Over the past year, the Firm’s Social Responsibility initiative has added a major new programme focused on helping our lawyers advise their billable clients in the emerging area of business and human rights.

Our own efforts in this area hit a milestone in July 2016, when White & Case became a signatory to the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative.

JACQUELYN MACLENNAN,
BRUSSELS PARTNER AND PRO BONO PRACTICE LEADER

Signatories to the UN Global Compact commit to doing business responsibly by aligning their operations with 10 principles related to human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption.

Brussels Partner and Pro Bono Practice Leader Jacquelyn MacLennan says: “The things we are doing in the area of business and human rights are especially important in this time of global uncertainty. This is a period where a set of ‘soft law’ principles (that are not strictly binding, but that have legal significance) are emerging and are increasingly turning into ‘hard law’.”

“We are also seeing an increase in the influence of non-governmental organizations, which are becoming more active in supporting and developing the rule of law worldwide,” adds Jacqui. “The leading corporations are in the midst of a shift from questioning the relevance of human rights to their operations to beginning to recognize this is a challenge they must face.”

Beginning with training

To help our lawyers stay on top of current trends, we have developed and implemented a new initiative to train all our lawyers – from the most junior associates to the most senior partners – in this emerging field of business and human rights.

JO WEISS,
HEAD OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The project combines an industry-leading firm-wide training program with pilots to create tools tailored to the needs of individual practice groups. It received a ‘Standout’ commendation from the Financial Times in its North America Innovative Lawyers 2016 report.

Head of Social Responsibility Jo Weiss says she is pleased with the positive response the training has received.

“We are delighted with the feedback thus far and encourage those who have not yet taken the course to watch the video version on Connect,” Jo says.

“People are saying they found it surprisingly relevant. We will also be working with the professional support lawyers to offer additional live training sessions for interested practice groups.”