Awards

The Firm won the award for CSR Project of the Year at the British Legal Awards on 26th November for the broad range of pro bono activities undertaken in the last year that have been targeted at improving access to finance. These activities included our continuing involvement in rolling out the user friendly, multi-jurisdictional legal template for microfinance that we developed with Citi in 2006 to new countries, our co-working with A4ID on instructions from Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance to talk to local Microfinance Initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa about securing external funding from commercial investors and the advisory role played by 11 New York attorneys in assisting Agora Partnerships, a non-profit organisation that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries by providing microfinance venture capital, in setting up its investment fund.

At the same time, the award recognised the role played by the Firm's one-to-one frontline pro bono advice services in helping people facing the sorts of complex social welfare law problems that frequently cause financial exclusion. The judges were impressed by the contribution made by FreeLaw's 217 (as at April 2008) volunteer advisers in London and the two New York associates who helped more than 200 low income families and individuals prepare, review and file their 2008 tax returns.

Of the 23 categories in British Legal Awards this year, this was the one that attracted most entries. The award recognised the growing coherence of the Firm's pro bono and broader corporate responsibility activities. The judges were particularly impressed by the range of activities undertaken and their demonstrable impact on the objective of improving financial inclusion.