chairman at pro bono organisation

Clifford Chance (CC) litigation partner Roger Leese has been named chairman of pro bono organisation Advocates for International Development (A4ID). A4ID acts as a broker between law firms and developing countries that require legal assistance, to aid their international development, trade programmes and debt situation.
2 minute read

International Edition

Pro bono panel spots up for grabs for London 2012

The Bar Council and the Law Society are set to draw up a pro bono panel of law firms to offer legal services at the 2012 Olympic Games. The tender process will kick off in January 2011, when the two representative bodies will issue open invitations to pitch. Bar Council chairman Nicholas Green QC said: "There will be no restrictions on who can apply, but we will be looking for firms, sets of chambers and individuals with experience in sports law and issues such as doping."
2 minute read

International Edition

A&O targets global pro bono growth with Reed Smith hire

Allen & Overy (A&O) has recruited the founder of Advocates for International Development (A4ID), Chris Marshall, as the head of its pro bono and community affairs department. Marshall will join the magic circle firm in the New Year after spending six years at Reed Smith, where he was pro bono and community manager for the firm's Europe, Middle East and Africa offices.
2 minute read

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