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Our pro bono & community work

Pro bono & community work are an important part of our culture


Pro bono and community work are an important part of who we are - that's why you'll find it as embedded in our culture as client service. Our involvement in the community covers four broad areas:

Pro bono

We recognise that many worthwhile causes and community projects need legal advice but don't have the money or access to funding to pay legal fees. We therefore support a variety of projects by providing our time and skills to individuals, charities and not-for-profit groups. Our involvement is wide ranging including participating in the ProHelp initiative - a professional services programme run by Business in the Community through to working at local Citizens Advice Bureau. One recent initiative, the FLAG (Free Legal Advice Group) was recently recognised at the Young Solicitors Group Pro Bono Awards .

Community involvement

Our commitment to our communities goes beyond just giving free legal advice. Our people have many skills and talents that can make a difference to the communities in which we operate. To help us focus this enthusiasm most effectively, we belong to Business in the Community which exists to help the UK's major companies improve their positive impact on society and provides us with access to many structured volunteer programmes. Beyond this, our people have been also been involved in projects such as the Young Enterprise programme, Workwise and also local initiatives such as the Mancroft Project.

The environment

As a business we understand that we have a role to play in the sustainability of the environment. We play our part by reducing our energy consumption and promoting the recycling of materials and even ensuring that the coffee served within our offices is Fairtrade! Our energy consumption initiatives range from moving towards open plan office environments with more natural light and involving few building materials through to recycling paper, toner cartridges, IT equipment and cardboard.

At a very practical level we also get involved in conservation projects such as clearing wildlife areas at Hickling Broad in Norfolk.

Charitable giving

Mills & Reeve operate a Charitable Trust which we use to support a variety of causes. These range from financial support for Community Foundations, which provides opportunities for both companies and individuals to invest in community infrastructure, through to donations to local charities in lieu of Christmas cards and support for national appeals such as the Tsunami fund.

The Charitable Trust is also used to match fund or provide donations for individual or group fundraising events. In 2006 a team from across Mills & Reeve raised over £20,000 by undertaking the Three Peaks Challenge. The Charitable Trust played a fundamental role in supporting the expenses of the team and enabling the event to take place. The work of a volunteer team in our Cambridge office was recognised with a Business in the Community Award for its work in support of a local breast cancer charity that has now raised over £120,000. The Charitable Trust contributed over £5,000 to provide fundraising infrastructure for this.

Staff across the firm can also donate personally using Payroll Giving. The take up of this has been so high that we were recently awarded the Quality Mark Award for our support.