Why should a LAW FIRM participate in Lawyers in Schools?
Contents
Staff development
Corporate Social Responsibility
Boost staff morale
Improve a firm's profile
Networking
Recruitment
Easy to organise
Staff development
- Volunteers have reported developing and improving their presentation skills, communication skills, confidence, patience, listening skills and leadership abilities.
- Involvement in the programme (including time spent in training, preparation for sessions and in sessions themselves) counts towards an individual’s unaccredited CPD points. Therefore, participation in the training session, pre-session preparation and six school sessions could add up to as much as 11 hours of CPD.
For the 2009/10 academic year, 73 per cent of participating law firms highlighted staff development as a key benefit of the programme.
Corporate Social Responsibility
- Lawyers in Schools is a particularly unique and valuable volunteering opportunity as it draws on the core skills and knowledge of the lawyers and legal trainees.
- The scheme assists a firm in developing its community investment programmes; it is a practical demonstration of a firm’s commitment to education in the local community.
- The scheme enables a firm to initiate, or build upon, a relationship with a school. Some firms have developed this partnership further through other schemes (for example, mentoring).
- Lawyers in Schools can help to embed a CSR ethos in the firm, especially among trainees.
- Firms can measure the impact that participation in the programme is having, as the Citizenship Foundation provides each firm with a comprehensive evaluation report assessing the scheme as a whole, as well as their specific partnership. The Citizenship Foundation is also available to work with firms to provide statistics for their external CSR reporting (for example, to the London Benchmarking Group (LBG) and Business in the Community’s CR Index).
93 per cent of participating law firms cited an improved CSR profile and reputation.
Boost staff morale
- Participating in the programme is enjoyable for volunteers. Interacting with young people from a range of backgrounds is energising and fulfilling.
- Participating in the scheme encourages networking amongst colleagues across the law firm. Some firms run the scheme exclusively with trainees, but others include associates, partners and senior partners.
58 per cent of volunteers reported an increase in their job satisfaction.
Improve a firm’s profile
- In today’s society, clients and employees are increasingly looking to engage with responsible and ethical businesses. The scheme can assist firms with meeting these targets.
- Press releases can be arranged by the Citizenship Foundation.
- Volunteers act as company ambassadors, representing the firm in the local community.
Networking
- It is possible to run the scheme across hierarchies (i.e. involving trainees, associates and partners) to encourage networking across the organisation.
- It is also possible to run this in conjunction with the legal department of a client’s organisation, in order to strengthen external relations.
Recruitment
- Lawyers in Schools can be built into the firm’s training programme and offer a unique package to recruit trainees.
Easy to organise
- The scheme is simple for the firm to run. The schools are located near to the firm, and the Citizenship Foundation provides training, materials and ongoing support.
100 per cent of volunteers reported the level of preparation as 'acceptable'