Law Firm in Focus - Charles Russell LLP

Address of organisation
Head office address is 5 Fleet Place, London EC4M 7RD

What are the main areas of law practised at this firm?
Charles Russell is a full service law firm, providing legal advice to clients ranging from international, FTSE and AIM listed businesses, to private companies, governments, not-for-profit organisations and private individuals.

When did the organisation start carrying out pro bono work?
Charles Russell has been carrying out pro bono work for many years and its first association with University House Legal Advice Clinic in Bethnal Green dates back to the 1970s when one of its lawyers became a volunteer at the Clinic.

How are staff encouraged to become involved in pro bono work?
The culture of carrying out pro bono work is firmly embedded at Charles Russell and our Senior Partner heads up our CSR Committee.  We seek to encourage all lawyers to undertake pro bono work of interest to them. All new staff attend a CSR induction, which incorporates an overview of the firm's pro bono programme and each service area within the firm has a pro bono representative who is responsible for promoting and encouraging pro bono work within their group. Recognition is given for pro bono work through annual awards.

What type of pro bono work does the organisation carry out?
Primarily, we take on matters through LawWorks’ Individual Casework and Community Groups projects, our lawyers also participate in the Initial Electronic Advice and Mediation projects and we send volunteers to advise at the Citizen's Advice Bureau at the Royal Courts of Justice, University House Legal Advice Centre and the Surrey Law Centre.  In addition we take on cases through TrustLaw Connect and requests from other informal sources.

Please give details of a case that illustrates your organisation’s success with pro bono work?
We have recently acted for an innovative co-operative society advising them in connection with negotiations of a lease regearing and a pre-emption agreement giving them a right of first refusal if the landlord decides to sell the freehold.  The society would not have been able to afford to pay for legal advice and we were able to advise on the potential implications of some unfavourable terms that had been proposed in earlier negotiations, enabling the client to avoid the risk of detrimental financial consequences.