Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has been recognised as the Overall Leader 2023 in the Lamp House Strategy Responsible Business Annual Report. Published this week, the report provides an analysis of the responsible business activity levels across 125 leading law firms headquartered in the US, UK and Canada.
Lamp House Strategy is an insights specialist for the legal sector. Its data-driven approach helps law firms to measure and develop their responsible business strategy and empowers leaders to make greater impact.
Tracking over 230 impact areas, Lamp House Strategy delved into the practical actions and initiatives within law firms, measures and targets in place to track progress, reporting, recognition and collaboration across the wider industry. Firms were evaluated across three areas including people, planet and governance with Burges Salmon the only firm to make the top 5% in all three areas.
Burges Salmon has a range of programmes aimed at delivering on its ESG priorities and was lauded in the report as ‘exemplary’ for supporting disability inclusion. Through listening and auditing programmes aimed at better understanding the experiences of disabled colleagues, the firm has used this insight to reengineer the support it provides to meet these diverse needs. Beyond delivering big practical improvements, the firm also has an ongoing communications programme that empowers people to share their own personal stories of how a health condition or disability has interacted with their careers and lives. These initiatives led to the firm being named Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Champion of the Year at the 2023 Bristol Law Society Awards.
Quoted in the report, Chris Seaton, Senior Partner at Burges Salmon, said: “Our Responsible Business strategy has underpinned our values and culture for over a decade and is core to our purpose as a firm. Authenticity in this area is key for our people and it is hugely important that Responsible Business is not seen as a tick box exercise. This requires the strategy to be led and lived by those at the very top of the firm.
“Undoubtedly our performance as a responsible business is an important driver for why people want to stay at our firm and for the talent we recruit. It is great to get external recognition for our efforts in this area which is down to the significant contribution of people right the way throughout the firm. We are delighted to have been identified as a global leader for Responsible Business in the Lamp House report but also appreciate that there is still much more to do moving forwards.”
Roxanne Ratcliff, head of corporate responsibility at Burges Salmon, adds: “All businesses should be challenging and transforming themselves to tackle issues, such as the climate crisis and systemic inequalities. We want to build upon our culture and values of fairness and respect to empower our people in finding the solutions to these challenges. Our ambition comes from a leadership team, driven by purpose and wanting a business with a positive legacy and people ready to roll up their sleeves and push beyond ‘good’ to ‘best’. We’re proud to see Lamp House recognising the impact of our overall ESG strategy to advance our people, protect our planet and preserve good governance.”
With a robust Responsible Business Framework and a 2026 Responsible Business Ambition, Burges Salmon’s initiatives are based upon five core objectives which deliver on the firm’s ESG priorities and serve its vision to be an ambitious, sustainable and inclusive firm that ensures its clients, people and communities flourish.
You can read the report here.