Responsible business report
EMEA | 2024
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Reflections on progress
We present our 2024 responsible business report against a challenging backdrop
The world can feel like an uncertain place at times with conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic volatility making headlines every day. Increasingly extreme weather conditions have led to wildfires, droughts and record rainfall, with 2023 confirmed as the hottest year on record. Within this context, our report recognises our responsibility to play an important role and to reaffirm our commitment to our people and the communities in which we operate. We have made progress across a number of areas and remain focused on continuing to move our firm in the right direction.
Opening doors
I am proud of the work that has been done at Norton Rose Fulbright to foster a culture of inclusion. By creating an environment where people feel able and safe to bring their true selves to work, our business – and the wider legal sector – can become a better reflection of our diverse society, a place where everyone can thrive, where under-represented groups have increased access, and where we can improve retention through to the most senior levels.
Diverse teams bring diversity of thought and better ideas to the table.”
Peter Scott
Managing Partner, Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA)
Social mobility is something very close to my heart – I strongly believe everyone has the right to feel like they belong and can progress to senior levels. Our diversity network, Advance, seeks to raise awareness of social mobility issues and encourages employee participation in social mobility schemes and volunteering opportunities. Through cross-industry collaboration, we hope to influence a wider approach to social mobility – you can read more about this in my article, ‘Opening doors in the legal industry’.
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The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of responsible business, particularly in a sector traditionally known for demanding work and long hours. Alongside initiatives to raise awareness about mental health and to create a culture of openness and support within the firm, it was refreshing to hear the clients who joined us for our Partner Summit in March last year talk about being mindful of deadlines and timescales in light of mental health. This really brought home the shared responsibility towards meeting client demands while being responsive and efficient, with supporting the wellbeing of the team working on matters. In the UK, we have recently agreed some changes to our family policies, including the extension of fully paid paternity leave, increased paid leave for fertility treatment, parental coaching for all expectant parents across EMEA, and earlier access to all types of family leave. Health and vitality are essential to a productive, motivated and happy environment. We have launched our Global Wellbeing Challenge, designed to encourage our people to stay active alongside some friendly competition to top the leaderboards by office and region. In September last year, I also joined a team from our London and Newcastle offices on a ‘Triple Challenge’ which included trekking, cycling and kayaking in the Lake District, to raise money for our charitable partner, Save the Children. As anyone who’s participated in any of these types of activities across the network will affirm, you really feel the benefits of this type of exercise on your mental wellbeing.
Wellbeing and mental health
In helping to support businesses in their role in facing the climate change crisis, we recognise our own responsibilities to move to net zero. Across EMEA, we have recently received validation of our near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets will be supported by a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure sustainability is embedded into our business operations.
Our path to net zero
This year, I am also proud to see the great progress made in our pro bono legal offering – a cornerstone of any law firm seeking to act responsibly. We have made significant strides increasing average hours per lawyer by
Commitment to pro bono
100%
from 2022, signing the Global Refugee Forum Legal Community Pledge, and renewing our commitment to the Law Society’s Pro Bono Charter, demonstrating and strengthening our commitment to a vibrant pro bono practice across the region.
Working collaboratively with our people, our clients and across our communities, I believe Norton Rose Fulbright can continue to evolve with pace and make a real impact globally. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients and everyone who has worked alongside us, dedicating their time and skills, on our journey so far. I am mindful that it is a journey, however, and I look forward to making further progress in the months and years ahead.
The road ahead
Contents
1
Business conduct
2
Sustainability
3
Save the Children
4
Pro bono
5
Social impact
6
Diversity, equity & inclusion
7
Looking ahead
8
To top
Our responsible business approach
As a purpose-led business, we embed ethical, social and environmental principles into every aspect of our personal and corporate behaviour. But the world is bigger than us, we must contribute to wider societal goals and to align our work with key guiding principles – such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout our approach, we benchmark against these goals, complete key submissions to ensure accountability, and position our activities to specific indicators and where we can make a meaningful difference.
UN Global Compact
In September 2022, we joined the UN Global Compact and are continuously committed to integrating its Ten Principles, covering human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, into our day-to-day operations and strategic decision-making. Underlying the principles is a core belief that responsible businesses enact the same values and principles wherever they have a presence and know that good practices in one area do not offset harm in another. By establishing a culture of integrity, we not only uphold our basic responsibilities to people and planet but set the stage for long-term success. In early 2024, delegates from our responsible business team participated in the UN Global Compact SDG Ambition Accelerator. The UN Global Compact’s SDG Ambition work aims to challenge and support companies in setting ambitious corporate targets and accelerating integration of the 17 SDGs into core business management. Across three months, participating companies were guided through the eight-step SDG Ambition approach and supported in prioritising action for the SDGs, as well as setting and integrating ambitious goals into their company.
Sustainability Advisor
Callie Martin
The accelerator served as a reminder that we can all contribute to the SDGs and further the efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It provided a useful approach for identifying new opportunities, unlocking business value and enabling transformative change.”
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. We align and measure our business impact and contributions to the SDGs to ensure that we are contributing to the collective action of creating a more sustainable future. We have identified nine goals that we can effectively support and where we can achieve the most significant impact. Our responsible business activities have been mapped to these priority goals using the specific targets, indicators and ambition benchmarks within each goal to ensure that our approach is aligned with what is needed to achieve the 2030 agenda. View further details on the key alignments
Sustainable Development Goals
Click a goal to learn more
Joanna Harris, Head of Responsible Business and Wellbeing, talks about what it means to her, reflects on the past year and takes a look ahead at what 2024 has in store.
Purpose-led, responsible businesses make a commitment to balance the bottom line with ethical, social and environmental considerations. We must recognise the non-financial impact we have on our people, clients, communities and the world around us. I do believe we’ve seen a real pivot and a shift of attitudes in the last few years but there remains much to do. We welcome greater transparency of our processes and new reporting regulations that require businesses to be open about their wider impacts. There is greater scrutiny of ESG commitments and the organisations who perform best will attract and retain the best talent as well as growing the top line.
What does responsible business mean to you?
Head of Responsible Business and Wellbeing
Joanna Harris
We’re committed not only to advising and supporting our clients on their responsible business journey, but to leading from the front with our own initiatives, so we can effect real change.”
I am proud that this year we’ve really focused on our people. As a responsible business team, we explore the ways in which we can make the workplace culture better for everyone. How should we respond and adapt to the changing world around us? This year, we extended our family-friendly policies to provide better support for all families across the firm, empowering our people with more flexibility and choice in how to manage their time and commitments.
What initiative have you been most proud of in 2023 and why?
In a nutshell, 2024 is going to be about putting our net zero strategy into action. Measuring, monitoring and critically reporting our impact on the environment is key to our responsible business strategy and something we want to be very transparent about. As a business, we are committed to making real and essential changes to reduce our emissions. In 2023, we put forward our EMEA near term and net zero targets which have now been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, so 2024 onwards will be focused on developing a comprehensive carbon reduction plan. This represents a big step forward on our journey to net zero, a journey we know many of our clients are on and will put us in the best position to be a key advisor to them.
For 2024, what is going to be a key initiative to focus on and why?
Our diversity networks play a huge role in contributing to our responsible business ambitions and impact positively on our culture, serving as catalysts for driving meaningful change, promoting connection and advocating inclusion. Networks help to build supportive communities within the firm, creating spaces to share experiences and fostering a greater sense of belonging. They also play an important role in feeding back to the firm, providing a voice to concerns that may not otherwise be heard, and contribute to the evolution of our workplace culture. More broadly, networks create opportunities for collaboration between organisations. Through this ongoing dialogue we work together with our clients on diversity, equity and inclusion issues and wider responsible business commitments. We know that engaging our clients in this way strengthens relationships and builds trust, connecting us all on a personal and human level.
What role do employee networks play in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion at the firm?
I suppose some might see this as an issue that doesn’t directly connect with them – that it’s just something for the boardroom, or solely the responsibility of the responsible business team. We all have a role to play and a shared accountability to integrate responsible business practices and principles into our everyday work rather than treating them as a separate function. This work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Together we can, and will, lay stronger foundations to increase the positive impact for our people, clients and communities.
Do you think there are any misunderstandings surrounding responsible business?
Introduction
This year we were awarded a bronze medal by ecovadis, a globally recognised assessment agency which rates businesses for their performance in key sustainability and responsible business categories, including business conduct and ethics, diversity, equity and inclusion, pro bono, labour and human rights.
View UN SDG index
For the full experience check out our interactive report on your desktop
Quality, unity and integrity are at the core of our business principles. All Norton Rose Fulbright entities are regulated by relevant professional conduct bodies in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate, seeking to ensure that lawyers hold themselves to high ethical standards and demonstrate integrity in all professional dealings in a way that promotes confidence in the legal profession. In addition to ethical conduct requirements, our Global Executive Committee has implemented a common set of risk management standards that apply across all our offices, supported by local policies and procedures. These are known as our Global Practice Standards and are designed to safeguard our business and that of our clients, and to ensure we act consistently with our core business principles across seven key areas:
Global practice, global principles
Bribery and corruption
Money laundering
Economic sanctions
Insider trading and share dealing
External appointments
Discrimination and whistleblowing
Cybersecurity
To ensure ongoing and effective implementation of our Global Practice Standards across our various jurisdictions, and to manage legal and regulatory risk, all our lawyers are required to complete regular mandatory training in these areas, typically through e-learning courses. Specialist advisors remain available across the firm to highlight developments and deliver tailored training to particular practice groups and staff, as appropriate, whilst our Global Executive Committee provides regular guidance and oversight. The Risk and Compliance Academy, together with our learning and development team, actively ensure our employees are up to date on the latest risk issues, making us well equipped to handle the complex and varied issues businesses face in the modern world. In 2023, we introduced quarterly focused training to improve access to the relevant courses and materials, bring better awareness to acute issues and provide additional tools and resources for our lawyers and business services. Recent sessions have focused on sanctions and fostering a respectful workplace, and we have already seen an uptick in active engagement through this initiative. In April 2024, we pivoted our focus onto anti-money laundering regulations, with future spotlights planned on cybersecurity, bribery and corruption and encouraging active inclusion.
Managing risk
Partner and Chief Compliance Officer, EMEA
Sarah Lucey
Ensuring our lawyers act with professional integrity and are equipped to identify and manage the complex issues our clients face is a key focus of our service delivery and risk management. We are committed to attracting, retaining and supporting our specialised talent, from the moment they join the firm, and throughout their career with us. We seek to foster curiosity, courage and care as part of our culture blueprint, creating a high performing, high support and engaging workplace for our people. Above all, we promote ‘no blame’ and ‘speak up’ policies. We will continue our work to ensure our people feel motivated and supported to provide the best services for our clients across the business.”
As providers of legal services, we have a responsibility to uphold the rule of law and respect human rights. The firm is committed to respecting internationally recognised human rights through the implementation of human rights policies, and through our Global Practice Standards. We are committed to the highest ethical standards and identifying and mitigating the risks of modern slavery throughout our supply chain (including but not limited to clients, suppliers and staff). Take a look at our 2024 Modern Slavery Act Statement for more information.
Human rights
Read our statement
Horizon scanning
The risk landscape is shifting rapidly, creating multi-dimensional challenges for global organisations. Business strategy and operational efficiency require constant evaluation in a complex and often volatile environment. As a global firm, we are actively engaged when it comes to responding to and harnessing the benefits of new and innovative ways to deliver legal services, whether that be through new technologies or effective implementation of key regulatory practices.
Predicting future risks
Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are transforming how law firms operate, and challenging the way we deliver legal services. Governance frameworks that ensure ethical use and compliance with evolving laws and regulations, such as our recently established AI Steering Committee, mean we can explore the safe use of these technologies to enhance service delivery without compromising client confidentiality or data security.
AI and Lawtech
The new ‘failure to prevent fraud offence’ will soon be coming into force and, like many of our clients, we are reviewing how we manage fraud risks. Our procedures include scrutiny of existing practices and controls; the development and implementation of comprehensive fraud prevention policies; and training programmes tailored to the specific risks of our work. Our risk and compliance team helps to navigate the complexities and safeguard the firm, and our clients, from potential risks.
Enhanced fraud prevention measures
As a global business operating across borders, it is essential to monitor legal and regulatory requirements around the world, particularly in areas such as anti-money laundering, data protection, economic and trade sanctions, ethical conduct, and whistleblowing. Navigating dual requirements requires a nuanced approach, and we ensure our risk and compliance team are adept at interpreting and implementing a wide range of evolving regulatory standards across different jurisdictions. We regularly review our policies and their application to ensure that all our offices are compliant and armed with all necessary information.
Navigating cross-border compliance requirements
General Counsel, Business Conduct and Financial Crime
Andrea King
Although we are an internal function, the risk and compliance team works on the front line. We actively seek ways to ensure the firm and its clients are effectively mitigating the risks faced by them in a rapidly changing regulatory and risk environment. The erratic risk landscape of recent years looks set to continue, with new technologies, climate change and human conflict: disruption being the new normal. Through training and other awareness-raising initiatives, we aim to future proof our business, our people and our clients. Safely navigating the complex web of sanctions and other financial crime regulations is a challenge – and one that we take seriously.”
Economic and trade sanctions are measures imposed by governments on individuals, entities, and states to restrict their financial or trading activities. In some jurisdictions, breaches of these sanctions may constitute a strict liability civil offence or criminal offence. As part of our Global Practice Standards, we have policies and procedures in place to ensure that we and our clients do not engage in any activities that could violate applicable sanctions, including screening all clients and counterparties to mandates. We regularly train our people to promote and maintain awareness of sanctions exposure and risks. Our subject matter experts are engaged at the start of any client relationship and remain available to advise throughout the course of all relevant mandates to navigate these often complex and ever evolving climates.
Spotlight on economic sanctions
Multiple sanctions regimes
Current key areas of focus include:
Providing ongoing consideration of UK, EU and US sanctions as well as other autonomous regimes. Our teams are also mindful of future sanctions risks and US secondary sanctions exposure, and closely monitor updates to these regulations and relevant designation lists to assess and manage the impact to our work and our clients.
Navigating the nuances between the EU and UK professional services prohibitions, which restrict the provision of legal services, and other professional services in respect of certain mandates where there is a Russian nexus.
Legal services prohibitions
Exciting opportunities in emerging markets can carry increased sanctions and other financial crime risks, which need to be navigated and mitigated carefully for our clients.
Emerging markets
Cyber threats can lead to operational impacts, regulatory or legal repercussions, reputational damage or financial loss. To safeguard ourselves and our clients against these threats, the firm has a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to Information Security, using a blend of technical, organisational, human and physical measures. These controls are aligned with international standards and industry best practice to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all information assets within the firm, to safeguard our client’s data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or improper alteration.
Navigating cyber risk
These include next-generation firewalls; web and email filtering; data loss prevention and monitoring; DDOS protection; multi-factor authentication; and a fully managed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) service. Our continuous global security monitoring programme features real-time vulnerability scanning, proactive threat hunting, independent penetration testing and perimeter monitoring, supported by a dedicated 24/7/365 security operations centre. Data protection measures include Information Barrier and DLP systems, encryption at rest and in transit across all infrastructure services, and a document management system that ensures a full audit log, version control and restricted access on a need-to-know basis. This comprehensive, multi-layered security strategy, informed by ongoing technical and business risk assessments, is designed to protect the firmand our clients against every level of cyber threat.
Technology controls
Mandatory security training, regular phishing simulations and advisory communication campaigns are used to foster a security-conscious culture among all our staff and make them an integral part of our defence mechanisms. Additionally, all employees are required to read and attest to understanding the firm’s Global Practice Standards, which include a specific policy on Information Security and Acceptable use.
Human controls
These include access control systems covering building ingress/egress and floor access, manned security points and CCTV monitoring. Access to internal networks is controlled, with local equipment rooms restricted to authorised individuals and tier 3 certified datacentre facilities restricted to only named and security vetted individuals.
Physical controls
Our detailed security strategy is based on high baseline security standards (global ISO 27001 certification). It comprises a comprehensive programme, run by the specialists in our global information security team. All our information security systems are continuously monitored and regularly audited, and we have mature, regularly tested incident response processes, so that we are always prepared should a major security incident occur.
Organisational controls
We recognise that, whilst we provide expert guidance to our clients on environmental regulations and policies, it’s vital that we integrate sustainability best practice into our own decision-making. To that end, and to reflect the importance of our environmental performance to our clients, our people and our stakeholders, Norton Rose Fulbright EMEA has committed to reaching net zero GHG emissions across the value chain by 2040. Our polices are aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11, 12 and 13. Specifically, we are committed to taking direct action to support the UN SDG 13: Climate Action. In line with the level of ambition and action required to achieve this, we have adopted the ‘Science-based Emissions Reduction in Line with a 1.5°C Pathway’ benchmark, which ensures that we are ‘maximising our impact and contributing to the momentum required to achieve the Goals by 2030’.
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP has approved near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets with the SBTi:
Overall Net-Zero Target
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP commits to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2040.
Near-Term Targets
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 75% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 46.2% within the same timeframe.
Long-Term Targets
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 90% by 2040 from a 2019 base year. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 90% within the same timeframe.
Highlights
8 of the buildings where we have offices hold leading environmental certificates for their sustainable design, including:
LEED Platinum
rating in Frankfurt, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai; LEED Gold in Bangkok
certificate in Amsterdam and Brussels
BREEAM Excellent
rating in Hong Kong
BEAM PLUS Final Platinum
of our electricity across EMEA is purchased on a 100% renewable energy green tariff
76%
of our top 200 suppliers (by spend) had already, or were committed to setting targets with the SBTi (Science Based Target initiative)
20%
Since our UK offices partnered with PrintReleaf in September 2022, we have reforested 606* trees
606* trees
In 2023,
Sustainability Partner and Co-Head ESG EMEA
Caroline May
Sustainability is a business-critical issue, both to our firm and to the world. Our approach to measuring, monitoring, and critically reporting our impact on the environment feeds directly into our responsible business strategy – something we want to be very transparent about.”
This graph shows carbon emissions for our EMEA operations. The figures have been calculated using the GHG Protocol methodology, using both actual data and GHG Protocol recommended proxies where data is not available. Figures are expected to change over time as we continue to improve data quality. For example, we have used emission factors from the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Evaluator tool for our Scope 3 spend-based data (Purchased Goods & Services and Capital Goods). We are aware that these factors have now been decommissioned and plan to move to a new methodology from 2024 onwards. We will also consider whether we need to recalculate our baseline year, in line with our base year’s emissions recalculation policy. In future years, we will aim to move towards the supplier-specific method for our Purchased Goods & Services and Capital Goods categories, to further improve our data quality. We annually review our historic emissions data and as we continue to work with our advisers and share best practice, we will restate historic data based on the emergence of more accurate and up to date methodologies.
Carbon emissions for our EMEA operations
Our 2023 Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions have been verified by an independent third-party to a limited level of assurance. The verification exercise was performed according to the ISO 14064-3:2019 standard and was undertaken against the World Resource Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
2019 Baseline year – Tonnes Carbon Equivalent (tCO2e)
2023 Recent year – Tonnes Carbon Equivalent (tCO2e)
The role of lawyers in fighting the climate crisis
As an environmental lawyer, I have been advising organisations on their ESG impacts for many years. Today, more than ever, we are seeing the increasing importance of businesses in tackling climate change. This was demonstrated at COP28 in Dubai last year, where the private sector took centre stage. The legal industry has a unique responsibility to help educate businesses in this role, something I take personally as a lawyer. In January 2024 I joined the Partnership, taking on the added responsibility of leadership and the need to use my platform to educate, influence and encourage everyone in the firm to become engaged in the conversation. Sustainability and reducing carbon emissions should be a shared responsibility, so it’s important that everyone working in the firm understands the issues. Raising awareness of environmental law is key, and I use my position within UKELA (UK Environmental Law Association) and The City of London Law Society Environmental group to elevate the issues and positively influence any legal developments relating to the environment and climate change.
Lucy Bruce Jones Partner, EMEA Sustainability Committee Member
Understanding the environmental impact of the firm and ensuring that we are conducting our business in the most sustainable way is a key objective of our EMEA Sustainability Committee. As a member of the Committee, I strongly believe that embedding sustainability into our firm’s DNA will have a positive effect on our people, our clients, our culture and our communities. The Chancery Lane Project, which launched in 2019, is the largest global network of lawyers and business leaders committed to using the power of climate contracting to deliver fast and fair decarbonisation. We have participated since the inaugural event and have contributed to the production of 100+ climate clauses and a suite of tools for legal documents which are designed to encourage rapid decarbonisation and reduce climate impacts. As a founding member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA), we have helped to lead the strategic development by sharing our expertise and knowledge from a legal perspective, as part of the wider conversation. Being part of these organisations has helped teams on the ground dealing with emissions, positively changing behaviours and implementing new policies and practices.
Walking the talk
The new disclosure regulations and reporting requirements around ESG, together with The Law Society Guidance for solicitors on climate change, are crucial steps in driving both the legal community and businesses to think about the impact of their operations. We are starting to see system changes in many industries, but much more needs to be done. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) published its first sustainability-related disclosure standards in June 2023, representing an important milestone in the journey to a global baseline.
Regulation driving change
Partner, EMEA Sustainability Committee Member
Lucy Bruce Jones
There has never been a more critical time for action, and for businesses to put sustainability at the heart of everything they do.”
The wider world
Dedicated to embedding sustainability into our Paris office operations and culture, the Paris Sustain Committee meets regularly to identify where the office can improve energy efficiency, reduce waste and carbon emissions, and raise awareness through educational and volunteering opportunities.
Paris Sustain Committee
*correct as of March 20, 2024
Created in 2018, this three-hour collaborative, accessible and scientific workshop was created by the Climate Fresk NGO. Based on objective data drawn from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, it’s designed to help organisations better understand the scale and complexity of the challenges posed by climate change. More than 1.5 million people have already participated in the Climate Fresk movement across 161 countries.
Spreading the word with Climate Fresk
The Paris Sustain Committee has been running in-person Climate Fresk sessions since May 2023 with almost 50 people trained in the Paris office so far. We are looking to extend this to other EMEA Offices so that everybody can learn and have open conversations about the challenges of climate change.
We are continuing to contribute to the French National Forests Office endowment Fund, ‘ONF-Agir pour la forêt’ to help promote sustainable forestry management, fight climate change and preserve biodiversity. Since 2021, Norton Rose Fulbright has contributed to the planting of new species across two big state-owned forests and the rehabilitation of a wood dramatically affected by a disease. In 2023, private sector donations have allowed the ONF to realise 4.5 million euros worth of work in favour of the forest. This highlights the importance of our support.
Protecting Parisian forests
To help to meet the challenges facing tomorrow's forests, we are also involved in team-building outdoor activities with the ONF. Since 2022, more than 150 people from the Paris office have participated in initiatives including: building dry hedges for biodiversity; planting oak or fruit trees to replenish part of a forest; uprooting invasive plants; and attending an exceptional natural phenomenon in the forest, the squall of the deer.
Climate tech company Ager Oliva has a mission to save the four million abandoned olive trees in Tuscany and make the sector sustainable. Trees are often abandoned by those inheriting plots of land because work and family commitments mean they’re unable to manage them. Ever-increasing production costs and unpredictable climate changes compound the issue. In 2023, Norton Rose Fulbright adopted a grove of 100 abandoned olive trees through Ager Oliva, allowing the trees to be treated so that they can begin to recover. Restoration of the grove will help to reduce hydrological risk, preserve biodiversity and provide local jobs. Additionally, up to 60 kilograms of CO2 are offset for each olive tree saved, with the absorption capacity of each hectare of olive trees increasing by about 15 tonnes every year. To enhance the benefits of the donation further, in November Ager Oliva donated 95 litres of olive oil from the trees to the kitchen of one of our charity partners, Dynamo Camp, a recreational therapy camp close to the grove that hosts children with serious illnesses.
Restoring local olive groves in Italy
Dynamo Camp
We are truly honoured for the donation received from Norton Rose Fulbright, because it perfectly represents sustainability both for Dynamo Camp, its children and their families we host, and for the environment. Thank you for the excellent olive oil received!”
Year 5 classes from schools in London and Newcastle were invited to submit a project plan for an activity or initiative that promotes biodiversity in their school. The winning proposal received £500 to complete their project and were invited to join us for a day at our offices. Runners up were also awarded £250 to implement a biodiversity-related scheme in their schools. Take a look at the project proposals and winners.
Encouraging biodiversity in local communities
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Page Two
Social Impact Advisor
Natasha Gada
Our early interventions programme enables us to integrate into our communities at all levels. Engaging with primary school children to develop soft skills and learn about the communities around them encourages children to have high aspirations and connect with their surrounding community. Our biodiversity challenge was a great segway to engage children in Southwark and Newcastle on the importance of protecting biodiversity whilst also promoting soft-skills development, innovation and thought leadership.”
Continue reading
Within our walls
Meet the Core Sustainability team
615
379
Scope 1: Direct emissions
566
4,334
Scope 2: Indirect emissions (market-based)
1,683
3,589
Scope 2: Indirect emissions (location-based)
69,916
95,356
Scope 3: Other indirect emissions
Total Scope 1, 2 (market-based) and 3 emissions
Total Scope 1, 2 (location-based) and 3 emissions
Scope 1, 2 (market-based) and 3 intensity by FTE
Scope 1, 2 (location-based) and 3 intensity by FTE
100,305
99,560
42
41
70,861
71,978
27
28
(29%)
(27%)
(53%)
(87%)
(38%)
(28%)
(34%)
(33%)
The below figures are accurate as of April 2024.
% decrease in 2023 from baseline
In June 2023, Norton Rose Fulbright relocated to a sustainable office space in the heart of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). ICD Brookfield Place was the winner of the 'Healthy Spaces Project of the Year' and ‘Green Building Project of the Year’ at the MENA Green Building Awards 2021. It is accredited as the tallest and largest LEED Platinum building in EMEA – a building that implements measurable, positive steps toward protecting and improving human and environmental health. ICD Brookfield Place features over 140,000 square foot of green space and is designed to maximise daylight, ensure optimum energy and water efficiency, and deliver 30 percent more fresh air than local environmental requirements. During the move, our old office furniture found new purpose through donations to our valued staff members and the National Charity School of Dubai, a longstanding institution dedicated to educating children from underprivileged backgrounds. In this way, we not only prolonged the life of these items but were able to make a meaningful contribution to our community. It was great to give back in such a tangible and impactful way. Moving to a sustainable office space has allowed us to reduce our environmental impact whilst improving the overall work experience, with flexible working arrangements further contributing to this balance. The feel-good environment creates a positive atmosphere that enhances motivation and satisfaction.
Sustainable workspaces
Click on a specific name below to read their comments
Close
Working with our Sustainability Core team to develop and embed sustainability throughout our entire EMEA business is challenging but very rewarding. It is critical for our firm to build a resilient business that meets our net zero goals and the requirements of our clients, stakeholders, suppliers and most importantly the aspirations of our people. In meeting these challenges, we develop and share best practice with our clients who are engaged on the same journey. This broadens and deepens our key relationships as we build businesses for the future with the opportunities that a green economy will bring. And, of course, it will mitigate the impacts of climate change which we already see around the globe.”
John Connell-Smith
Director of Operations, EMEA
Sustainability is embedded into our operations objectives, and we are working closely with all our suppliers to set stretching sustainability KPI’s and to roll out a number of exciting initiatives. It has been great to see how our suppliers share our passion in this space and have so many ideas. Implementation is not always easy, but it is a worthwhile challenge!”
Sarah Scanes
Travel Manager, EMEA
Being on the core committee enables me to work with the wider team and focus on how we can reduce our carbon emissions in the Scope 3 category. This year we hope to introduce a travel policy together that not only focuses on financial and traveller wellbeing, but also the planet and how we can work to reduce unnecessary carbon emissions through travel services.”
Dave Banks
Head of Procurement
Sustainability is a significant pillar in what I believe modern procurement is about. From reducing our use of natural resources, to finding more sustainable solutions (e.g., reduced packaging, lower energy consuming IT Products etc.), procurement has a key role in working with both stakeholders and suppliers to drive innovation and behavioural change. We have recently launched our Supplier Principles, which are the foundation of how we engage with our suppliers, and working with the Sustainability Committee we have been looking at options of how we increase the visibility across the firm.”
Dave Matthews
Head of Financial Control
As one of the newer members of the Sustainability Committee, it has provided me with better insight into how we are planning to deliver our sustainability objectives. This means I can help ensure that sustainability is embedded in our financial decision making, balancing the financial and sustainability objectives of the firm both in the short and long term. Finance is ideally positioned to be the ’reporting gatekeeper’, supporting the compiling and measuring of sustainability metrics and then connecting sustainability data to drive insights and change.”
Christine John
Head of Social Impact & Sustainability Manager
Employee engagement is crucial to the firm achieving its net zero and sustainability goals. I have the exciting challenge of driving social impact by working with charities and NGOs ensuring sustainability is central to a number of our volunteering opportunities. Environmental sustainability is also one of the focus areas of the Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation enabling us to support charities, community groups and NGOs in achieving their aims to support climate protection.”
Reducing our environmental impact and preserving our planet is key to achieving a better future for us all. Gathering high quality data plays a critical role in understanding our impact and how we can make meaningful reductions in our carbon footprint. However, accessing more specific data can be a challenge, especially in Scope 3 where data sources are more complex. Over the next year, I hope we can gather more primary data to continually improve our completeness and accuracy. I enjoy being part of the core committee, as it means that I can collaborate with people in a variety of roles across the firm and work across teams to establish sustainability best practice.”
Sarah Boreham
Transformation Manager
Project management and change management are essential to the successful delivery of any initiative, especially one as broad and as complex as sustainability. Sustainability influences every area of our business – and everyone in it. The right tools need to be in place to connect the numerous workstreams and ensure efforts stay on track, to enable the firm to make meaningful progress towards its sustainability targets. Alongside this, thoughtful engagement and effective communication will help to navigate the cultural shift required to firmly embed sustainable practices.”
Lee Johnson
Assistant Building Services Manager
Sustainability in business is having the ability to operate effectively whilst aligning to core business values, without having a negative impact on the environment or society. Being part of the core committee enables me to learn from what others across the region are doing to minimise their environmental impact and put forwards ideas to make our biggest building, in London, more environmentally friendly. This has included implementing measures that improve the energy efficiency of our building and in line with our zero waste to landfill policy, exploring new ways to reduce our waste further and procure products made from recycled and sustainable materials.”
Head of Finance and Operations, Middle East
Joley Ahmed
Working from our new environment not only elevates professional performance, but it also enhances personal wellbeing as the open and dynamic space allows for improved collaboration and innovation.”
As part of our commitment to people and the planet, in 2023 we partnered with Grace & Green to introduce our sustainable period product workplace initiative, enabling us to provide free sustainable period products in our UK office toilets. Grace & Green is a leading provider of eco-friendly and sustainable period products. Founder Fran Lucraft launched the company after spending over a decade in the water and sanitation sector specialising in environmental management and international development. Having witnessed first-hand how conventional period products impact our water systems, rivers and coastlines, she knew that she had to do something to help solve this problem. With a focus on dignity, sustainability, and inclusivity, Grace & Green offers a range of organic and biodegradable menstrual products and reusables that prioritise both the wellbeing of individuals and the environment. Committed to ending period poverty and promoting menstrual equity, Grace & Green launched their Period Dignity scheme in 2022 to advocate for and support the provision of free menstrual products in all public settings.
Sustainable period products
We are gradually seeing younger generations being brought into the policymaking process and having a mandate in negotiations, such as the work with both the UN and the G20, but hierarchies within existing structures will continue to pose a challenge. Young people care deeply about the local, national and global issues shaping our world. We’re not short of new ideas or innovative solutions, what we need is to be truly included in the decision-making process. We’re making great progress towards that goal but we’ve still got a long way to go.
Progress
Last year, India hosted the G20 Youth Summit (Y20): the official youth engagement body of the G20. This summit brings together youth representatives from each of the G20 countries to negotiate a communiqué of policy recommendations. I represented the UK at this year’s Y20 summit, both as a climate change delegate and as head of the UK delegation, playing an important role in shaping the proposals submitted to the G20 Governments. The policies from the Y20 communiqué represented months of consultations with young people in the UK and across the G20 (and some hard negotiations in India). As young people rarely have a chance to relay their policy views to world leaders, forums like the Y20 are necessary for sharing knowledge and building solidarity between young people from around the world. Whilst our communiqué may be too ambitious to be wholly adopted today, it is the role of young people to envision a more just future and then start conversations that will push society towards these lofty goals.
Asserting young voices in India
Listen to podcast
I am passionate about energy and environmental law, in December 2023 I attended COP28 in Dubai to facilitate the Climate Youth Negotiators Programme (CYNP). This initiative trains young people from 54 countries to negotiate under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As the CYNP’s Advocacy Officer, I sought opportunities for the youth negotiators to speak at events and raise awareness for this important programme. At COP28, I sought to bring young people into the negotiations in a way that has never really been possible, as national delegations rarely give young people the skills to partake in these complex talks. It is a privilege to assist these talented young people, primarily from Global South countries to access the highest levels of climate policymaking. We must move from helping young people understand the relevance of COP to actually bringing them into negotiations. Intergenerational participation in these negotiations is fundamental for lasting climate justice. With my legal hat on, it was fascinating to witness the COP negotiations, peeking behind the curtain and seeing the work that goes into these agreements. As a future lawyer, it closely mirrors what we do on a daily basis: bringing people into the room, reaching agreement on a contract. It truly highlights the important role of lawyers in tacking the climate crisis. Norton Rose Fulbright is a founding member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA). To hear more about the CYNP, listen to the LSA’s latest podcast episode: COP28 from a young lawyer’s perspective.
A seat at the COP table
Young people, and future generations, will deal with the most severe consequences of the climate crisis. It is therefore essential for intergenerational equity that young people are included in climate policy-making spaces today.
Charlie Bevis Trainee, EMEA Sustainability Committee Member
Youth inclusion in climate policy-making
Our partnership with Grace & Green means that we can:
Ensure access to sustainable and safe period products for all our people.
Create an inclusive work environment.
Promote sustainability in the workplace through plastic-free and organic period products.
Fund tree planting and other carbon avoidance projects.
To increase our impact, we have also donated over
boxes of Grace & Green products to local food banks.
1,500
Real Estate Director, EMEA
Newcastle West End Foodbank
We are always so grateful to receive donations of sanitary products at the food bank. They are often forgotten yet are an essential item. Donations therefore help us to maintain the dignity of those people that otherwise may struggle to purchase sanitary products.”
Founder, Grace & Green
Fran Lucraft
We’re thrilled to partner with Norton Rose Fulbright to deliver free-to-use period products to their staff, alongside vital menstrual health information, as well as supporting local food banks with product donations for those most in need. We believe access to safe and effective period products is a fundamental right. We hope partnerships like this inspire others to join us in supporting this vital initiative.”
Michelle Marwood
Embedding ESG at the core of our EMEA wide property strategy dramatically increases our ability to achieve our sustainability goals. Across our property portfolio, we select and design buildings and spaces by consistently applying sustainability criteria during the assessment of potential buildings and a focus on ‘low carbon’ and ‘high on wellbeing’ workspace design. The premises added to our property portfolio in 2023 underscore our real estate focus on effective client service delivery, internal collaboration, learning and development and optimising social cohesion between our people with sustainability principles at the core.”
In 2021, we embarked on our first EMEA wide strategic charitable partnership with international NGO Save the Children. The three-year partnership is delivered through three key pillars to address the most pressing and complex barriers to children’s progress including challenges such as Covid-19, the climate crisis and social injustice.
Alongside funding of specific programmes, we have launched multiple employee appeals raising vital funds for emergencies, as well as providing flexible funding for Save the Children to use wherever the need is greatest. In 2023, we supported Save the Children’s emergency fund responding to crises across the globe, including responding to earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, and in 2024 the events unfolding across Gaza and Israel to support children and families impacted.
1.
Delivery
Responding to the most urgent areas of need children are facing.
Leveraging the skills, experience and expertise of our people, on a volunteering and legal pro bono basis, to deliver complex projects with impact for children.
Employee engagement
2.
Engaging our mutual networks and strengthening our convening power to amplify children’s voices.
Communications
3.
donated to since 2021
Over
US$1.2 million
donated in support of emergencies and disasters
US$400,000
of pro bono support
5,000 hours
In 2023, we were awarded the Eglantyne Jebb award for extraordinary individual or team contribution in support of a partnership at the 2023 Save the Children UK Partnership awards. The award recognises the 'incredible' contributions of individuals within the firm – both the core partnership team and those involved in the wider pro bono working group – as well as the lawyers who have provided 'invaluable' legal pro bono support across a number of projects.
London and Newcastle Bookmark reading and the Children’s Book project
Paris Le Secours Populaire
Milan L’Albero della Vita
Amsterdam Kinder Zwerfboek
Luxembourg Youth centres through the Luxembourg Red Cross
Germany Die Arche
China Bluesea Foundation and Kuzhi Yucai School
Hong Kong reBooked and Rolling Books
To localise our support of the Digital Mobile Camel Libraries and bring the issue of literacy closer to home, we launched ‘one child, one story’, as a way for us amplify this action locally by improving access to reading materials for children in our local communities. To commemorate UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day and World Book Day in the UK, each of our offices were encouraged to donate a book suitable for children aged 5-16. All books were then donated to local school libraries or charities supporting children’s education. In total across the region, we collected over 800 books.
Training in literacy, numeracy and upskilling on digital tech with 45 teachers.
The purchase of 11 camels, 12 camel back covers, tents, 35 plastic sheets and 140 mats to keep children comfortable during their learning.
A total of 3,424 children have been enrolled onto the programme.
The selection of 37 target schools in consultation with the head of the district education office across eight cluster centres.
Multiple project objectives are underway, and the following progress has been made:
Our third year of funding is committed to the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia, where we are supporting Save the Children's inception of the Digital Mobile Camel Library. The project distributes solar panelled tablets, digital materials and books to communities living a pastoralist way of life, meaning that children will have access to assorted and interesting stories in their own language and culture, reflecting their reality.
Digital Mobile Camel Library
YEAR 3
Green Incubator Programme Grantee
Ms. Nov Saroeun
My business has increased by approximately 20 percent of capacity to collect and buy junk from the floating community. This support dramatically helps prevent people in my community from dumping hundreds of kilogrammes of plastic waste to pollute the Tonle Sap Lake; instead, they continue to generate stable incomes from selling those to me. I can generate approximately 880,000 riels monthly, much more than before after the project intervention.”
During the second year of our strategic partnership, we worked with Save the Children’s GREEN project in Cambodia as part of our Global Charitable Initiative. With East Tonle Sap Lake being one of the most ecologically fragile areas of Cambodia, the GREEN project was set up to support the 40,000 adults and children and 8,000 fishing households, whose livelihoods and future have been hugely impacted by climate change.
The GREEN Project
full-time and part-time jobs for themselves, their families, and other youth in their fishing villages
23
retailers and citizens have also benefitted from their enterprises
In the region of
860
Save the Children launched the ‘green incubator programme’ in Cambodia to support green economy initiatives among existing youth and women-led businesses. The programme provides technical assistance and seed funding for entrepreneurs. An initial nine grantees were awarded funding to start up and/or strengthen their businesses by adopting green business concepts in 2023, with a further four grantees supported in early 2024. Feedback to date from the nine incubator grantees in 2023, reported that the project support had boosted and doubled their production capabilities and earnings, sustaining and creating:
Impact
Two drinking water treatment enterprises doubled their production and income, and another increased theirs by 50 percent after the project intervention. New retailers and orders for their water products have increased, particularly for the refillable drinking bottles. Their products have been in demand across the community, and they have expanded their market reach to more villages, and therefore more people and children in hard-to-reach fishing communities.
Case Study
YEAR 2
Global Innovations Programme Manager, Save the Children
Hannah Richards
This evaluation is a milestone moment for CONNECT. It will provide rigorous evidence of impact and an opportunity to look at the future of the project. Principles of CONNECT are already being applied to other projects and approaches at Save the Children.”
Established in 2021, Save the Children’s Safe Back to School fund provides urgent funding to country programs and global initiatives working to get children safely back to school. At the start of our partnership, and in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, this was particularly important due to the vast number of children and young people not returning to formal education. We became an inception partner and supported the implementation of Catch-up Clubs in Myanmar. Catch-up Clubs are a short-term intervention to help address the learning losses from school closures and disruptions. The clubs engage communities to support children’s wellbeing, rebuild foundational literacy and numeracy skills, and tackle barriers to returning to education. Being the inception partner has meant that our funding has enabled these innovative programmes to be tested and then extended into new regions, after seeing the positive impact and results. After our initial support in Myanmar, we continued our involvement in the Safe Back to School Fund, this time in Pakistan, by supporting the CONNECT project in 2023. With this top-up funding, this project will also now include an evaluation to generate evidence on the effectiveness of the CONNECT programme. It is hoped this could lead to further funding and expansion of the programme.
Safe Back to School
3,327 children participated in the Myanmar catch-up clubs.
Initial impact evaluation findings indicate that 80% of children are now achieving the highest levels of literacy.
YEAR 1
Interim CEO, Save the Children UK
Gemma Sherrington
Our strategic partnership with Norton Rose Fulbright has gone from strength to strength over the last three years. NRF’s commitment to ensuring children have access to quality education and support for our emergency work have been incredible. NRF’s practical and direct pro bono support from experts across the firm has had such significant impact to our mission for children, and we look forward to welcoming future secondees to Save the Children. We are excited for the future of our partnership and the lasting impact we can achieve with and for children across the globe.”
Partnerships Manager, Save the Children UK
Katie Kessous
It has been my absolute privilege to work on the Save the Children and Norton Rose Fulbright partnership for over two-years now. NRF’s support and approach to collaboration has been phenomenal, we have achieved so much together and driven real impact for children. From active challenges to strategic pro bono initiatives utilising the depth and breadth of knowledge and expertise at the firm, to fundraising for projects and within the first few days of an emergency happening, we could not be more proud to be working in partnership with you all and look forward to the next 3 years of our partnership.”
Back to Year 1
Credit: Seifu Assegid/Save the Children
Counsel, Head of Pro Bono, EMEA
Andrew Barton
2023 was a year of growth for our pro bono practice in EMEA. Launching a range of new initiatives across our offices, our lawyers had the opportunity to contribute to a wide variety of causes, meeting an array of legal needs. Any pro bono legal advice we offer is delivered with the same dedication and professionalism as fee-paying work. In recognition of this, we credit the time our lawyers record on these matters as if we were charging for this work. In this section we are pleased to highlight some, but far from all, of the contributions from our lawyers alongside data which reflects the step change achieved in the past year. It is a great credit to all our volunteers to see how the practice has been able to move forward in the last 12 months. The lawyers have been as busy as ever and we're so proud to be able to support our pro bono clients in any way we can, their work is of such vital importance and impact to wider society.”
2022
2023
pro bono hours
13,000+
up from 5,600 in 2022
fee earners contributing pro bono time
a 49% increase since 2022
451
pro bono matters across EMEA
a 110% increase since 2022
146
Awards and recognition
Best Pro Bono Initiative
Winner: Ukraine Pro Bono Collaborative Shortlisted: Ukraine Response Project
Powered by Pro Bono Award
Winner: Navigating Drone Laws for One Tree Planted
Pro Bono Award
Winner: Ukraine Pro Bono Collaborative
FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2023
Standout: Ukraine Response Project Highly Commended: Save the Children’s Zakat policy
In 2023 we renewed our commitment to The Law Society’s Pro Bono Charter. In addition, we signed the Global Refugee Forum Legal Community Pledge, committing to providing pro bono support to displaced communities for the next four years. The multi-stakeholder pledge aims to unite the legal community around a shared goal, harnessing the expertise, passion, and influence of legal professionals worldwide to drive meaningful change for refugees and other forcibly displaced people globally and to advance their access to rights, justice and lasting solutions to their displacement. Participation in pro bono has already seen significant strides, increasing from an average of 4.6 hours per lawyer in 2022 to more than 9 hours in 2023. We will keep striving for further engagement and impact to meet the aspirational target of 25 hours of pro bono work per lawyer, which we have adopted through our membership of the UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono.
Strengthening our commitment
4.6hrs
9hrs
25hrs
TARGET
0
25
20
15
10
Pro Bono Partner
Patrick Farrell
I have been involved in pro bono at the firm for over 20 years but the acceleration in the past year has been unique and uplifting. Getting to know new clients and partners in that time and seeing the impact they make in their work, and then seeing how we can add to this, encourages us to keep doing more. I’m proud of our staff for their efforts and proud to be associated with all our pro bono clients.”
Our leading instruction in the past year was to advise Save the Children in its capacity as a Core Participant in the UK Government’s Covid-19 Inquiry. Module 2 of the Inquiry looked at political and administrative governance and decision-making during the pandemic. As a Core Participant, Save the Children made submissions regarding decisions that affected children and the impact this had on them at the time and since. Our support to Save the Children in this role included:
Spotlight on our clients
E-Discovery support
E-Discovery support to deploy market leading AI processes and analytics on thousands of documents disclosed to the Core Participant, including automated searching and tagging for relevance.
Legal Project Management including deploying an online collaboration platform, coordinating all project teams and managing resourcing.
Legal Project Management
Strategic advice and guidance, research and ad hoc legal briefings.
Strategic advice
Deputy General Counsel, The Save the Children Fund
Clare Adam
We received exceptional support from Norton Rose Fulbright from the moment we were invited to join the Inquiry as a Core Participant. We are enormously grateful to all the teams who have helped us over the last year, across legal practice areas, technical teams and offices, and enabled us to champion children’s rights and influence the Inquiry’s agenda in a way we simply couldn’t have done without their expertise and resources.”
Whilst our key focus in 2023 was the Inquiry, we continued to provide a range of other specialist advice spanning all our practice areas, including advice on:
A variety of innovative financing instruments to support the capital costs of setting up a high-profile and novel educational programme in Sierra Leone.
A new matter management and workflow software solution to enhance the efficiency of the legal team’s operations.
Guidelines for use of generative AI across the organisation.
A project to analyse and assess the feasibility of accepting donations in popular cryptocurrencies.
The terms of a new media agency agreement to govern one of Save the Children’s most strategically important commercial relationships.
The view from our secondees
We continued our associate secondment initiative with Save the Children throughout 2023. Our latest secondees reflect on their work and experience.
Senior Associate
Barney McDonald
Save the Children’s participation in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry was aimed at ensuring children’s rights and wellbeing are at the centre of government decision making should another crisis occur. That work will have such a long lasting and important legacy and I was thrilled to play my part in it. I’ve always thought that it’s very important to be well-rounded as a lawyer, not just in terms of experience across different areas of the law, but also being able to adjust your advice based on the focus and priorities of different clients. Being fully immersed within Save the Children gave me a detailed insight into the organisation, and meant I was analysing issues with their charitable purpose and objectives in mind. This helped me to understand what ‘best outcome’ can really mean in different contexts. Those seven months flew by. Handing over the baton to Molly, I couldn’t stress enough just what an invaluable experience this was. The professional development opportunities are enormous, but it’s so much more than that; it’s also hugely rewarding from a personal perspective, to be able to fully understand and appreciate the amazing work being done by Save the Children.”
Associate
Molly Stuart
The secondment with Save the Children felt like an amazing opportunity to be able to give back in my own way, to make a real difference and a positive impact on people’s lives – I just knew I had to apply and couldn’t let the chance pass by. I’m very early on in my time at Save the Children and I am looking forward to being a part of really rewarding projects and see the work that I do pay off. It is also great to get experience in different matters and see how we can provide further support going forward. I think as lawyers we are very fortunate with the skills and knowledge that we have. I personally feel like it’s important to give back to the community, and this pro bono secondment is an amazing way to be able to do this in a unique way – being truly immersed in such a valuable and purpose-led organisation.”
A global view
Click on any of the locations on the map below to see a selection of case studies from across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia
UK
Asia and the Middle East
Europe
Back to world map
Safe Passage and European Lawyers in Lesvos
Warsaw
We are delighted to contribute our expertise to aid Ukrainian refugees. It is amazing to discover that one can create actual change in their lives by helping them solve their legal problems. Being part of this programme gives you a sense of a deeper purpose and enables you to restore the refugees’ faith that they are not alone in their struggles.”
Patrycja Pakla
Senior Associate, Warsaw
We continued to support two NGOs, Safe Passage and ELIL, providing urgent legal assistance in Warsaw to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Lawyers based in our Warsaw office and lawyers travelling to Warsaw from London and Newcastle advised on resettlement pathways and a range of other legal queries, recording over 650 hours across the year.
Visit Safe Passage
Visit ELIL
Frankfurt
We are also proud that more than 40 of our UK lawyers were recognised this year for their contributions in the inaugural Pro Bono Recognition List of England & Wales.
Milan
Luxembourg
Brussels
Amsterdam
Athens
non-governmental organisation
Following a referral through our brokerage partner organisation, Trustlaw, we completed research for an NGO (EU DisinfoLab) focused on tackling disinformation campaigns targeting the EU and member states. The research forms part of a broader mapping programme and has been published online for open access.
EU DisinfoLab
Visit EU DisinfoLab
Smiling Through Light, a community interest company, aims to ignite potential through solar by creating jobs and income opportunities for women, girls and their communities, as well as providing access to clean energy. We advised them on establishing a partnership with an exporter of solar products, enabling them to scale their pay-as-you-go solutions in Sierra Leone by working together with a network of local women to sell and distribute products that provide clean, reliable and sustainable energy.
Smiling Through Light
Visit Smiling Through Light
Through our new partnership with Pro Bono Italia ETS, our Milan office accepted the case of a tenant disputing their deposit with a former landlord. We were able to return the full deposit, plus interest, to the tenant by the conclusion of the case.
Pro Bono Italia
Visit Pro Bono Italia
We have accepted a number of mandates through our new partnership with Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH), including advising SOS Villages in relation to the creation of foster homes for child and teens victims of abuse. Most recently, our Paris office researched the legal and administrative framework to enable the opening of a new type of reception facility for children supported by SOS Villages.
Paris
Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme/SOS Villages d’Enfants
Visit AADH
Visit SOS Villages
Berlin-based non-profit Mnemonic investigates and preserves online open-source information documenting human rights violations and international crimes at scale, through targeted mass archiving. Following a referral from PILnet, we advised them on the legal aspects of a research handbook including IP, data protection and criminal law, to ensure compliance with German law.
Frankfurt and Munich
Mnemonic
Visit Mnemonic
Visit PILnet
We advised an international non-governmental organisation which aims to help people with disabilities in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We also assisted a microfinance network offering microcredits and other financial inclusion services to individuals, workers and small and medium enterprises that are excluded from the traditional banking services. This assistance covered tax and legal aspects of the developments of these organisations’ strategy in Luxembourg as well as on their on-going operations more globally.
Non-governmental organisation
Several Norton Rose Fulbright offices have contributed to legal research for the Women, Business and Law reports since 2021, including from our Athens, Brussels, and Singapore offices in 2023. Research identifies national laws relating to labour, family and violence against women. This is documented in a global report by the World Bank which tracks progress in laws and policies affecting women’s economic opportunity. We are delighted to be credited as a global partner of the World Bank on this work.
Athens, Brussels and Singapore
World Bank Group: Women, Business & the Law
Visit World Bank Group
Click on a logo to read about the case study
London
Newcastle
I am so glad and grateful for all your support from you and your colleague, thank you so much for every step and guidance you gave for the success for my daughter.”
Parent of a KIND client
KIND UK is a charitable collaboration between five award-winning UK based frontline organisations, supported by over 25 law firms, to protect the rights of approximately 215,000 undocumented children living in the UK as they navigate the UK immigration and nationality systems. By offering legal help to these children and their families to apply for British citizenship, we recorded over 400 pro bono hours in 2023. This resulted in four children being granted British citizenship and receiving their certificates, with several other cases pending outcomes.
London and Newcastle
Kids in Need of Defence UK
Visit KIND UK
Legal support can be difficult to find, but the whole process was super simple. Our lawyer at] Norton Rose Fulbright was really accommodating and friendly, open to help us in any way they could and they even came to our showcase event to show support.”
UnLtd client
We partnered with UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, to accept referrals for legal support from their network. We advised organisations including an African women’s network in the North East of England, a diversity-focused agency helping young people starting careers in design, and an HR business for disabled people, on employment and data protection queries.
UnLtd
Visit UnLtd
We are extremely grateful for the level of help and support that you have provided us during one of the most difficult times that we have experienced... It makes us so happy that there is such a great help for citizens like us who can't afford to get legal advice privately.”
South West London Law Centres client
We continued our long-standing support of SWLLC through our housing clinic, advising over 200 people on their tenant rights including disrepair and eviction concerns and failures to return tenancy deposits.
South West London Law Centres
Visit South West London Law Centres
I am so happy. This is a kind of joy which I have not felt before. I feel like someone has poured warm water over my cold body and heart which felt frozen for so long. I cannot thank you enough. I was so hopeless and now I feel so much better. I cannot control myself. That is how happy I am.”
Family Reunion From Europe client
We continued our work with Coram Children’s Legal Centre and Refugee Legal Support as a participating firm in the FRFE initiative. Our volunteers assist with client interviews and initial advice, research tasks, and casework, in support of individuals in vulnerable circumstances abroad seeking to join their family in the UK.
Family Reunion From Europe
Visit Family Reunion From Europe
We provided over 500 hours of advice directly to individuals referred to us through Pro Bono Connect, which connects barristers and solicitors on pro bono cases. Our advice enabled these clients to progress cases in courts and in one case secure a significant award and pro bono costs order.
Pro Bono Connect
Visit Pro Bono Connect
We assisted the Fair Employment Agency to prepare conflict of interest and anti-money laundering policies. This included preparing a Staff Handbook and a Standard Handbook for Full Time Employee Template. The team are currently in the process of preparing training for the Fair Employment Agency on conflict of interest and anti-money laundering policies.
Hong Kong
Fair Employment Agency
Visit FEA
Singapore
Jakarta
Bangkok
Dubai
As part of our global support for The Chancery Lane Project, we are a member of the Green Construction & Engineering and Green Procurement Working Group in Singapore, which has been drafting green template clauses to be included in construction and engineering contracts and working to create a ‘playbook’ to guide parties using these clauses.
The Chancery Lane Project: Green Construction & Engineering Green Procurement Working Group
Visit TCLP
We undertook research, for recipients of funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, on barriers for young people to access sexual and reproductive healthcare, HIV prevention, testing and treatment, and harm reduction methods. The research was carried out in collaboration with our associate firm TNB & Partners in Jakarta, and contributes to removing human rights-related barriers to health, building a more just and equal society, an ending the AIDS epidemic.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS
Visit The Global Fund
We advised the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN) regarding copyright policies and other IP issues relating to its content. The Network supports trans and gender diverse people who have been denied fundamental human rights, from legal recognition to employment, housing and more, through advocacy and awareness-raising. Bangkok lawyers also contributed over 60 hours of pro bono time towards the Covid-19 Inquiry project with Save the Children, providing additional research support to the project team.
Asia Pacific Transgender Network
Visit APTN
Our teams in Dubai gave Save the Children advice on fundraising regulations in the UAE to ensure they are in compliance with local laws and can maximise their donation opportunities in the region.
Visit Save the Children
Munich
Visit Coram Children's Legal Centre
hours of pro bono legal time since 2021
We dedicate our skills, time and resources through partnerships with local organisations, charities and NGOs, to deliver positive outcomes to under-represented groups, our environment and communities. We act alongside the communities in which we operate, and beyond, to address societal challenges through donations and volunteerism. Each employee across our EMEA office can spend up to 14 hours or equivalent in hours of 2 working days annually on volunteering projects.
Our approach
in total volunteering across EMEA from 2022-2023
30% increase
in total skills-based volunteering across EMEA from 2022-2023
81% increase
in total team volunteering across EMEA from 2022-2023
23% increase
who completed our Charity partner satisfaction survey said the partnership:
100% of our charity partners
achieved positive outcomes for the intended beneficiaries and;
increased capacity within their organisation through pro bono, funding or volunteering
Partnership is very important to our social impact work. We lean on the expertise of our charitable partners and community organisations to identify areas of need and, in turn, leverage our skills, time and resources to maximise impact for each organisation’s beneficiaries. In this report we wanted to give these organisations an opportunity to talk about their charity’s mission and reflect on our partnership to date.
Power in partnership
In the UK, someone goes missing every 90 seconds. With the help of Missing People, the only UK charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people and their loved ones, those affected by a disappearance are supported through specialist services.
CEO, Missing People
Jo Youle
Norton Rose Fulbright's unwavering support and invaluable expertise have been instrumental in shaping our approach towards improving the lives of missing people and their families. Their guidance not only helped us navigate setbacks but empowered us to pivot towards creating ‘Principles for the police response’. With their insightful recommendations, we now stand poised to make a profound difference by empowering families and individuals with clarity and rights. Our partnership with Norton Rose Fulbright has truly been transformative, reflecting a shared commitment to positive change and ensuring that no one feels alone in their search for their loved ones.”
CEO, Ronald McDonald House Charities UK
Ella Joseph
We are delighted that we are a strategic charity partner of Norton Rose Fulbright and to have received support from donations, Gifts in Kind, pro bono support and introductions to clients through volunteering. This strategic support meant we were able to provide free accommodation for even more families who had a sick child in hospital – 26 percent more during 2023. In particular we were able to leverage the pro bono support to assist us with agreements to enable us to access new revenues of support. Our long-term partnership has helped many families over the years and teams visiting and volunteering are always engaged and inspired. This volunteering helps to provide essential support for families across our Houses, whether it’s providing meals, upgrading our gardens or supporting with a deep clean. Thank you for your commitment and enthusiasm in helping us to provide a ‘home from home’.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities provide free 'home away from home' accommodation to families while their child is in hospital. Since 1989 the charity has supported more than 95,000 families with free accommodation for as long as needed across their 14 UK houses.
Chief Executive, Smart Works
Kate Stephens
We are so proud of the long-standing partnership between Norton Rose Fulbright and Smart Works. Norton Rose Fulbright fully embody the strong community our charity needs to not only exist but to do more and do it better. They have brought Smart Works into the heart of their internal employee community and are champions for our mission to support unemployed women across the UK with our coaching and dressing service. Smart Works has ambitious growth plans to reach more unemployed women every year and Norton Rose Fulbright have continued to stand by our side, gifting colleague time, expertise, financial and practical support to make this a reality. Their support was crucial in opening our tenth centre in Croydon, South London in 2023, helping us reach under-served women in an area of high unemployment. This centre alone supported 621 women in 2023 and across the UK Smart Works supported 7,200 women. I want to extend a huge thank you to every Norton Rose Fulbright employee who makes this partnership so special.”
Smart Works is a UK charity that exists to give women the confidence they need to reach their full potential, secure employment and change the trajectory of their lives. The charity provides high quality interview clothing and coaching to women seeking employment and since 2013 has supported over 30,000 women, with 69 percent being successful in gaining employment.
As of May 2024, Kate Stephens has stepped down from her CEO role at Smart Works after 10 successful years. We look forward to continue working with the charity and welcome interim CEO Tiffanie Darke to our partnership.
Regional Manager, Die Arche, Frankfurt
Daniel Schröder
Die Arche supports children and young people in their development, promotes their talents and is committed to equal opportunities for disadvantaged children and their families. Thanks to the cooperation with Norton Rose Fulbright, we were able to take some of the children to ‘Taunus Wunderland’, which was an unforgettable experience for everyone. Many families do not have the opportunity to go on a trip like this. The children have fond memories of this special day. By experiencing it together, many children managed to overcome their fear of the ‘Free Fall Tower’ or the roller coaster. They were able to overcome their own limits thanks to the good coaxing of their friends and were rightly very proud of themselves afterwards. We were also able to order a new carpet for our construction corner. This carpet is used every day to build entire cities out of building blocks or caves out of mats and blankets. The children can express their creativity here, let off steam or simply relax. By planning and building together, they learn to coordinate well and treat each other with respect. Thank you for your important support for the children at Die Arche.”
Die Arche is a German charity committed to improving the living conditions of disadvantaged children and families. Since 1995 the charity has been supporting children and young people to discover their potential, promote their talents and make them strong for an independent life through the provision of free services across 32 locations, supporting over 6,000 children.
We were proud to see our colleagues across EMEA commit over 4,000 hours to volunteer in our local communities. In partnership with charities and community organisations we have engaged in meaningful volunteering projects, using our time and resources to give back where it matters most.
Our community focus
Food Angel (惜食堂) is a food rescue and assistance programme launched in 2011 by Bo Charity Foundation, with the mission of 'Waste Not, Hunger Not, With Love’. The programme rescues 45 tonnes of surplus food weekly from different sectors of the food industry, cooks 17,000 nutritious meals for their central kitchens and prepares 11,000 food packs for underprivileged communities in Hong Kong. Our volunteers helped to prepare food, cook meals and pack the meals to be distributed.
Senior Associate, Hong Kong
Timothy Lam
It was a privilege to be so directly involved in providing food assistance and learning about the journey of mass surplus food every day. The experience and lessons we learnt from the charity have helped us appreciate the food wastage issues in Hong Kong.”
Overwhelmed with the quality of care and support from the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) at St George's Hospital in South London when their first child was born at just 28 weeks, Rachel and Andy wanted to do something to give back – so Ickle Pickles was born. Ickle Pickles is a UK charity focusing on supporting premature babies requiring intensive care and donates intensive and special-care equipment to neonatal units across England and Wales. Since starting out in 2009, the charity has raised over £3 million and bought equipment for over 50 neonatal units around the UK.
Partner, London
Michael Black
It has been hugely rewarding being involved with Ickle Pickles, not just because of the personal connection with the founders but also being able to see the tangible benefits the charity brings to families at a very distressing time. Seeing and hearing some of the very moving personal stories of the parents and children who spend time in a NICU really does bring it home and it is wonderful to be part of the network that supports them.”
Head of PR, EMEA
Louise Nelson
It was a privilege to provide PR support to the UK's only neonatal equipment charity, Ickle Pickles. There is a shortage of life-saving neonatal equipment in the UK, where over 90,000 babies are born sick or prematurely every year, and raising awareness of the cause is therefore absolutely vital. I worked with the charity’s co-founder and social media manager to prepare and review various communications materials and plans. It was a fantastic experience to collaborate with them and to apply my skills in a new way that could provide value to the charity.”
The aptly named New Chance is a foster home, currently caring for 13 children, in the south of Poland. It came to our attention when an employee found them through a website used by Polish orphanages and foster homes to appeal for help with things they are not able to provide on their own. Throughout 2023, our employees and friends have been donating furniture and basic necessities, with Norton Rose Fulbright taking care of the transport. Late in December, we invited the children and their foster parents to Warsaw for a day of education and entertainment, culminating with a visit to the office, where everyone had been involved in buying Christmas presents for the children.
Helping foster home Nowa Szansa in Warsaw
We were also joined by two siblings, Kacper and Nikola, whom the office has been supporting during the time their loving parents were unable to care for them. We managed to reunite the family two years ago and have been working with them ever since. It takes time, many volunteers, and requires financial, legal and practical help but all this effort makes a real difference to the lives of four people. It was great for everyone in the office to see how bright, open and confident the children are and how well their parents are doing.
Partner, Coordinator for Charitable Initiatives, Warsaw
Agnieszka Braciszewska
It is immensely gratifying and inspiring to see how your personal involvement and commitment can visibly improve the life of children, young people and those who care for them.”
This non-profit organisation distributes hot meals every evening throughout the winter in the Botanique Metro Station in Brussels. More than 45 teams, a combination of official and independent, take turns to ensure this daily presence. In 2023, for the second year, a team in our Brussels office joined the Opération Thermos initiative and supported the cooking of 200 meals for homeless individuals in the city.
HR and Office Manager, Brussels
Silvia Dos Santos Taveira
We are really pleased to have joined Opération Thermos for the second year, as we believe in giving back to our community and making a positive impact on those in need. Participating in this initiative allows us to come together as a team, fostering a sense of unity and camaraderie among our colleagues.”
Responsible Business and Member Engagement Director, Team London Bridge
Sofia Alexandrache
In 2023-24, small grants from the Building Communities Fund have benefited 1,050 people of all ages by funding these great charities: Bede House, Edible Rotherhithe, Arts for Dementia, Elmington Community Gardens, Global Generation, LinkAge Southwark, Toucan Employment, London Bubble Theatre, Mind and Soul Choir, Power2, South London Renegades, ThamesReach. The Building Bridges Fund, providing large grants over three years, is currently being allocated to Disability Sports Coach and Bankside Open Spaces Trust; a full report for their work will be publicly available in 2025. We are grateful that two colleagues from Norton Rose Fulbright’s offices have been volunteering their time and expertise in the past few years to help us select the successful grantees each year, as part of our grants committee.”
Our London office is part of the Business Improvement District (BID) for the area and contributes to the annual BID levy contributions, which helps fund Team London Bridge’s activities and projects. One of these focuses on local investment, with an annual pot of up to £50,000 going out in grants to support fantastic projects by local charities around London Bridge or within Southwark.
More than a moment in time
In 2005, Matshediso Mokoape started Menzi Children’s Home for orphaned and abandoned children. Initially run in her parent’s home, in Tsakane, in time Matshediso was able to rent accommodation, thanks to some disability grants and other ad hoc donations, although the facilities meant she was limited in the care she could give the children. In 2016/2017, the Home became the beneficiary of our Global Charitable Initiative, where we raised over $150,000 and built the premises at 41108 Bulelani Street, Tsakane – but we knew that adopting the charity could not simply end with the construction and handover of the Home to Matshediso. Over the years and across the regions, we have remained integrally involved. A key milestone came in 2020, with residents suffering either from severe psychiatric, intellectual or physical disabilities able to move into the home. The following year, Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa funded further work that enabled the Home to access Department of Health funding, which was granted in 2022. In 2023, Norton Rose Fulbright EMEA and the Intuthuko Foundation funded further renovations including roof sheeting; replacement insulation and large guttering to divert rainwater to two 5,500 litre storage tanks which is now used to water gardens, including the food garden.
Challenge 67
in total time committed to social impact activity across EMEA from 2022-2023
29% increase
Refocus: The Norton Rose Fulbright...
Enabling social mobility in young people
Our impact in numbers:
Team challenge and skills-based volunteering
Financial and in-kind support
School outreach and social mobility
Community outreach
Centre Manager, Menzi Children’s Home
Matshediso Mokoape
Thank you for renovating our home. You not only helped Menzi Children's Home but you helped a lot of families as well. We now meet the health department requirements, have obtained a subsidy from the health department, and can also pay our workers so they can provide for their families. We appreciate everything that you had done for us, now our home is warm, and our users feel at home.”
We have a long history of supporting young people and working with local schools and charities to widen access to the legal sector. We do this through insight days and weeks, mentoring, mock interviews and skills-based workshops. In 2023/2024:
The PRIME commitment is an alliance of law firms and in-house legal teams determined to improve access to, and socio-economic diversity within, the legal profession. As a founding member, we have been providing work experience since 2011, which is a critical part of our social mobility initiative. To date, through collaboration with our clients, we have given 145 under-represented students across London and Newcastle a comprehensive understanding of careers in commercial law, and the similarities and differences between working in-house and in private practice. Students are able to immerse themselves into our business for a week, with legal and business service colleagues from a variety of practice areas giving insights into their departments. They also gain an understanding of career pathways into the sector, from apprenticeships, to vacation schemes and training contracts. Students are also given the opportunity to develop key legal skills, such as negotiation, and to take part in legal case studies and simulations.
Celebrating 13 years of PRIME
Personal brand and networking
The PRIME development path focuses on the following core skills:
Teamwork
Problem solving
Applications and interview techniques
Business style presentation
Confidence and resillience
Commercial awareness
Students are also given the opportunity to develop key legal skills, such as negotiation, and to take part in legal case studies and simulations.
The impact of PRIME 2023
of students in attendance had never been to an insight day before
50%
of students were confident in explaining the role of a corporate lawyer – an 82% increase from the start of the week
90%
of students stated they were likely to pursue a career in law after attending PRIME
79%
Year 13 student Demilade Adebayo spent a week with us in our London office as part of PRIME. Recently, Demilade was successful in securing a place on our Scholars bursary programme and will continue working with us throughout the course of her Politics, Philosophy and Law degree at Kings College London.
An ongoing journey
First year university student and Cohort 2 Scholar
Demilade Adebayo
I decided to apply for PRIME because I was curious about a career in commercial law, but I was unsure of what exactly it might entail, and my experience on the PRIME programme offered an invaluable insight. I had the opportunity to do practice interviews and received in depth feedback which has informed my interview preparation to this day. Additionally, I networked with employees from a range of different roles and gained a realistic expectation of the role of solicitors as well as the many other non-solicitor roles available within commercial law firms. Most notably, I was able to speak with two partners from the firm. Seeing their drive and confidence inspired me and my conversations with them helped provide me with a clearer sense of what I aspired for professionally. I realised the role that mindset played in achieving your goals and my conversations with the partners as well as my experiences networking, presenting in a team and receiving skills training motivated me and showed me that I have the power to achieve whatever I set out to. I intend to practise as a solicitor in a commercial law firm following my degree and I look forward to cultivating my professional skills and confidence further and connecting with likeminded peers on the Scholars programme.”
Extending one week’s work experience to two years of support introducing various touchpoints and continuity of contact across years 12 and 13.
Looking forward: RISE 2024
We are excited to launch RISE, our 2024 PRIME programme, which has been redesigned to better reflect market standards and equip students to succeed in pursuing a career in law. After extensive consultation and collaboration with our clients, internal teams and senior management key developments include:
Provision of laptops and other IT equipment to enable virtual adaptation, so we can reach students in cold spots across the UK.
Increasing the total bursary per student upon enrolment to the scheme.
Redesigning sessions so they better reflect application processes, including integrating a mock assessment centre and work shadowing into the programme.
Introducing wellbeing and resilience skills training.
Introducing in-person client days (hosted at our clients’ offices).
Who can apply? Year 12 students who have a strong interest in entering the commercial legal sector, live within a 1-hour commute from our London or Newcastle offices and who fit key social mobility criteria will be eligible to apply for the programme. Applications open in September 2024.
Our Scholars bursary programme, launched in 2021, aims to remove financial barriers to the legal profession and provide access to resources and connections to those who aspire to pursue a career in law. Run biannually, Scholars offers ten students a financial bursary and a comprehensive development programme. Following feedback from the first cohort, we adapted the application process to align with the process used for our vacation scheme. The application process now includes an interview and psychometric assessments, and successful applicants are awarded a place on the assessment centre for our vacation scheme.
higher education institutions targeted across the UK
128
across the UK
52 universities
increase in applications compared to the first cohort
109%
provided (with those ranking 11-20 in our application process receiving a smaller grant and a one-off workshop with our early careers team)
20 grants
Cohort 1 Scholar and Future Trainee Solicitor at Norton Rose Fulbright
Kamran Hussain
I was initially attracted to the Scholars programme due to the innovative ways in which it helps students gain a first-hand experience of both the culture and day to day running of the firm. Having been given the opportunity to network with solicitors of different levels of seniority and partaking in different workshops, I was able to leverage the insight gained throughout the programme to secure a training contract at the firm. I particularly enjoyed a task that involved presenting legal advice in front of a panel consisting of Peter Scott and Farmida Bi, as the feedback given from them allowed me to understand what kind of trainee NRF are looking for, which further helped in my application process. I utilised the bursary to upgrade my laptop and for general maintenance which allowed me to focus purely on my studies whilst at university. With the support of my mentors at the firm, I was able to use my insight from the Scholars to secure a vacation scheme at the firm. I felt highly prepared on my vacation scheme due to the workshops and skill sessions from the Scholars programme, further boosting my confidence. Scholars attracted me to the firm, whereas my experience on my vacation scheme consolidated my desire to work here. I am very excited to start my training contract at the firm and learn from industry experts. I could not recommend Scholars any more highly!”
Together with our client Centrica, we launched a mentoring scheme designed by Aspiring Solicitors to provide key insights into both private practice and in-house law to 16 aspiring lawyers across the UK.
Raising aspirations with Centrica and Aspiring Solicitors
Partner and Programme Sponsor
Holly Stebbing
Access to the legal sector is increasingly competitive and we recognise the impact of schemes such as this in improving students’ confidence and knowledge ahead of applying for legal graduate programmes. It’s important we leverage our skills and networks to support under-represented students from across the UK, diversifying our talent pool and levelling the playing field. Collaborating with Centrica on this project has been brilliant. Working with clients in the energy sector is a core part of our practice and the demand for legal services is growing with the energy transition presenting clients with new challenges and opportunities on the path to net zero. Offering students an insight into both in-house and private practice hopefully gave them the opportunity to see the different paths a career in law can take and how private practice and in-house legal teams work together to deliver legal services.”
improved confidence in career prospects
improved understanding of both companies
97%
of mentees would recommend the scheme to others
Scheme highlights
I have always been nervous and slightly scared to network and talk to senior lawyers. However, from this programme and regular interaction with senior lawyers, I now understand how to network and make an impression with professionals.”
Here are some of our students’ key take-aways from the programme:
Intellectual curiosity is fundamental to a commercial solicitor's skill set.”
Confidence in your own abilities can become your greatest asset.”
Being on this scheme has been a massive confidence booster, and it has definitely changed the course of my life.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Year 6 students missed valuable school time through schools being closed, their teachers being unwell or isolating, or they themselves being ill. Despite this, the children were expected to sit the same Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) as in pre-pandemic times, without any of these education gaps being considered. To offer support in this difficult situation, volunteers from Norton Rose Fulbright have been going to a local school to provide one-to-one comprehension sessions to students preparing for SATs. Their contributions have been very much valued:
Early intervention SAT support
Thank you for all of the comprehension sessions. It helped me pass my SATs. Now I am really confident with my work and I’m really proud of my progress.”
It helped me notice little details in a textbook and answer questions quickly in comprehension.”
It helped me understand comprehension more – and the more practice I had with comprehension the more I got better at it. I got better scores each and every time.”
Working with Lamar has really helped me understand comprehension more and has made me faster at answering the questions. I loved working with Lamar because ever since I worked with him my comprehension has become fuller with longer answers and I thank him for that a lot.”
Zero Gravity powers the UK's top talent from low-opportunity backgrounds with £3,000 scholarships and career support during their undergraduate degrees. This funding accelerates their academic and career journeys, helping them land the future they didn't think possible. In 2023, the Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation sponsored scholarships for two students in Newcastle and Southwark, in partnership with Zero Gravity Fund. Our Zero Gravity Scholar from Southwark was from one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas of the UK and also received free school meals during their time at school. After 33 mentoring calls with her Zero Gravity mentor, she defied the odds and powered herself into BSc Biotechnology at the University of Manchester. Our Zero Gravity Scholar from Newcastle was also from one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas of the UK and received free school meals. He absolutely excelled in his A-levels, achieving A*AA and landed his dream spot at the University of Cambridge.
Head of Scholarships, Zero Gravity
Shiv Patel
Striking out to build a successful future is never without its challenges, and there are no two ways about it – university is difficult without financial support, especially if you are a student from a low-opportunity background. Norton Rose Fulbright powers two Zero Gravity scholarships, hyper-targeted at two high-potential students from low opportunity areas in Newcastle and Southwark. These scholars receive £3,000 (£1,000 per academic year) directly into their pockets through a virtual Zero Gravity card. An extra £1,000 can be the difference between the additional hours of a part-time job needed to fund a degree, and being able to focus on studying, access career opportunities or embracing the university experience.”
Refocus: The Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation
12% Access to justice
0%
80%
60%
40%
17% Children and young people
23% Education and employability
1% Environmental sustainability
16% Foodbanks and homelessness
16% Mental health, health and disabilities
8%
Special campaigns and emergencies
7% Women
Norton Rose Fullbright Charitable Foundation donations by cause 2023
The Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation (NRFCF) was set up as an independent charity in 2004 with the aim of enabling charities, community groups and NGOs to make an identifiable difference, achieve their objectives and demonstrate a positive impact on the beneficiaries they aim to support. To date, NRFCF has donated grants worth over $8 million, with 73 donations made last year. In 2023, the trustees of the Foundation, alongside the firm’s social impact team, took the opportunity to review almost two decades of operation. Finding that a number of areas had been consistently supported across the years, NRFCF made the decision to formalise the process for applications to the Foundation and progress to a fairer allocation of NRFCF funds, enabling expansion across the firm’s EMEA region. Whilst the Foundation remains independent of the firm, aligning with Norton Rose Fulbright’s responsible business agenda will allow us to provide impactful and meaningful help to a more strategic group of charities.
In 2024, the fund will be allocated as follows:
Allocated to charities across EMEA as elected by local charity committees in each office.
Allocated to charities for ad hoc campaigns, further emergencies and large-scale fundraisers organised by Norton Rose Fulbright.
Allocated for charities, based in jurisdictions where we have offices that align with our guidelines and focus areas to apply for grants of up to £5,000.
Allocated for emergencies and crises across the world and supporting Norton Rose Fulbright employee fundraising.
43% Offices
14% Flexible
32% Applications
11% Emergenices
Areas where the firm has seen consistent employee engagement through its volunteering and pro bono initiatives.
Focus areas
Driven by the firm’s social impact work, we determined that the focus areas for NRFCF 2024 onwards should be:
Pressing societal issues.
Addressing inequality amongst under-represented groups and promoting social inclusion.
Children and young people
Supporting those living in poverty or facing challenges that affect their health and education.
Education and employability
Supporting under-represented groups* into employment or education or promoting social mobility.
Access to justice
Supporting under-represented groups with limited means or low incomes in accessing legal services.
NRFCF Fund breakdown
Environmental sustainability
Taking action on climate change and the climate crisis.
Mental health, health and disabilities
Supporting those with mental health issues, long term health conditions and disabilities.
*Under-represented groups include women, refugees and asylum seekers, the homeless, those with mental health issues, long term health conditions and disabilities, ethnic minority groups and the LGBTIQ+ community.
Partner and Trustee of The Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation
I am really pleased to see the impact NRFCF has had across the last 20 years. I often speak to the charities we have supported, and the same messages are reinforced consistently. Currently, there is a wide need for unrestricted funding which allows these organisations to direct funding as quickly as possible where it is most needed. I am pleased that NRFCF has enabled organisations to continually focus on their missions in order to support those in need. It is important to step back and reflect and I look forward to the next phase of operating NRFCF which will include welcoming new trustees to our board, expanding our support of organisations across EMEA and furthering the impact we can have in alleviating the pressing issues facing society today.”
Applications to the Norton Rose Fulbright Charitable Foundation are welcomed but must be championed by an employee at the firm.
Applications from
Kamran Hussain, one of our 2022/2023 Scholars, was recently successful in receiving a training contract offer from the firm following his attendance on our vacation scheme. Hear his reflections on the programme.
Visit our site
Applications for Cohort 3 open in August 2025.
Funding from NRFCF will be allocated to projects, programmes or organisations that are aligned with:
students engaged through our programmes ranging from ages 5-21
schools engaged through our early intervention and student outreach programmes
pieces of IT equipment donated
Diversity, equity and inclusion are integral elements underpinning who we are and what we represent as a firm. Our individual differences, life experiences and unique capabilities form our inclusive culture, which is shaped by a commitment to accountability, robust and transparent reporting measures, policies and practices. We know our diversity is a strength that benefits our people, our clients and the communities in which we operate. Being a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion is a key part of our firm’s vision and strategy. Our efforts focus on seven areas:
Social mobility
Parents and caring responsibilities
LGBTIQ+ inclusion
Mental health and wellbeing
Disability confidence
Ethnicity and cultural diversity
Gender equality
Across EMEA, our diversity networks help to raise awareness, provide support, encourage intersectionality, multiculturism and internationalisation, and drive progress. Our firm-wide campaigns and initiatives showcase our colleagues’ voices, build allyship and celebrate diversity in all the areas above.
in The Times Employers for Gender Equality 2024
Top 50
out of 75 employers for social mobility – Social Mobility Employer index 2023
Ranked 43
Mental Health First Aid Officers trained in 2023
86
of 2024 partner promotions were women
41%
of paid paternity leave in the UK
3x increase
in our mean gender pay gap from 13.3% in 2021/2022 to 4.5% in 2022/23
8.8% reduction
Embedding diversity, equity and inclusion practices into our firm’s culture is a shared responsibility – everyone has a part to play. Through our firm-wide campaigns and initiatives we create a culture of inclusion, where everyone has a voice. Hear from some of our people about what our approach to diversity means for them:
Championing diversity through our voices
Head of Social Impact and Sustainability Manager
I would love businesses to know that – whether it's Black people, women, LGBTIQ+ people, those with disabilities – you can give them the opportunity to speak and share their experiences and widen representation without it being perceived as taking away from others. Under-representation is leading to a lack of diversity of thought within the workplace and we have to strive to make space for these groups to flourish and prosper. This will inevitably add to the success of the business at large and ensure we do our part to create a fair and equitable society for generations to come.”
Read Christine’s story
Regional Head of Knowledge, EMEA
Tara Pichardo-Angadi
One of the most rewarding aspects of my career is mentoring and empowering other women in law. Over the years, I have mentored women through the partnership track and more generally in their professional development. I have found mentors stand to gain as much as mentees in the relationship. I have loved working with younger colleagues as their view of the world is so different to ours 30 years ago. It’s encouraging to see the changes that have occurred in the legal market (which of course mirrors the world more generally) since I started out. Sexism and sexual harassment are simply not tolerated anymore and even the slightest hint of inappropriate behaviour is called out nowadays. We could have done with more support on this front as women in law in the nineties and early noughties.”
Read Tara’s story
Read Andy’s story
EMEA IT Service Management Manager
Andy Callan
I believe the foundation of a high support culture begins with an empathetic and authentic leadership. I am a person, as are the people who I lead. I never forget that they’re people, just like me. Leaders should always take the time to truly understand team members’ individual strengths, challenges, and aspirations. Showing genuine care and concern for people’s wellbeing, both personally and professionally builds trust and fosters meaningful connections, laying the groundwork for a supportive and productive environment. Let’s not make it more difficult or stressful that it needs to be.”
EMEA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager
Niall Crowley
Read Niall’s story
I often wonder what life would be like for me today if the people I did come out to originally were not as open. I've seen the impact this has and can have. Our words matter. Language matters. But equally, allyship does too. While progress has been made recently, it's important that we don't become complacent. There is still a lot to do. I never want to go back to that place of feeling shame and fear for simply being who I am. We owe it to the people around us and for future generations to build a society and culture that celebrates, accepts and empowers all LGBTIQ+ people.”
Katharine Wadia
Read Katharine’s story
I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, putting me in the three percent of the UK adult population with ADHD (women make up one percent). For me one of my biggest challenges is also one of my biggest strengths. I experience hyperfocus which means my brain can take me down a rabbit hole on a nuanced (but sometimes unimportant) area of law. However, it also means that when engaged I’ll dive into research, deep document review, stay focused in long meetings and tune out distractions (sometimes even forgetting lunch). I’ve found that with the appropriate education, therapy and (for me) medication, ADHD shouldn’t be seen as a hurdle to overcome but a source of strength.”
Gender equality is one of our key focus areas under our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and we continue to see improvements in the increased representation of women at the most senior levels of the firm, progression and development, and the implementation of inclusive practices to improve gender equality across the firm. This includes advancing careers, reducing the gender pay gap and updating our policies and procedures.
Driving gender equality: Transforming firm culture and processes for career advancement
In February 2020, we announced our new gender diversity targets: a minimum of 40 percent women, a minimum of 40 percent men, and 20 percent to include those who are non-binary, men, and women. This ratio forms the basis for a range of gender metrics, including overall partnership, management committees and leadership roles, partner admissions, external partner candidates and senior business services hires and business services leaders.
Setting stretching new targets
Through our targeted actions and planning, year on year, we continue to see gender parity in pay improve in our mean hourly pay gap. Since 2018 we have seen our pay gap reduce by over 20 percent, bringing our pay gap for 2022/2023 down to 4.5 percent. Our median pay gap also reduced by 11.4 percent in 2022/2023. Read our UK pay gap report.
Pay gap
Read our report
Transitioning to a flexible and hybrid working model has had a positive impact on our people, especially those with caring responsibilities or interests and aspirations that require time outside of work, for whom the balancing can be challenging. Taking a flexible approach to working patterns supports our diversity, equity and inclusion aspirations and year-on-year we continue to see an increase in the number of people, women and men, working flexibly.
Our hybrid working model
To mark International Women’s Day, we asked some of our colleagues who inspires, empowers and has invested in them throughout their life. Then we asked them to bring that person along and tell us why. From the personal boardroom philosophy, to the importance of visible role models and the need for action to bring about real change, they explore these themes and ideas. Together.
The women we are
Driving gender equality: Transforming firm culture...
Breaking barriers and opening doors
Forging new paths: Empowering, nurturing...
Empowering Black lawyers to thrive
To be seen, to be heard...
Supporting young LGBTIQ+ people in the community
Addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
In 2024, we were included in The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality. These awards, led by Business in the Community, are the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers striving for gender equality in the workplace.
To support talent development and sponsorship of women and colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds, our career strategies programme (CSP) takes an intersectional approach and is a critical initiative within our gender inclusion and race and ethnicity strategies. Addressing gender and racial diversity head-on, the programme which includes in person training and coaching support addresses the barriers and challenges that can obstruct the progression and retention of women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic professionals.
Read more of Aarti’s story
Class of 2024 partners, Dubai
Aarti Thadani
I wasn’t even a senior associate, yet Deirdre Walker recognised that I would benefit from the programme and really pushed me to do it. I think in my career that was a turning point. It is where I really started actively developing the other skills for success and building a business – assertiveness, confidence and visibility. There is no point being an expert in a subject matter if you’re not able to communicate that expertise to others. Confidence is a skill, it’s a muscle you need to develop and you need to strengthen and constantly work on it. Whilst there is real movement towards better gender equality, as an industry we have a long way to go. It’s almost a change in mindset. It’s not just about partner promotions – promotions are just one metric (and a good metric), but it’s also about career development paths, retention, senior leadership, and much more – real genuine support, commitment to inclusion and continuous investment is required, I think, at every level.”
Since we started the CSP programme focusing on our people from a Black, Asian or from an Ethnic Minority background, 18 colleagues from business services and legal have benefitted from the support the scheme provides.
Head of Programmes, London
Raksha Jain
The programme has had a remarkable impact on me. It is an acknowledgement that my talent is recognised by the firm and of our commitment to diversity and inclusion. It has helped me elevate my leadership style, to enable my team and I in reaching our full potential. Additionally, I have built an invaluable network of leaders within the firm withwhom I connect for insights and support on an ongoing basis. The exceptional quality of training, the highly experienced coaches and crucial 1:1 sessions made this a truly enriching experience for me.”
Nothing happens in a vacuum. Recognising intersectionality is essential across all of our diversity, equity and inclusion focus areas and our work in addressing gender runs alongside our efforts to address and improve racial equality. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture that supports, attracts, and empowers people from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds and a culture that values intersectionality and authenticity – for our people within the firm, as well as new talent. We continue to make progress in meeting the goals of our race and ethnicity strategy, launched in October 2020 to improve representation, which sets a number of key targets in the UK including:
Forging new paths: Empowering, nurturing and retaining Black talent
Hover over the circles to reveal our current percentages
15%
of partners
11%
CURRENTLY
25%
of the firm to be Black, Asian or from an Ethnic Minority background by 2025
22%
annual trainee recruitment to be Black, Asian or from an Ethnic Minority (this now includes a target of 10% Black trainees)
32%
We understand this is a long-term investment that can begin in the classroom. Through our apprenticeship programmes we are able to share with students the many routes and avenues available to them across the firm, demonstrating that a career in law isn't something that is out of reach. While we still have much to do, we believe that our initiatives and programmes will continue to increase representation across all levels of the firm and partnership. But that is only the beginning, whilst providing initial opportunities and opening doors is essential, we must also look to keep momentum going throughout the full career journey.
Recognising Black History Month in the UK, Will Alete, Partner, and Yolanda Dladla, Associate, sat down to discuss The 1% Study and what more can be done to help improve recruitment and retention of Black talent, as well as the importance of allyship, role models and what can be done to change entrenched systems of bias.
Yolanda Dladla
The second tier is then retention, and I think that is where we start to see a lot of the problem, because as The 1% Study showed, there aren't enough leadership at that senior level, and if you can't retain talent, you won't ever see the numbers change. It's important to have role models – to see someone that's like you achieving success.”
Partner
Will Alete
Part of that is creating a culture of inclusivity where people feel supported and included, and allyship, which shouldn't be seen as an opt in or opt out, it is the responsibility of everyone.”
Watch conversation in full
Rashael Kelly-Jarvis
Allyship is essential. If everyone isn’t involved in the conversation, they’re not hearing or seeing the stories from the community, then nothing is going to change. People will just live in their own bubble and think ‘everything is fine’.”
For the past two years, we have sponsored the Black Counsel Forum (BCF), which brings together Black legal professionals to build their networks, share experiences and gain insights into pathways to achieving success by learning from each other. Last year, BCF brought together 291 professionals and 45 speakers from more than 100 firms – with that number growing each year – and I was able to attend and participate in some key panel discussions. Networks are so important, both from a professional and a personal perspective, and the BCF provides an important forum and safe space for Black legal professionals to create meaningful connections while fostering a sense of belonging. Black lawyers, particularly at senior levels, are unrepresented, so creating a platform where junior professionals can meet senior Black solicitors and barristers can raise the aspirations for junior professionals in our industry. When I started my legal career, there were few Black partners in private practice and none in my firm. A few of my counterparts were moving in-house but not yet in senior roles. It can be difficult to believe that you can progress in a career when you look up at the partnership and not one person in a senior position looks like you. Whilst the representation of Black solicitors in private practice and in-house has improved over the years, it remains that Black solicitors in private practice are often a minority which often leads to feeling isolated and believing that you have to work twice as hard as your colleagues. Accessing an established network with professionals across different practice areas can be empowering. Seeing and hearing about other people’s professional journeys can inspire you to keep progressing your career and using shared experience to elevate yourself. At Norton Rose Fulbright I co-chair our Origins network, which celebrates and promotes ethnic and racial diversity and professional development in the firm, creates an internal support network to share experiences and seek mentors in a safe space, and facilitates conversations around diversity and representation.
Jennie Dorsaint Partner and Co-Chair of Origins Network
Partner and Co-Chair of Origins Network
Jennie Dorsaint
Seeing and hearing about other people’s professional journeys can inspire you to keep progressing your career and using shared experience to elevate yourself.”
Becoming a partner was not something I’d really considered at the beginning of my career – I’d never thought about it. And I’d never asked. Looking back, I realised that I had this belief that partnership didn’t come to people who looked like me. As a woman, and as a Black woman, I think there’s a distinction between when we think something is possible, and when we really feel inside of us what we want to do. I would have massively benefited from advice from a Black partner or senior lawyer who would have had a similar life experience to tell me that a senior career in law was achievable. If something like the BCF had existed when I was an associate, I may have been empowered to take more control of my career journey, particularly seeing others like me paving the way, and this is what the BCF does so well – creating opportunities and structures for Black legal professionals to thrive.
Role models
In the early part of my career people didn’t talk about ethnicity or diversity, but now we have more honest communications in the workplace which can only have a positive impact. Mentoring and sponsorship play crucial roles in guiding and supporting individuals and help build confidence – all important values of the BCF. Advice I would give to young Black lawyers starting their career journeys? Firstly, don’t be afraid to be the ’first’ or the ‘only one’. Your difference is your strength and you can create professional connections within your team and with clients regardless of your ethnicity. The more people know you, the more you can expand your network. Secondly, keep all the doors open. Life happens and moves in way you don’t always expect. To anyone working, mentoring or supervising someone from a different cultural, social or ethnic background, my advice is to remember that everyone has a different life experience. Recognise and try to understand your colleagues’ unique journey. If they attend BCF this year, don’t hesitate to ask them and hear about their experience to understand how you can continue to support their career journey.
Inspiring the next generation
Solicitor Apprentice
Lamar Mukundi
Working with the Black Apprentices Network has truly been the opportunity of a lifetime, allowing me to actively pursue my passion for guiding and empowering young individuals within the Black community.”
At Norton Rose Fulbright, we believe that diversity of thought, perspectives and lived experiences are extremely valuable and should be supported within the legal profession. We look to empower those who approach challenges and see opportunities differently. Because we understand that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all offering, we take a more tailored approach, continually talking with our people about how we can best meet their existing and evolving individual needs. We want to foster an environment where all our people can thrive – including more than one in four workers in the UK who have a disability or long-term health condition. We are committed to breaking down any barriers that prevent our people having the confidence to be honest and open.
To be seen, to be heard: The importance of openness and disability inclusion
Our disability and health conditions network, Shine, is crucial to supporting those coping with disability and health conditions – either themselves, or their families – as well as educating the business on how best the firm can support our people. I was first involved with Shine when my mother was enduring a long decline as a result of Alzheimer’s, but more recently others in my family have been diagnosed with neurological conditions including autism and dyslexia. It has really helped listening to others going through similar experiences, and as well as receiving essential advice, I have been able to share a lot of helpful materials with family members. Working in an international law firm can be stressful, and we all go through times in our professional lives when we struggle, often as a result of a combination of work and things going on in our personal lives – tapping into the wider support when this happens is vital to sustaining a successful career, and life.
Louise Higginbottom Chief Risk and Regulatory Officer, EMEA and Shine Co-Chair
Starting conversations
To showcase the range of support and materials that are available to colleagues in relation to health and wellbeing, neurodiversity, disabilities and health conditions, we recently piloted a speed networking and roundtable discussion. Evidence suggests that many people are not open about their mental health, health conditions or disability in the workplace and that, particularly in the legal sector, these conditions are under-reported. Creating environments to stimulate conversation about them is therefore vital. Having these conversations is critical to breaking down barriers, tackling stigmas and raising awareness around health conditions and disability. No one should be concerned that seeking support or adjustments to support their work, or sharing information on any health conditions or disability, will impact on their role or their career progression at the firm. While we have made, and continue to make, progress in supporting our people, be it developing hybrid and flexible working policies, providing adjustments across working patterns, implementing assistive technologies or providing specific coaching, we very much recognise we have more to do, and as a firm we are committed to doing so.
Encouraging openness
Almost one quarter of homeless young people in the UK identify as LGBTIQ+, and many more are at risk. We partner with the Albert Kennedy Trust (akt) to raise money and awareness of the issues facing some members of the community. This support goes towards helping akt find emergency housing and secure long-term homes, access to mental health support and independent living costs. Pride Month is a time to actively support members of the LGBTIQ+ community in their efforts to be seen, understood, accepted and valued. In June 2023 we held a series of events and initiatives to support the work akt does, including fund raising evenings featuring queer comedians and Drag Bingo.
Fundraising Manager, Albert Kennedy Trust
Chris Malla
Norton Rose Fulbright have been incredible partners to akt over the last few years. Their support, which extends far beyond financial, has helped akt in many ways including pro bono support, hosting our events and we are currently trying to arrange a workshop. Last year I went along to NRF's Pride event, where they not only fundraised for akt, but hosted LGBTIQ+ comedians, held a raffle, and provided a platform for me to talk about the charity's work. I was personally really impressed by all aspects of the event – it was incredibly well-organised by the LGBTIQ+ network and had many attendees from across the business who were both from the community and allies. Having people who are engaged with events that are LGBTIQ+ focused means there is a very open culture at the business where people are free to bring their whole selves to work without fear and won't need to hide aspects of their personalities in their professional life. From this experience alone, it felt that NRF was a very inclusive place to work for LGBTIQ+ people.”
Everyone needs help and support at some point in their life. Feedback from some of our LGBTIQ+ colleagues, coupled with the difficulties faced by the community today, prompted a collaboration with London Friend, the UK’s oldest LGBTIQ+ charity supporting the health and wellbeing of the LGBTIQ+ community. We have worked together to provide confidential counselling services delivered by trained LGBTIQ+ counsellors, both onsite and online to support the health and wellbeing of our people. While this support is extremely helpful, we recognise that this is only one piece of a wider plan, with more work to do.
Disability and mental health can sometimes be seen as distinct and in isolation from one another, but openness and being in a supportive and positive culture is essential to both. More than ever, we’re seeing a focus on mental health, particularly in the legal sector. Our vision is to cultivate a supportive, collaborative workplace where mental health is understood without any stigma, and where our firm and colleagues respond effectively to mental health challenges in order to reduce the incidence of mental health issues, and to raise the overall wellbeing of our people. We are committed to educating all our employees on the importance of promoting good mental health and a healthier workplace.
Working with Breathe, our mental health network, we have pioneered a number of programmes, benefits and initiatives to support our people, including:
Training more than 100 EMEA Mental Health First Aid Officers (MHFAOs), accredited by MHFA England, to identify and support signs of co-worker mental health strain.
We offer two on-site counselling services, including self-referral to a specialist therapist for confidential sessions. Additionally, LGBTIQ+ colleagues access counselling services with London Friend’s both onsite or virtually.
We work with a specialist psychological consultancy and leading neurodiversity experts in the UK to provide assessment and diagnosis for colleagues and support and advice.
A Stress Management Policy (SMP), part of our Health and Safety Policy, which outlines our flexible 2-2-1 hybrid working model and our Menopause and Carers Leave policies.
Providing wellbeing training including ‘Managing Stress’ and ‘Habits for Resilience’ to all Norton Rose Fulbright employees in a number of formats (including on demand).
Running social campaigns to mark significant dates, with webinars and other support resources to raise awareness and open dialogue about mental health.
An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) open to all employees and their families providing access to support for those who need it and 24/7 counselling services.
In the UK, we have recently agreed some changes to our family policies after consultations with our diversity networks. These include the extension of fully paid paternity leave to six weeks, introduced ten days paid fertility leave and two days paid leave for a partner/spouse, reduced the length of service to access family leave policies from 12 months to completing probation and implemented parental coaching for all new parents across EMEA.
Installing a ‘Need Help’ button on every employee’s mobile and desktop which links to a 24/7/365 one-stop shop for all wellbeing resources including the EAP and MHFAOs.
Taking this moment to look at everything we have done over the past year, the progress we’ve made and the huge efforts of so many of our people, it never fails to impress me and fill me with pride to see the steps we have taken to make our business more diverse, inclusive, ethical and sustainable. But it’s essential to look forward as well as back. It gives us an opportunity to take stock of the areas to which we still need to dedicate our efforts. It's been wonderful to see the real-life impact and interplay of our Scholars bursary programme and PRIME work experience, with PRIME participants becoming future scholars, and scholars becoming future trainees. This longevity, progression and dedication is so important, highlighting real investment in the next generation leading to effective social mobility. In 2023, we were again named in The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender equality – the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers striving for gender equality in the workplace which I think really goes to show the importance of momentum, continuous improvement and our commitment to diversity targets, also reflected in our UK gender pay gap. In the third year of our partnership with Save the Children, we have been supporting the Digital Mobile Camel Libraries in Ethiopia, distributing solar panelled tablets, digital materials and books to pastoralist communities, giving children access to stories in their own language and culture. Seeing how technology, sustainability and community can combine is always so rewarding. Similarly, it speaks volumes of our people that we were awarded The Eglantyne Jebb award for extraordinary individual or team contribution in support of a partnership' at Save the Children UK's 2023 Partnership Awards. The award recognises the 'incredible' contributions of individuals within the firm – both the core partnership team and those involved in the wider pro bono working group – as well as the lawyers who have provided 'invaluable' legal pro bono support across a number of projects. Of particular note for me personally was our involvement in module 2 of the UK Government’s Covid-19 Inquiry looking at political and administrative governance and decision-making during the pandemic. We were able to support Save the Children in championing children’s rights and influencing the agenda. All of this really goes to show that responsible business cannot operate in isolation. We make most impact when we activate the possibilities for interactivity across a variety of areas.
Chair, Europe, Middle East and Asia
Farmida Bi, CBE
2023 has seen some real strides in our efforts to move the needle when it comes to responsible business. For 2024, we hope to continue this momentum and do our part as a responsible business.”
What we do now impacts our future
