Community investment

Herbert Smith has a rich culture of investing in communities local to its offices. Our largest office in the City of London sits on the border with some of the most diverse communities in Europe where over 100 languages are spoken. These communities also suffer from multiple deprivation including high crime, drug abuse, low levels of academic attainment and employment and poor mental and physical health.

Our work within the community encompasses many different areas – not just in the Law. It is something our staff, from partners to fee earners and support staff, find personally rewarding and highly motivating.

We believe that education is the key to improving the life chances of young people. Since the early 1990s we have developed an extensive programme of employee volunteering, primarily designed to support the personal development of young people from nursery through to university and into work.

Herbert Smith recognises that the opportunity to make a difference is both good for the community and good for the development of our people. We encourage employees to take part by offering up to 24 hours p.a. to commit to community investment projects.  Our programme is valued at over £2m in cash, time and in-kind giving and directly involves approximately 35% of our employees.

Our employee volunteering programme includes literacy, numeracy, French and Spanish, and chess partners for local primary and secondary schoolchildren. Our volunteers also take part in mentoring programmes designed to support the pastoral development of young people and prepare them for the world of work. More recently we have introduced programmes designed to help tackle homelessness in London via a partnership with Business in the Community.

For more information on our non-legal volunteering programme see our corporate website.