How lawyers can make a difference through pro bono and CSR – with Herbert Smith Freehills

On Wednesday 7 November

Lawyers’ training and skills put them in a unique position to help people in need gain access to justice.

On the evening of Wednesday 7 November Legal Cheek is partnering with Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) for a free student event about some of the work its lawyers do pro bono, including tackling homelessness through partnerships. We’ll also be hearing about what future lawyers can do to contribute to worthwhile causes through corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.

The session kicks off with a Question Time-style panel discussion featuring lawyers from the firm who assist a range of pro bono organisations, including the Centrepoint/Connect legal advice clinic; Beam, a tech start-up that crowdfunds employment training for homeless people; the Shopfront legal advice clinic; and the Whitechapel legal advice clinic.

There will be a particular focus on the challenges presented by the homelessness crisis and the speakers’ own experiences of projects that in different ways have sought to tackle this.

The speakers — from a range of different practice areas and levels of seniority — will also discuss how they use their legal skills to help people in need and assist young companies like Beam in their socially entrepreneurial aims. They will consider too how future lawyers can get involved in pro bono work and volunteering, and the impactful ways that they can assist.

As future lawyers looking to embark on a commercial law career in the City, we are protected from the risk of homelessness but not immune to its effects and consequences. How can we help? What skills do we have that can be put to use in this area? What pro bono or non-legal volunteering opportunities are available? What are the impactful ways that we can assist?

After the panel discussion there will be drinks and networking with the speakers, HSF trainees and members of the firm’s graduate recruitment team.

Apply to attend the session below. You’ll be asked to submit a CV and two questions for the panel. Please note that the details of those offered places will, subject to consent, be shared with HSF’s graduate recruitment team<