20 December 2016
Gide is pleased to announce the publication of its second corporate social responsibility report. It is structured around three main topics: pro bono, human resources and the environment.
Discover our 2015-2016 CSR report (If you do not have Flash Player, click here to view the PDF version).
In 2012, the firm gave new impetus to the pro bono initiatives undertaken by its lawyers and employees, and set up the Gide Pro Bono endowment fund to financially support projects improving access to education, access to law and justice, and offering support to those most in need. A Pro Bono Commission, comprising 12 partners, was also set up to steer Gide’s pro bono policy. Since then, each member of the firm can give up to 40 hours per year of their office time to NGOs and projects approved by the Commission.
This policy has encouraged around one hundred lawyers and employees to commit to pro bono actions every year, totalling over 6,000 pro bono hours since 2012. It has also supported the organisation of charity events, and offered funding to over 20 NGOs, including Frateli, Proxité, Fondation des Apprentis d’Auteuil, Plan International France, InitiaDroit, Raise and Habitat et Humanisme.
As well as implementing standard measures, in 2015 the firm decided to commit to other actions in favour of cohesion and gender balance, and launched two conference cycles.
The first, “Broaden Your Horizons”, enables all members of the firm to improve their knowledge and understanding of topics that are completely unrelated to law in a relaxed atmosphere, and thereby encourage cohesion.
The second, “InspiringWomen@Gide”, focuses on women and is a part of the firm’s stated objective to reach 30% of women partners by 2025. It brings together all of Gide’s women lawyers and their clients on topics of personal development, with high-level speakers such as journalist Florence Servan-Schreiber, rock-climber Catherine Destivelle and the former leader of France’s aerobatics team Virginie Guyot.
At end 2016, Gide was pleased to announce the appointment of six new partners, three of whom are women.
Lastly, the firm is looking to optimise its environmental footprint. To this end, it has implemented solutions to reduce its energy consumption and has implemented a paper sorting and recycling programme that has led to the recycling of over 80 tonnes of paper in two years.
For the second year running, Gide’s CSR policy is rated “Silver” by the independent rating platform Ecovadis.