Responsible Business

As an international firm we are rightly held to high standards in all we do. We believe that our licence to operate, the sustainability of our business and the achievement of our vision are dependent on our ability to inspire trust and earn the confidence of all our stakeholders. To do this, we must act responsibly, creating long-term, sustainable value and supporting their future success. We use our commitment to the UN Global Compact, and associated global frameworks, to help shape our approach.

The concepts that are integral to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) are embedded in our Responsible Business strategy. For instance, we align our operations to contribute towards a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on those areas where we can make the greatest contribution, and we intend to continue to do so through to 2030.

Our community initiatives span pro bono work, volunteering in the community
and charitable donations

Children's Home in Kašperské Hory

In 2007 we started to work with the children's home in Kašperské Hory for children up to the age of 18, and we have been visiting ever since. We visit the children for one weekend every two months to play and interact with them, and we always plan various activities. Our weekend visits are warmly welcomed by the children and the staff.

Člověk v tísni, o.p.s. (People in Need)

Clifford Chance Prague supports the 'Promoting Education in Families' programme which focuses on boosting the motivation of children from socially disadvantaged families to study and successfully complete higher education. Higher education is essential for success on the labour market and the long-term employment prospects of participants in the programme. CC's support is primarily directed at volunteers, enabling them to organise tutoring. The firm also provides assistance to children and young people.
The Clifford Chance Foundation grant allows the People in Need organisation (Člověk v Tísni) to employ a part-time coordinator of educational activities who organises volunteers at the Prague branch, on an annual contract. The target group of clients of the local branch are socially disadvantaged families, individuals, and children living in Prague.

PINK CROCODILE, o.p.s.

Established in 2013, Pink Crocodile School provides quality education, services and an extensive integration programme for children with severe combined disabilities. Pink Crocodile School is an educational centre and school officially registered with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and the Prague City Hall and has received an above-average rating from the Czech School Inspectorate. Pink Crocodile School's target group is children with very severe combined disabilities, who would be difficult to place in the existing network of special schools in the Czech Republic. The centre was created following a decade of experience in organising an educational programme intended for such children, and was also inspired by educational programmes targeted at these children, running in EU countries and the USA, and through which Pink Crocodile School employees gained previous work experience.
Clifford Chance annually contributes to the operation of Pink Crocodile and provides assistance to children with severe disabilities, not only by means of donations, but also through pro-bono legal advice supervised by our partner, Emil Holub.

Loono

Loono is comprised of a team of junior doctors, medical students and other professionals. Through workshops, trainings and webinars in schools and companies, they educate the public about the importance of heath prevention such as oncological (#prsakoule), cardiovascular (#zijessrdcem), reproductive (#doledobry) diseases and mental health (#dobrenitro). At Clifford Chance Prague, we cooperate with Loono on regular basis since 2019.

We support diversity and inclusion initiatives

We're building a safe space where everybody belongs. For us, diversity and inclusion are not only the founding pillars of our business strategy, but values in which we strongly believe.We aim to guarantee an inclusive, truly safe and fair environment in the office to fully exploit our people's potential. That is why we have Arcus Prague. It's the local chapter of our firm's global Arcus network: an inclusive group open to LGBT+ people and their Allies.
We're not only contributing in our firm's global LGBT+ support, but are very active locally, in the Czech Republic, as well. In 2022, we became members of Pride Business Forum, a local non-profit organization which helps companies to set up workplace equality for LGBT+ employees. To become a member of the forum, we have signed a memorandum by which we, the Prague office of Clifford Chance, publicly committed to support the principles of European Charter on Diversity. As members of the PBF, we regularly organize and participate in events which focus on the battles that the LGBT+ community in the Czech Republic is still fighting.

The Valuable 500

"No one should ever feel they can’t be a full and equal member of the firm because of a disability. We see inclusion as a matter of justice and as an intrinsic value. The breadth of wisdom and perspective that people with different life experiences can bring to our firm across the globe only makes us stronger and better at what we do. However, to benefit from the perspectives of our people who have disabilities we have to constantly strive to deliver an equality of opportunity and daily experience for them. I am really pleased that we have the opportunity to support this important initiative, which is a critical element of our drive to make our workplace as inclusive as possible."

- Tiernan Brady, Global Director of Inclusion at Clifford Chance