The law firm Allen & Overy Hong Kong is to focus its community work on a tighter range of causes.
The firm, which employs 240 people in the Chinese territory, will concentrate on supporting a handful of community organizations rather than the wide range of causes it has worked with in the past.
‘We’re refocusing and have tried to develop more long-term relationships with certain entities so that they can rely on us,’ said Allen & Overy partner Catherine Husted, head of the firm’s one-year-old pro bono committee.
The groups that will now receive support with pro bono work include the charity Helpers for Domestic Helpers, which provides legal advice on employment and contractual issues to low-paid domestic workers, and Crossroads International, a provider of humanitarian services.
Husted said pro bono work had delivered business benefits. ‘In the last couple of years we’ve found that a lot of graduates have begun to ask specific questions about our pro bono work on CSR and how important it is to us – in fact it’s one of the first things they ask about,’ she said. ‘So our reputation in this field is a factor when people are thinking about joining us.’