csr making a difference

csr making a difference London office, December 2005 External commentary by The Corporate Citizenship Company We have assessed this report against ...
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csr making a difference

London office, December 2005

External commentary by The Corporate Citizenship Company We have assessed this report against best practice standards in CSR reporting. Our detailed review statement is available online at www.freshfields.com/csr. In summary, we believe Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s first corporate social responsibility report is to be highly commended. According to our own research, it is the first CSR report of any international law firm and provides an accessible and balanced account that should help interested audiences to learn more about the firm and engage more effectively on the issues that concern them. Mike Tuffrey, Director, The Corporate Citizenship Company

Contacts: corporate social responsibility (CSR)

CSR complaints adviser and ombudsman Paul Watchman T + 44 20 7832 7515 E [email protected] Chair of CSR committee Crispin Hain-Cole T + 44 20 7785 2782 E [email protected] Community affairs manager Michelle Milnes T + 44 20 7716 4616 E [email protected] Pro bono co-ordinator Florence Campbell T + 44 20 7427 3215 E [email protected] We encourage and welcome feedback on our report.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer We are a leading international law firm with 28 offices in 18 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US. We aim to provide the highest quality legal advice – domestically and internationally – in the practice areas of key importance to our clients. Please see the back page of this report for a brief overview of our firm. Successes We are the only law firm to have won the UK Business in the Community award for excellence. In 2005 we won the Solicitors Pro Bono Group’s annual award in the large firm category. Associate Simon Jones was jointly awarded the Young Solicitors Group’s pro bono award for the best young solicitor at a large firm. 35 per cent of our people in London took part in one or more community activities in 2004, spending over 22,000 hours on community work. We gave £2.3m in time, cash and gifts in kind in 2004/05 and 327 people worked on homelessness projects in London. We continue to support the charity Habitat for Humanity and we sent volunteers to Sri Lanka to assist in building homes for families affected by the Tsunami in July 2005.

Our Clean City Awards since 1999 show we have clearly reduced our impact on the environment through re-using and recycling resources, minimising waste, using green energy and encouraging the use of public transport and cycling. Future improvements Provide a fully validated and externally audited CSR report that encompasses the entire firm by 2007. Enhance the diversity of the firm by continuing actively to support schemes encouraging applicants from all backgrounds. Introduce a partnership mentoring scheme for female associates to increase the number of female partners at the firm. Increase our involvement in community activities even further. Develop our commitment to the environment by changing all our energy contracts to renewable ones, cutting down on our paper use and reducing our air freight and air travel.

senior partners’ statement Our key values Trusted client relationships Teamwork Excellence in all we do Imagination

We aim to be the leading international law firm. To achieve this, we need to earn the respect of our stakeholders, clients and competitors by demonstrating excellence in our legal work and our commitment to the care of our clients and staff. However, professional excellence and commitment to our clients and people are not enough. We must also aspire to have a positive impact upon the communities in which we operate. Many of our clients produce corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and some have won awards for them. However, few major law firms have yet attempted to provide such information in a systematic way. To help judge whether our efforts are on the right track, we believe in the value of using recognised benchmark comparisons. For this purpose, we have tried wherever appropriate to draw on relevant CSR guidance, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index, the Forge Guidelines and the London Benchmarking Group. This is our first step towards providing a full report on sustainability. We hope, in time, to provide a fully validated and externally audited CSR report. By doing so, we learn about what we are doing together and what more there is that we can do. The entire firm is committed to the goals and values in this report and everyone is responsible for meeting our targets.

Konstantin Mettenheimer Senior partner

Anthony Salz Senior partner

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Saving paper

We have kept this report reasonably short to preserve paper. We hope you will view the longer version of our report on the internet at www.freshfields.com/csr and print out sparingly sections that interest you.

our methodology This is not a full CSR report but our first step towards providing one. We are aware that not all our offices provided information on their social and environmental impact or, where there was information, that it was not collected in a way that made comparison simple. This report is therefore London-focused but contains some firmwide data. Our aim is to provide a full report by 2007.

Timeframe

This report covers the period from September 2004 until September 2005. Where we have referred to data that falls outside these dates, we have stated this in the report.

GRI Guidelines

Where we do not cover an issue here but deal with it on the CSR pages of our website, we have cross-referenced this information in the index for easy reference and to comply with recommendations on indexing made in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines.

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Our CSR approach At Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, CSR is an umbrella term covering our pro bono and community projects; our impact on the environment; our diversity record; helping our people to maintain a work/life balance (for example through providing a gym on site as well as providing a range of subsidised sporting, social and cultural activities); the suppliers we use; our corporate governance policies; and the values that all our people should uphold. We also believe that having strong CSR credentials will ultimately help us attract and retain the best people, have a positive impact on how our clients view us and assist in the efficient development of our business.

Where we have robust information that meets recognised CSR standards we have provided it, but the information in some places was incomplete. We have acknowledged these standards whenever possible. We have adopted an informal and incremental approach to implementing the GRI Sustainability Guidelines, as suggested by the Guidelines themselves, as a starting point.

M&A law firm of the year 2005 JUVE Awards 2005

CSR structure Our chief executive, Hugh Crisp, directs the development of the firm’s CSR policies and programmes. Our partnership secretary, Crispin HainCole, chairs our CSR committee (CSRC) and is responsible for co-ordinating and driving those policies forward. He receives specialist CSR advice from Paul Watchman, a partner, and Malcolm Forster, a consultant and former partner. Paul and Malcolm are experts in CSR matters and regularly advise clients on implementing CSR and reporting on CSR issues. Our senior partners, Anthony Salz and Konstantin Mettenheimer, participate directly in the discussion of CSR issues. The CSRC reports to the partnership council, the top policy body of the firm, which is chaired by the senior partners. Anthony and Konstantin also chair our strategic advisory group, from which we are able to obtain external perspectives on CSR issues. Paul and Malcolm are complaints advisers and ombudsmen; they will conduct an internal review of how we implement our CSR policies every year.

Evolving CSR reporting

We have decided to create an internetbased report that allows us to update our CSR information in real time as policies and practices change or when there is something worthy of note. In addition, we intend to issue an annual report like this one to all our stakeholders.

Management structure Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a partnership. The firm’s principal policy body is the partnership council. It includes the firm’s two senior partners and 15 elected members, assisted by the partnership secretary. The council delegates authority for day-to-day decision-making to the central management team, comprising the two senior partners and the chief executive, assisted by the managing director and the managing partner.

Targets Our general CSR targets (in addition to the targets listed in specific sections of this report) Provide an electronic suggestion box so our people can suggest ways in which we can improve our activities or report anonymously on CSR misconduct Encourage genuine dialogue between our stakeholders about how we improve our professional services, our stewardship of the environment and our contribution to communities Raise awareness of CSR for all our people Employ a full-time CSR officer Collect consistent data from across the firm Publish a full firmwide CSR report, which has been externally validated, by 2007 Become a signatory of UN Global Compact and a member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Strengthen our dialogue with nongovernmental organisations (NGOs)

The senior partners are elected by the partners for a five-year term (renewable for one further five-year term). The chief executive, managing director and managing partner are all appointed by the senior partners with the approval of the partnership council. Locally, each of the firm’s offices has its own office managing partner who is responsible for the management of the business and the reputation of the firm in each location.

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Conflicts management

We were one of the first large international law firms to introduce a computerised conflicts management system. This system is staffed by a nineperson team in London that also provides out-of-hours support to take account of time differences in other offices.

law and ethics We have a number of key policies that seek to protect or enhance issues such as client confidentiality, conflicts of interest and client care. This underlines our commitment to teamwork and trusted client relationships.

Commitment to good governance

In a partnership, each partner owns the business and is responsible for its success. Our success turns on our reputation. We depend on all of our people to present the best image of the firm to our stakeholders and the public. We encourage this through a firm commitment to good governance and the highest professional and ethical standards. The firm is committed to openness among all our people.

We act for clients with a wide range of interests. We believe that every client deserves the best legal services available. Here we list some examples of policies demonstrating our commitment to responsible conduct. Regulation Our approach to risk management is a reflection of our high demands on ourselves as well as professional standards, government legislation and the expectations of society at large in all the jurisdictions in which we practise. We are subject to a number of statutory requirements relating to money laundering, proceeds of crime, competition and corporate governance and are bound by contractual and common law duties such as client confidentiality.

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Anti-money laundering We are committed to denying terrorists and other organised criminals access to the world’s financial systems. We operate a stringent client verification process and we have invested in people and technology to help us achieve these goals. A team of lawyers and compliance assistants is dedicated to the process of accepting new business and we have bespoke online procedures to ensure we comply with the relevant regulations wherever we operate.

Public law firm of the year 2005 JUVE Awards 2005

We contribute to anti-money laundering initiatives on behalf of the legal profession. We have collaborated with other firms to create a training application on the UK regulatory regime that we hope will become an industry standard. This Q&A based e-learning system guides users through various scenarios and provides information and explanations on the relevant aspects of anti-money laundering law. We provide regular in-house training sessions on the provisions of the Money Laundering Regulations 2003, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Terrorism Act 2000 to all relevant people. In the UK and other jurisdictions in which we operate, we speak regularly to relevant industry bodies and regulators. We are involved in the International Bar Association and the Law Society’s anti-money laundering discussion group. Conflicts of interest confidential information

and

Because we work in many different jurisdictions, the potential for acting in a conflict of interest situation is very high. Each of the countries in which we operate has its own rules and accepted practice for dealing with conflicts of interest and client-confidential information.

We have developed an enhanced version of our computer system for managing conflicts over the last 12 months. New search technology and changes to user interfaces and conflict reporting make the system faster and easier to use. We have increased the number of people in our risk and compliance team to provide additional support to partners and management in conflict analysis, decision making and management. Our conflicts analysts are qualified lawyers and act as dedicated intermediaries to enable partners to identify, research and manage issues in a time efficient manner. There is a frequent need for an independent intermediary to investigate issues where client confidentiality may be paramount.

Client complaints

Our complaints procedure follows the requirements laid down by the Law Society of England and Wales. We are committed to a full and fair investigation of any complaint as quickly as possible, providing a written explanation to the client of the findings of our investigation and any potential action proposed.

Whistleblowing

All our people are aware of our policy of reporting any perceived departure from the ethical and compliance standards that we set ourselves as a firm. This policy is in place only to deal with any serious wrongdoing and not to undermine the trust we have in each other.

We will recruit further risk and compliance staff over the next year to ensure confidential client information is protected with integrity as required. This reflects not only the strict regulatory environment in which we work but also increased client awareness of, and reduced tolerance for, conflict issues.

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our stakeholders ‘The epitome of the modern global law firm’ PLC Which Lawyer? 2005

Global law firm of the year 2005 Who’s Who Legal

As an international law firm, we have a wide range of stakeholders: partners, clients and staff form the core group. We also have responsibilities towards our potential recruits, the wider legal community and (as a provider of legal advice) leading companies, charities, political and governmental organisations as well as society as a whole. Because these relationships are important to us, we put a lot of time and effort into them, particularly through our community work, which includes pro bono activities. Two of our key values are teamwork and trusted client relationships. It is vital that our communication with our stakeholders reflects these values. Dialogue with stakeholders People in key positions provide information on environmental and social impact throughout our firm. For example, in relation to our environmental impact, our premises managers and IT management hold important information on issues such as procurement practices.

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We decided to publish this report to show our stakeholders our current CSR performance rather than delay publication until a full consultation was completed. We aim to widen and deepen our dialogue with stakeholders in the next reporting year and to expand our reporting throughout our offices. To facilitate greater input and ease of communication, we will introduce an electronic CSR suggestion box. Through our client advisory activities and via our pro bono work, we are frequently in contact with community groups and a wide range of NGOs, including BankTrack, WWF, Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Respect, Habitat for Humanity and Crisis. NGOs and community groups take different approaches to issues. We believe that open dialogue with these stakeholders (within the bounds of client confidentiality) is important to the development of sustainable practices for our business and that of our clients.

Global law firm of the year 2004 Chambers Global Awards

Publications and seminars

Memberships

We have hosted, both internally and externally, around 130 seminars for clients in the last 12 months in London. We have also published 130 client guides during that period. Members of our firm write and contribute to a vast number of articles and publications. These include:

Business in the Community – ‘Business action on education’ leadership team

Banking on responsibility – Part I of a Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer report into the Equator Principles, July 2005 (client guide) ‘The Equator Principles – towards sustainable banking? Parts 1 and 2’, Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, 2005 (article) Corporate social responsibility, April 2004 (client guide) ‘Beyond the Equator’, Environmental Finance, June 2005 (article) Environmental liability in the UK, March 2003 (client guide)

Business in the Community – ‘Business action on homelessness’ national leadership team Business in the Community – ‘Business action on homelessness’ regional leadership team Business in the Community – ‘ENGAGE in Europe’ international business leadership team Business in the Community – ‘ENGAGE in Europe’ practitioners’ group

How others rate us The independent legal directories, The Legal 500 and Chambers, consistently rank us highly for all key areas of work in many countries. The 2005 edition of The Legal 500 says: ‘...all the ingredients are there to compete with the world’s elite for the most challenging legal instructions.’

Business in the Community’s ‘PerCent Club’ (corporates that contribute 1 per cent of UK pre-tax profit to the community through financial donations and support, gifts in kind, staff time and other resources) Free Representation Unit Friends of the Tate Global Graduates Diversity in Law Heart of the City ‘Inspire’ (new Hackney Education Business Partnership) International Emissions Trading Association London Benchmarking Group London First Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau Management Committee and Employment and Finance Sub-committees Scottish Council for Development and Industry Solicitors Pro Bono Group Teach First Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership UK Academy of Finance

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our people Promoting diversity

Alumni

As an equal opportunities employer, we treat individuals equally and with the same attention, courtesy and respect regardless of their racial group, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability or marital status.

As part of our emphasis on teamwork, it is essential for us to maintain close contact with people that used to work with us. We need to build on our efforts so far to stay in touch with alumni and organise alumni functions.

London learning and development attendees 2004-05 Course category

Attendees

Development programmes

651

Induction events

149

Skills workshops

454

The firm’s equal opportunities policy applies to all applicants, lawyers and business services staff. It also applies to all daily interactions within the work environment and in other work-related settings such as business trips and business-related social events. We were the first City law firm to support the Global Graduates Diversity in Law scheme to help minorities enter the legal profession: we provide sponsorship, host open days and take part in training programmes. We also took part in the ‘Legal Chances – ethnic minorities into City law firms’ programme in 2004. We were one of the first law firms in the City of London to have a female partner. However, just 14 per cent of our partners are female. We will be addressing this by, for example, introducing a mentoring scheme for female associates. 49 per cent of our trainees over the last four years have been female.

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Gender profile – worldwide employees, 2005

Age profile – worldwide employees, 2005

57% Women

31%

43% Men

43%

Gender profile – worldwide partners, 2005

14%

International law firm of the year 2004 Décideurs Stratégie Finance Droit

Our policies

Our formal policies on equal opportunities, diversity, harassment and conduct apply to all our people and are clearly outlined on our intranet.

We have policies on part-time and flexible working arrangements and support employees with family commitments. We are dedicated to finding more opportunities for people to balance the personal and professional aspects of their lives. Over 8 per cent of our people in London have flexible working arrangements and we expect this to increase in the future.

Women

Under 30

18%

30-40

40-50

7%

50-60

86% Men

1%

Recruitment

Targets

Since 2001, graduates from 64 universities worldwide have started training contracts in our London office. 12.5 per cent of our London trainees are from minority backgrounds, exceeding the Law Society’s target of 10 per cent.

Provide complete figures on ethnicity and disability

We have always drawn talent from a wide range of cultures, backgrounds and jurisdictions. For example, in August 2005, lawyers in our London office represented 35 nationalities. However, our information on ethnicity and disability is incomplete.

Over 60

Develop targets and policies to improve future performance in these areas Collect international data in a systematic manner Develop policies on women becoming partners and recruiting people from minorities Further develop our alumni network

Learning and development We are committed to becoming one of the leading international professional services organisations in developing the capabilities of its people. One of the reasons behind our success is that we were one of the first law firms to recognise the need for ongoing training. The only way to maintain our excellence in all we do is to constantly invest in the legal and professional skills of our people. We invest substantially in learning and development to help individuals achieve their full potential. Our learning and development team provides a range of professional skills and language courses, including focused workshops, longer personal development programmes and online ‘skills at your fingertips’ training.

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health safety and welfare Our formal health and safety policy demonstrates our commitment to maintaining a better workplace.

Web access

Our website has recently undergone substantial modification to make it more accessible to disabled users. We were also the first international law firm to have its English-language web pages approved and certified by the Plain English Campaign in 2005.

Our health and safety committee in London meets quarterly and provides each department with the opportunity to be involved in matters that affect health and safety. It reports all accidents, incidents and statutory health and safety visits to the partnership.

Disabled access

We employed a consultant in early 2004 to see how easy it was for disabled employees and visitors to access and use our London office. Following the report, we have earmarked £400,000 for modifications to our premises by April 2006.

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We investigate all accidents to learn from them. We have three full-time professionals with experience and qualifications in all aspects of health and safety risk management. This includes planning supervision for internal construction projects and carrying out risk assessments on a range of topics, including the most recent requirements for testing fire precautions.

Accident trend by quarter 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 02 02 02 02 03 03 03 03 04 04 04 04

EMF monitoring

In 2003, we carried out checks on EMF radiation levels from our mobile phone amplifiers in London. Our levels were well below the suggested maximum exposure level of 9 W/m2.

Accidents

Targets

We recorded 68 accidents in London during 2004, 3 per cent more than 2003. The accident rate was two accidents per 100 people on site.

Complete suggested modifications to improve our disability access by April 2006

There were seven accidents reported to the local authority under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995). This is up by two, or a rate of about 0.27 reportable accidents per 100 people.

Achieve a target accident rate of under 1 per 100, or fewer than 24 accidents on site in a year Achieve a target RIDDOR rate of 1.5 per 100 people or less in 2005 Collect health and safety data from all our offices

The trend data shows that we are returning to the low levels we had in early 2002. We started out with widespread under-reporting, which we were able to address in 2003, but this increased the recorded number of accidents substantially. However, accident awareness-raising programmes in 2004 may have contributed to the subsequent downward trend: 40 of the 68 accidents in 2004 happened in the first half of the year. In December 2004, we recorded our first accident-free month since March 2002. About 16 per cent of our accidents are caused by manual handling and 29 per cent are slips, trips and falls. Our target is to reduce these to 10 per cent and 20 per cent respectively over the coming year.

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our community

£2.3m given in time, cash and gifts in kind in London 2004/05

Source: based on London Benchmarking Group model for measuring corporate community involvement

Germany and Austria

We employ two community officers for Germany and Austria, based in Frankfurt. There are community activities in Vienna, Cologne, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. One major activity is a joint Germany and Austria initiative at Christmas to collect clothing for homeless people, which is then distributed to local homeless shelters by people in each of our offices.

Our approach We believe we have a professional responsibility to use our skills to help people in need and to improve access to justice. Our commitment to excellence in all we do applies equally to our community work as it does to everything else. We actively encourage our people to get involved in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer In The Community by providing extra time off to volunteers and our philosophy is to promote active employee participation, rather than simply fundraising. Our programme is based around three key themes: homelessness, education and pro bono legal advice. Education We work with two London schools, Redlands Primary in Tower Hamlets and Haggerston, a secondary school in Hackney. Our people participate in weekly programmes working with individual children or small groups to help them practise their reading, develop number skills through fun board games or improve their ability to use a computer. Others act as mentors to girls from Haggerston School, who meet in our London office every two weeks to talk about schoolwork, exam preparation and career plans.

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When Haggerston school found itself without a French speaking language assistant in 2004, we organised a ‘virtual Paris’, which meant pupils preparing for GCSE examinations had an opportunity to practise their spoken French. We also participated in a ‘virtual Madrid’.

Barclays European Community Impact Award Business in the Community Awards for Excellence 2004

London Benchmarking Group

We joined the London Benchmarking Group in 2003 and use its model to measure our community contribution and benchmark our performance against other member companies. This not only helps us assess our contribution accurately, but also contributes to ongoing strategic discussions about the development of our community activities.

Homelessness: Ready for Work

Targets

We are a member of Business in the Community’s Business Action on Homelessness campaign. Since 2000, we have provided 76 work placements in our London office through its Ready for Work programme. Some of those who came to us have stayed in full or part-time employment, often their first job for some time.

Maintain a high level of involvement in community projects Collect international measurement data in a systematic manner Spread our involvement in community work throughout the firm

Homelessness: Habitat for Humanity

35% of our people in London took part in community work in 2004, contributing 22,443 hours of volunteering

We sent teams of volunteers to Sri Lanka with the charity Habitat for Humanity in July 2005. They took part in a project to build new homes for families affected by the Tsunami. We paid for all flights, accommodation and ground costs, and each volunteer raised personal sponsorship for the necessary materials. Each team comprised five people drawn from our entire network, with two from our Asia offices, one from Paris, one from Brussels and two from London. Our volunteers worked alongside the local community just outside an area called Galle in south-west Sri Lanka, which was very badly hit. They built simple, one-room ‘core’ houses that can be added to at a later stage. The building work involved laying foundations, building brick walls and constructing proper roofing. Previously, we have sent teams to work on similar projects in Romania, Poland and South Africa.

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our community

Pro bono award in the large firm category 2005 Young Solicitors Group

Pro bono: London 2012

Pro bono: UNEP FI

Between 2003 and 2005, we provided pro bono advice to London 2012 Ltd, the company that successfully organised London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We are working on a pro bono basis for the asset management working group of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). UNEP FI is a global partnership between the UNEP and banks, insurers and asset managers. It works closely with more than 200 financial institutions to develop and promote links between the environment, sustainability and financial performance. The asset management working group is a core group of UNEP FI members, which explores the emerging relationships between environmental, social and corporate governance considerations and investment decision making.

We advised on corporate governance issues and helped the company to draft a directors’ code of conduct; we advised on the structure of the bodies that will organise and run the 2012 Olympic Games and then put that structure in a joint venture agreement; and we also evaluated the applicability of EU public procurement laws to London 2012 and its successor bodies. These issues were crucial in the context of a competitive bidding process conducted in the full glare of the world’s media. We also sent one of our corporate associates on secondment to London 2012’s offices for eight months during 2004 to assist the in-house legal team in preparing the bid file for the International Olympic Committee.

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We produced a legal memorandum on the law of fiduciary duty in several major financial markets, focusing on environmental, social and corporate governance issues, and whether fund managers may take these factors, as well as financial considerations, into account when making investment decisions. We presented the report to 500 people, including the CEOs of major international banks, at the UNEP FI global roundtable meeting in October 2005.

Pro bono award (over 100 fee-earners category) 2005 Solicitors Pro Bono Group

Professional initiatives

We participate fully in Law Society initiatives aimed at resolving legal difficulties for victims of international humanitarian crises, natural disasters and terrorist incidents.

Pro bono: free representation Our lawyers regularly represent pro bono clients before the courts and employment tribunals. Pro bono advocates provide an extremely valuable service, both to clients who may be nervous appearing before a judge or tribunal, and to the courts and tribunals, who often find unrepresented parties difficult. We ensure that our pro bono clients receive the same high quality advice as our feepaying clients.

The firm has a close relationship with the Free Representation Unit (FRU) and regularly obtains instructions from the Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau to represent litigants in person before the courts. Associate Simon Jones represented Mr A, an Iraqi national who had come to the UK as a refugee and was left with a disfigured face after being tortured under Saddam Hussein’s regime. Unfortunately, corrective plastic surgery in the UK was unsuccessful, leaving Mr A with breathing difficulties, so he brought a claim for professional negligence against a surgeon. Simon represented him at a case management conference at London County Court, before negotiating with the defendant insurer’s solicitors, achieving a settlement of over £21,000. In June 2005, Simon was the joint winner of the Young Solicitors Group’s annual pro bono award for the best young solicitor at a large firm.

Pro bono: Guantanamo Bay Our London, Paris, Washington and Brussels teams have submitted legal briefs to a US court on behalf of 305 UK and European parliamentarians, including six former law lords, two former foreign secretaries, a former lord chancellor and 11 bishops. The briefs consider whether the military commissions established to try prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay contravene international human rights law. The case is being brought by Salim Hamdan, a detainee designated for trial by the military commissions established by President Bush. He is challenging the legality of the commissions, which, he claims, contravene domestic and international law and the US constitution. In a landmark ruling in November 2004, Judge James Robertson granted Mr Hamdan’s petition in part and suspended the operation of the military commissions. However, the US Court of Appeals overturned Judge Robertson’s decision in July 2005. Mr Hamdan’s lawyers have taken his case to the US Supreme Court, which will hear it in 2006.

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Cleaner travel

We encourage our people to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to work; we now have five times as many cycle spaces in our London car park as we did before summer 2005 and have installed racks, lockers and a drying room. We were able to do this by cutting the number of car parking spaces. We now have just 12, kept only for clients, disabled access, maintenance and emergency vehicles.

our environment Verifying our supply chain

We purchased 428.8 tonnes of paper in London alone from Howard Smith Paper in 2004 and we visited its mill in Austria in May 2005 to check its sustainability policies. The main paper we buy is at least 30 per cent elemental chlorine-free and sourced from Forest Stewardship Council-approved sustainable, managed forests.

Healthy eating

Our restaurant serves, wherever possible, organic food that is GMO-free and irradiation-free and comes from suppliers that have ethical policies on transportation issues (such as fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerated trucks), animal welfare and slaughter, and pollution by fertilisers and pesticides.

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Our policy We regularly advise clients on environmental issues and CSR standards. As we help our clients to improve their own performance in managing their resources, developing their business and protecting our world, it would be remiss of us not to adopt an imaginative approach to reducing our own environmental impact. Growing concern over the effect of climate change has heightened our awareness in two areas – the energy we use and our travel. Climate change and renewable energy We are making a real contribution towards education about climate change. Our project finance and environment, planning and regulatory teams in London and Germany have published articles on climate change and emissions trading in many legal and professional journals. They have also lectured widely, including addressing the American Bar Association and American Legal Institute in Washington in 2005 on the European Emissions Trading Scheme and participating in debates about schemes to control US greenhouse gas emissions.

We have led the way in the development of legal understanding of renewable energy, particularly wind farm and biomass development, and we have written and spoken extensively on these subjects to clients and other parties. Education is a powerful tool for raising awareness about social and environmental issues.

Saving energy

We have saved 541 hours of energy a week by adjusting light timer settings on each floor of our London office. We have new, efficient computer servers: 15 now do the job of 150, cutting thermal output by 80 per cent, saving energy and money.

Recycling We send almost all of the printer toner cartridges we use in London back to the supplier to be recycled and give the money we receive for them back to our community programme. We have also donated 406 desktops and 300 laptops to Tools for Schools in the past year. Our target is to also donate to International Aid, which supplies PCs to third world countries. We are making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of paper we use in our publications: a recent example was our graduate recruitment brochure, where much of the material was kept online.

Our non-renewable energy use

Targets

We calculated the energy used by our London office in 2004 that is not derived from renewable sources and the corresponding amount of CO2 gas used on the estate. Although we have reduced our CO2 emissions from our gas and electricity use by a third through buying green energy, we still have work to do.

Get full data from all our offices on sustainability and environmental impact

Impact

Energy in KWh

Kg CO2

Gas

11,496,484

2,184,332

Electricity

20,966,380

4,337,442

Total

32,462,864

6,521,774

Renewable energy We have renewable energy contracts for all but one of our buildings in London. The equivalent amount of electricity we use is supplied to the national grid from sustainable sources (wind, wave or solar). A government concession means we pay no extra for buying sustainable electricity.

Make travel policies greener by reducing our air travel and air freight through using video and telephone conferencing wherever possible Verify our supply chain by developing questionnaires for suppliers and a toolkit for substantiating their claims Implement an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) environment programme for each office Reduce the amount of paper we purchase by using double-sided printing where possible and increasing the use of recycled paper Continue to look into the feasibility of carbon neutrality

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our environment Efficient lifts

We have installed new drive systems in 4 of the 19 lifts in our London office with 4 more to be converted. These updated systems reduce the amount of energy needed to power the lifts when they are in use. We expect to be able to save 87,118 KWh a year.

Water use Our total water consumption in London last year was 42,702m3. We recognise water is a precious resource and we are investigating ways to further reduce waste, such as replacing drain cocks and valves in our offices and the use of ‘cistermiser’ devices on flushing cisterns. We made a considerable saving recently by changing our air conditioning systems, reducing water loss through evaporation. Established policies In 1995 we were one of the first firms to sign up to the UK Department of the Environment’s ‘Making a Corporate Commitment’ campaign, which encourages businesses to reduce their environmental impact, and we have won a Clean City Award for our efforts to minimise our environmental impact in the City of London every year since 1999. We need to establish our own targets for reducing our environmental impact.

Waste management

We agreed a contract with S2 Security Shredding in 2005. We will segregate waste at source, as this is an acknowledged way of measuring and managing waste more efficiently. We intend that only our catering waste, which is mainly biodegradable, is compacted and goes to landfill.

Fax-to-desktop

We recently launched a system where faxes are received as an email direct to the user’s inbox. This has helped reduce the amount of paper we use. Our target now is to implement faxing from the desktop across the firm and to reduce our 150 office fax machines in London by half.

Education

We run a postgraduate diploma and masters in law (LLM) in environmental law at Nottingham Trent University’s law school. Six members of our firm are enrolled for the LLM and one for the diploma for the 2005/06 academic year.

18

Activity

Units

20011

2004

Good practice benchmark

Waste

Kg per member of staff pa

417.63

-

200

Recycling

% of total waste

79.79%

87%2

70

Energy use (electricity)

2

KWh/m

588.78

343.14

234

Energy use (gas)2

KWh/m2

275.51

188.164

114

Energy related emissions5

KgCO2 /m2

311.4

106.73

131

Water

M3 per member of staff pa

26.13

19.316

7.7

3

1 2 3 4 5 6

Calculated by Wastebusters – City Waste Project. Data from June 2001, normalised for the year Derived from standard waste fractions at Grosvenor waste site in Kent Energy Use in Offices (ECON19) BRECSU 1998 Based on gross internal floor space, current estate: 61,101.51m2 Revised from UK Energy Statistics 1999 Based on total consumption for 2004 of 42,702m3

Recycling

Our impact (see above table)

We conducted a survey of our environmental impact in 2001 and compiled a comparison in 2004. Although we have made significant progress in most areas, we have much to do, particularly in reducing waste and reducing the amount of water we use.

Sustainable products

Our travel impact

The foam backing of the carpet tiles we buy from our suppliers is made from recycled sound-deadening material sourced from the Ford Motor Company. The old tiles we replace are graded for condition and the good ones used in charity projects (we recently carpeted a cub scout hall). Tiles not good enough for re-use are recycled to make motorway traffic cones.

Travel impact and equivalent CO2 use Type

Kg CO2

Air travel

7,176,797 miles a year

2,081,271

Taxi and hire car travel

61,272 journeys (approx 428,904 miles)1

136,183

Air freight

109,500 kg of freight2

5,700

Total 1

2

In 2004, 110,118kg of mixed office waste was removed from our London office, of which 87 per cent was recycled. In addition, we recycle approximately 23,000kg of paper every month.

2,223,154

At an average of seven miles per journey (based on US EPA figures for a diesel VW Passat, the nearest vehicle comparator). Based on a calculation by NTM (a Swedish software system for calculating sustainability of transport systems) that a 24-tonne capacity Boeing 727 on a 4,000km journey (a reasonable estimate of an average international journey) would account for 1556.1 kg of carbon.

We have reduced our air travel by using video and telephone conferencing and we are committed to reducing our travel impact by using technology to conduct meetings and take legal depositions where possible.

19

GRI contents index GRI no. GRI content

Location

GRI no. GRI content

Vision and strategy 1.1 1.2

Stakeholder engagement

Vision and strategy

Inside front cover

CEO statement

1

2.2

Inside front cover

Products and/or services

Inside front cover, inside back cover

2.3

Operational structure

2.4

Organisation structure

2.5

Countries located

2.6

Nature of ownership

2.7

Nature of markets served

Inside back cover

2.8

Organisation scale

Inside front cover, inside back cover

Stakeholders

2.10

Contact person(s) for the report

2.11

Reporting period

2.12

Previous report

2.13

Boundaries of report

2.14 2.15

3.10

3.12

Name of reporting organisation

2.9

3.9

3.11

Profile 2.1

Location

Inside back cover, 3 3 Inside back cover 3

Inside front cover 2

Use and emissions of ozone-depleting substances

N/R

6, 7

EN10

Nox, Sox air emissions

N/R

6

EN11

Total amount of waste

LFR

6

EN12

Significant discharges to water by type

N/R

EN13

Significant spills of chemicals etc

N/A

EN14

Environmental impact of principal products and services

N/R

EN15

Percentage of the weight of products sold that is reclaimable

N/A

EN16

Incidents of non-compliance

N/R

Major stakeholders

6

Approaches to stakeholders Information from stakeholders Use of information

3.13

Explanation of precautionary approach

4

3.14

Externally developed voluntary charters

N/A

3.15

Principal memberships

7

3.16

Policies for impact

4

3.17

Managing indirect impact

N/R

3.18

Decisions during the reporting period

N/R

3.19

Pertaining to 3P performances

N/R

3.20

Status of certification

N/R

Performance indicators Economic indicators EC1

Net sales

Location

EN9

Policies and management systems

6

GRI no. GRI content

Inside back cover

Social performance indicators Labour practices LA1

Breakdown of workforce

LA2

Net employment

9

LA3

Percentage employees by independent trade union organisations

LA4

Labour/management relations

LA5

Occupational accidents

Inside back cover N/R LFR 10, 11

EC2

Geographic breakdown of markets

Inside back cover

LA6

Health and safety committees

2

EC3

Procurement spending

LFR

LA7

Absentee rates

N/R

Organisation changes

N/A

EC4

Policies or programmes on HIV/AIDS

N/R

N/A

Percentage of contracts paid in accordance with agreed terms

LA8

Joint ventures

N/R

LA9

Training per employee

N/R

2.16

Re-statements of information

N/A

EC5

Total staff costs

N/R

LA10

Diversity programmes

2.17

GRI principles applied

1

EC6

Distributions to capital providers

N/A

LA11

Diversity ratios

2.18

Criteria/definitions used

2

EC7

Change in retained earnings

N/R

N/A

EC8

Taxes

N/R

3

EC9

Subsidies received

N/A

HR1

Human rights guidelines

EC10

Donations to community

HR2

Human rights impact

N/R

HR3

Human rights performance

N/R

EN1

Total material use other than water

2.19

N/A

Measurement methods changes

2.20

Policies and internal practices

2.21

Independent assurance

Inside front cover

2.22

Additional information

20

Structure and governance

12

Environmental indicators

Non-discrimination Freedom of association policy

17, 19

HR6

Child labour

N/R

17

HR7

Forced and compulsory labour

N/R

SO1

Impact on communities

SO2

Bribery and corruption

SO3

Political contributions

Recycled materials

EN3

Direct energy use

Expertise of board members

N/A

EN4

Indirect energy use

Board-level processes

N/A

EN5

Total water use

3.5

Executive compensation

N/R

EN6

Land in biodiversity-rich habitats

N/R

3.6

Key individuals

3

EN7

Impact on biodiversity

N/R

3.7

Mission and values statement

1

EN8

Greenhouse gas emissions

3.8

Shareholders’ mechanisms

3.3 3.4

N/R 18

17

8 N/R

Society

N/A

Key N/A – not applicable N/R – not reported LFR – long form report; see www.freshfields.com/csr

20

8, 9

HR5

EN2

Independence of board members

Human rights

HR4

3

Governance structure

3.2

8 N/R

17

N/A

3.1

10

In preparing this report, we have used the guidelines provided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). More information can be found at www.globalreporting.org.

12 4 N/R

2004/05 financial results Turnover:

£780m Partners’ profit shares:

£354m

our firm

2,400 lawyers

28

offices in 18 countries

Sectors

Automotive Chemicals Construction and engineering

Financial institutions General industries Healthcare

Consumer products Leisure and retail Private equity Defence Public procurement Energy and natural Telecoms, media resources and technology Family-owned Transport and business logistics

5,686 people

Practice areas

Antitrust, competition and trade Corporate Dispute resolution (including environment, planning and regulatory) Employment, pensions and benefits Finance IP/IT Real estate Tax

This report was printed on Evolution satin paper. It is manufactured from 75 per cent recycled fibre and is made using elemental chlorine-free pulp. © Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer 2005