We believe that we must have a positive impact on our people, as they’re our greatest asset. We want to have a positive impact on our people, so that our people can have a positive impact on others. This belief means that we attract, foster, and retain passionate and ambitious people who are looking to provide top-notch legal advice while also contributing to society. We foster this dual-drive by creating a culture of support and wellness.
We have been recognised with a ‘Best Companies to Work For’ award and consistently feature as one of ‘The Escape 100: Best Companies to Escape to Awards’ by Escape the City. These recognitions are earned by encouraging our people to take volunteer days and trustee positions, supporting a highly active Diversity and Inclusion Forum, and appreciating the commitments people have outside of work (which is why 25% of people Bates Wells work fewer than five days a week, and why you’ll rarely see the dull-blue glow of computer screens lighting our office late into the night).
We believe that we have a responsibility to engage positively with our communities and to make meaningful social contributions. We are a commercial firm, yet embracing our purpose means we understand the motivations which drive social enterprises, non-profits and public organisations. In an effort to put our money where our mouth is, we donate a proportion of our profits to address social issues. We also play our part by giving thousands of hours of pro-bono work, and our people hold over one hundred charity trusteeships.
We also enjoy working with other commercial organisations to create a positive impact. It’s why we helped to launch B Corp in the UK – a movement that looks to use business as a force for good – and it’s also why we became the first UK-based, B Corp certified law firm.
We believe that it’s critical to minimise our impact on the Planet. We have formally recognised the climate emergency, and in doing so have made a number of commitments. We genuinely believe that growth doesn’t have to come with a high environmental cost and are trying to work as sustainably as we can.
Creating a positive impact is a long-term goal and though we haven’t cracked every detail and there’s always more to do, we’re working on it.
