Values Into Community Action Pro Bono and Community Affairs Annual Report 2007/2008

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Values into Community Action Pro Bono and Community Affairs Annual Report 2007/2008

2007-2008 I Values into Community Action

Values into Community Action Pro Bono and Community Affairs Annual Report 2007/2008

Allen & Overy LLP One Bishops Square London E1 6AD United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 3088 0000 Fax +44 (0)20 3088 0088

2 © Allen & Overy LLP 2008 2007-2008 I Values into Community Action

Contents

page INTRODUCTION 4

GLOBAL 6

PRO BONO & COMMUNITY WORK WORLDWIDE 10 Belgium 10 China 12 Czech Republic 14 France 15 Germany 17 Hong Kong 19 Hungary 27 Italy 28 Japan 29 Luxembourg 30 Netherlands 32 Poland 35 Russia 36 Singapore 37 Slovak Republic 38 Spain 40 Thailand 40 United Arab Emirates 42 United States 42

UNITED KINGDOM – COMMUNITY WORK 47 Education 47 General Community Work 58 Client Collaboration Projects 59 Work Placements 66 Community Partner of the Year 67 A&O Foundation 70 Give As You Earn 70

UNITED KINGDOM – PRO BONO WORK 70 Advisory Work 70 We Are What We Do 77 Human Rights Work 77 LawWorks 85 Private Client Department 85 US Law Group 86 Pro Bono Work in the East End 87 Business Development Mentoring Network 91

APPENDICES 92 Pro Bono and Community Work Policy 92 Pro Bono Statistics 95 Awards 97 Global Community Contacts 99

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Pro Bono and Community Affairs Annual Report 2007/2008. Allen & Overy has an extensive global programme – Values into Community Action – which is an important part of who we are and the values we espouse. We are committed to helping the communities in which we operate which is demonstrated by the number of individuals from our many offices who volunteer for our schemes.

This year has been one of substantial growth for the programme, both within countries where we have offices and as a global network. We are constantly working to find activities that will put our global reach and expertise to good use, and to create a sense of community within the firm. For example, our offices across Europe are currently working with a charity, Missing Children Europe (MCE), on a project to combat child pornography on the internet by cutting off the finances that support child pornography websites. The personal commitment, time and dedication of all our staff across Asia to pro bono and community work was recognised when Allen & Overy was named Asian Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year 2007 by the International Financial Law Review.

Each of our offices works to develop its own programme, looking for new ways to help their local communities. In China, new pro bono committees have been formed in each of our offices there, to look at opportunities and to encourage participation. In Warsaw, a staff survey was conducted to establish which local needs and issues our staff wanted to support. Several of our offices are looking at how they can work with pro bono clearing houses, including those being established in Warsaw and Moscow by the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI), an international NGO. We also work with Business In The Community's ENGAGE network of brokers to help develop our programme globally by establishing relationships, through its local broker agencies, with NGOs and community organisations.

We have also been working on new, innovative ways to develop relationships with our clients. Doing pro bono or community work together allows staff from our clients and the lawyers who work with them to develop their relationships in a new way, with a joint purpose in mind. In London, we have successfully delivered workshops to local young people on working in the City with a number of key corporate clients. We have also seconded a senior associate to a client to help them establish a pro bono programme for their in-house counsel, and plans are underway for collaborative projects in a number of European offices as a result. For our pro bono and community clients, we look to build meaningful, long-term relationships which add value to both parties, working to find solutions to the issues faced by the organisations and the people they serve.

As well as showcasing the wide variety of activities carried out across the whole network of A&O offices, this report is also an opportunity for us to recognise the extraordinary commitment and energy invested by our staff in pro bono and community work over the past year. If you are reading this as one of our volunteers, where possible we have tried to recognise you individually in this report. Inevitably we have not been able to record every project, and so we would like to extend a “thank you” and our appreciation for the contribution you make to our local communities.

In 2007/2008, A&Oʼs fee-earning staff spent 55,564 hours, the equivalent of £16,592,702 on pro bono and community work, an incredible 21% increase in time spent from last year. Globally, 56% of fee-earners participated in these activities. This of course does not include the enormous contribution and actual hours spent by non fee-earning staff who do not record their time. We are beginning to take steps in measuring their contribution, and will continue to look for ways in which we can include their hours in our calculations.

Finally, we would also like to thank Guy Beringer, for his leadership and support of the Pro Bono and Community Affairs programme during his time as Senior Partner. His input and guidance has been invaluable in developing the programme. We look forward to building on that work under the guidance of the new senior partner David Morley and managing partner Wim Dejonghe.

If you would like further information about A&O’s Pro Bono and Community Affairs programme, please call +44 (0)20 3088 0000 and ask to speak to a member of the Pro Bono and Community Affairs team in London, as listed below; additional information is also available at www.allenovery.com/community.

If you would like to get involved in pro bono and community work in your local office, you will find details of who to contact in Appendix 4 or on the intranet.

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David Morley – Senior Partner

Stephen Denyer – International Development Partner

Colin Pearson – Partner and Chair of Pro Bono and Community Affairs Committee

Pro Bono Team

Shankari Chandran – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Senior Manager

Helen Rogers – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Officer

Emma Shaw – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Officer

Sue Wisbey – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Assistant

Michelle Blythe – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Assistant

Rachel Nicholson – Pro Bono and Community Affairs Junior Assistant

Terri Wipperman – Personal Assistant to the Pro Bono team

In this report references to Allen & Overy and A&O are to Allen & Overy LLP and its affiliated undertakings.

This report is available in electronic format on A&O’s internet and intranet sites.

This report is available for distribution to clients and other contacts of the practice. If you would like a copy, please contact Terri Wipperman, Personal Assistant to the Pro Bono team in the London office (+44 (0)20 3088 3762).

GLOBAL

We are constantly looking for pro bono and community activities which will bring many of our different offices together. There are few opportunities in the business to unite a large, expanding and culturally diverse practice, so these projects bring the firm together, engendering a sense of pride and community. These are just a few highlights of the multi-jurisdictional projects we have undertaken over the past year.

MISSING CHILDREN EUROPE

A&O’s Brussels office has been leading a multi-jurisdictional pro bono project for Missing Children Europe (MCE), an umbrella organisation which brings together a pan-European network of child protection organisations. MCE has 21 member NGOs from 15 EU countries and it also works with EU countries who do not already have national centres for missing and sexually exploited children, to facilitate and stimulate national initiatives for their development. MCE also works with organisations in the US, where a financial coalition has been created to try to stop child pornography on the internet.

A&O has a long-standing relationship with MCE, through Child Focus, a Belgian NGO that helped to develop MCE as a Europe-wide network. A&O has been providing pro bono support to Child Focus for many years, and recently also to MCE. Francis Herbert, a former Partner in the Brussels office, joined MCE in 2008 as its Secretary General, following his retirement from the firm.

MCE is looking to replicate the US financial coalition in Europe, and is working with the authorities, European Commission and the banks, credit cards and other payment services. The aim is to be able to trace the perpetrators of internet child pornography through the payment services and systems, and to also follow the money flow and close down payment accounts. This requires the co-operation of the credit card companies, banks and internet payment facilitators.

Lawyers from all of A&O’s European offices (except Moscow) are assisting MCE with this project, by looking at the legal frameworks of member states and their interaction with EU directives, data protection, e-commerce, IP, criminal procedure and banking laws. The due diligence work on the legal frameworks is now completed and a legal report has been published which will be used by the EC and the financial coalition. A&O will continue to work with MCE and the various institutions involved to draw together the coalition and to help it act.

The project has been led from the Brussels office by Beatrice Vos and the lawyers who have been involved are: Charlotte Beauchataud, Lien Delvoye, Ettore Frustaci, Gergely Juhasz, Jonathan Kirsop, Ivan Kisely, Alexander Kraemer, Quinten Kroes, Peter Kubina, Joachin Lehnhardt, Jorge Manzarbeita, Massimiliano Molinari, Deirdre Moynihan, Thierry Schiltz, Willem Van De Wiele, Peter Van Dyck and Katarzyna Zbierska.

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VALID NUTRITION

Valid Nutrition, a not-for-profit humanitarian company, now registered as a charity, was set up in 2005. The goal of Valid Nutrition is to provide appropriate foods for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition to all those who need them. Valid Nutrition’s branded range of Ready to Use Foods (RUF) recipes, made in developing countries out of locally grown crops, will reduce the cost and extend access to RUF, whilst channelling economic benefits back to local manufacturers and farmers.

Lawyers from our Paris office assisted Valid Nutrition in its negotiations with Nutriset SA, a French-based manufacturer that has designed and patented RUFs. The granting of a licence by Nutriset SA to Valid Nutrition covering peanut-based RUFs enabled Valid Nutrition to produce and sell such products in Africa.

Following on from the work done by our French lawyers, A&O lawyers in the UK then assisted Valid Nutrition with the development, negotiation and finalisation of the legal documentation relating to a significant collaboration involving manufacturing of RUFs in the East African Region (including Eritrea, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) and also the undertaking of joint research into cheaper, new RUF products. Our IP lawyers in the London office reviewed the IP provisions in the Joint Venture agreement.

The lawyers involved are: Bianca Achilles, Ahmad Baladi, Emmanuelle Bartoli, Peter Harper, Kunthea Ker and Jennifer Lovell. The work was referred to A&O by Advocates for International Development (A4ID), a broker organisation that helps development NGOs access the pro bono expertise of lawyers globally. Further information about A4ID can be found in the UK Pro Bono Work section of this report.

“I just wanted to extend a very sincere and warm thanks to you for your really excellent support over the past few months in finalising the process, and your sensitivity in dealing with the issues and Nutriset. As you know this patent was a central issue blocking the progress and expansion of VN and your help to solve it has been incredibly valuable to us and our mission. We were extremely pleased with the process and all your support.” Derek Staveley, CEO of Valid Nutrition (former Finance Director of Unilever in Zaire, Turkey and Ireland).

GOAL4AFRICA

Goal4Africa is a recently established Dutch charity, which aims to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa as a means of raising funds for and awareness of child poverty in Africa. It’s “goal scoring” campaign will be kicked off at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations on 18 July 2008, and also with a football match in Munich between teams of world class players, and will run right up until the tournament in 2010.

The idea is to mobilise as many of the estimated 10 million football fans world wide to each give a little, motivated by goals, for this good cause. For example:

n A grandmother could make a donation for every goal her grandson scores for his school team;

n A company in Madrid could contribute €10 for each goal scored by their local team in the Spanish national football league;

n A European national team could donate €1,000 for every goal they score in the World Cup qualification matches.

Goal4Africa has been set up as a foundation in the Netherlands and as a charity in Germany, and is in the process of registering itself as a charity in the UK, USA and South Africa. Allen & Overy's office in Amsterdam was approached via a client contact to assist the organisation as it develops, with scope for a large number of our offices to get involved.

We have been asked to provide assistance in the following areas:

n To draw up the contractual framework between the different national organisations of Goal4Africa and to give assistance with their corporate governance;

n In New York, to assist in setting up a “Friends of Goal4Africa” foundation and applying for charitable status;

n In Spain and Italy, to advise on tax efficient methods of fundraising.

So far this interesting cross-border pro bono project is still at its early stages in development, and to date the following offices are involved: Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and New York.

The project is being led by partner John Brouwer from the Amsterdam office and the following people are also involved:

James Burton, Vanessa Cuellas, Dimitrios Efstathiou, Mercedes Ferrer, Alice Gamble, Giovanni Gazzaniga, Francesco Guelfi, Jack Heinberg, David Lewis, Asmus Mihm, Zorka Milin, Susanne Muench, Colin Pearson, Ken Rivlin, Ishtar Sancho, Eduardo Sebastian De Erice, John Springett, Esther Stam, Ryan Velo-Simpson, Alexander Wuepper and Louise Zekaria.

CEELI INSTITUTE

A&O has helped the CEELI Institute to update a course on EU Commercial Law. Based in Prague, CEELI is a not-for-profit institution promoting the rule of law and access to justice, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. It was originally founded under the umbrella of the American Bar Association, but now has a wide range of sponsors.

Francis Herbert from our Brussels office revised the content of the course for CEELI and then the course itself was delivered to judges from south-eastern Europe, and in particular from the Balkans, by John Wotton from the London office and Marta Sendrowicz from Warsaw.

WORLD BANK

For the third year running, A&O lawyers in 18 of our offices took part in the World Bank Doing Business Project. Over 100 lawyers participated, researching laws and regulations in most countries in which we have a presence. The findings are used by the World Bank to promote legislative and economic reform in the developing world.

Surveys were completed this year for the following jurisdictions: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.

Those who helped to complete submissions and to coordinate the project include:

Steffan Adfeldt, Salam Alsmadi, Rosanna Arleo, Juan Barona, Jan Basl, Agnes Bejo, Julianna Bendek, Fabian Beullekens, Dominique Bornert, Jean-François Bouchoms, Sabah Boughida, Simone Bova, Karol Brzoskowski, Melina Cedron Cristobal, May Chiu, Anusara Chokvanitphong, Joseph Chun, Roberto Concha, Rafael Cruz, Vanessa Cuellas, Martine Da Costa, Joanna Danilowicz, Pieter De Bock, Pieter De Koster, Luc Demeyere, Christiane Denzle, Amand-Benoît D’Hondt, Azadeh Djazayeri, Michal Dusek, Ann-Marie Eben, Marton Eorsi, Karen Etienne-Sloan, Anne-Laurence Faroux, Ghram Gazelle Mok, Ruth Gonzalez, Moira Guitart, Nick Herrod, Alistair Hill, Peter Hoegen, Serge Hoffman, Ignacio Hornedo, Zora Hruba, Jaroslaw Iwanicki, Sophie Jacmain, Antonella Jannelli, Alison Jensen, Gergely Juhasz, Wataru Kamoto, Balazs Kantor, Ewa Kedzierska, Mahmoud Kherallah, Gabriella Kiss, Ivan Koh, Reiko Koizumi, Stephanie Kwara, Laszlo Lehmann, Kai Zee Liew, Palida Limsiriwat, Victoria Lopez-Agudo, Michael Loy, Claire Mahaux, Mark Mansell, Jorge Manzarbeita, Carmen Martinez, Céline Masschelein, Helene Missamou, Rachel Nicholson, Arkadiusz Pedzich, David Por, Ann Quatacker, Prakash Raja Segaran, Stephen Richards, Louise Ridgwick, Jean-Claude Rivalland, Daniel Roberts, Sophie Rutten, Balazs Sahin-Toth, Pilar Sanchez, Ishtar Sancho, Attila Sari, Pierre Schleimer, Eduardo Sebastian De Erice, Frank Shu, James Simpson, Sarjit Singh Gill, Jan Skuhravy, Zara Spencer, Rachel Storr, Dumnern Subpaisarn, Emese Szabo, Filip Tanghe, Jan Taubel, Sirinuch Teosirimongkol, Zsolt Tolnai, Cyrille Tonnelet, Maria Trombetta, Francesca Turitto, Pierre Van Den Brule, Antonio Vazquez-Guillen, Beatrice Vos, Eva Vrana, Petr Vybiral, Henri Wagner, Oliver Waldburg, Tim Watson, Catherine Weller, Deborah Wilcher, David Williams, Sarah Wilson, Jennifer Winkler, Ariella Woitchik, Cecilia Zamori, Katarzyna Zbierska, Hui Zheng, Florian Ziegler and Isabell Zimmer.

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AWARDS

A&O does not seek public recognition of its Pro Bono and Community Affairs Programme, but is delighted to receive awards which acknowledge the contribution and commitment of all those who volunteer.

In February 2008, the firm was awarded the Asian Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award from leading independent publisher, International Financial Law Review (IFLR). This pan-Asian award reflects the time, commitment and dedication of all of our staff across Asia to pro bono and community work. The judges commented that A&O stood out above all other law firms for the comprehensive nature of our giving. We were particularly praised for our volunteering work across Asia where in the past 12 months we have actively supported over 20 charitable groups in their work for the disadvantaged, elderly and children.

A&Oʼs global policy of 25 hours billable credit for pro bono and community work, introduced in 2006/7, was commended by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2007 in their Pro Bono/CSR category.

In an effort to recognise and promote good corporate citizenship, the Hong Kong Council of Social Services has continued its Caring Company scheme for the sixth year. The Hong Kong office was delighted to be nominated for this award by both the Hans Andersen Club and Community Business Limited, and has been awarded Caring Company Status for the sixth year running.

The UK officeʼs Impact Endorsement Mark by Business in the Community awarded for its work in raising the aspirations and achievements of young people was reaccredited in 2008, in the Merrill Lynch Investing in Young People category.

We were also awarded the IFLR European Pro Bono Award for our work on the DB Microfinance deal. BlueOrchard Loans for Development 2007, a securitisation of loans to microfinance institutions, on which we advised on a part pro bono basis, won the 2008 Sustainable Deal of the Year award at the FT Sustainable Banking Awards.

For a full list of awards received for A&O's Pro Bono and Community Affairs Programme, please see Appendix 3.

PRO BONO & COMMUNITY WORK WORLDWIDE

BELGIUM

Helga Van Peer is now the partner responsible for the Belgian Pro Bono Board, after Francis Herbert’s retirement in January 2008. The other members are Peter Bienenstock, Dirk Meeus (who succeeded Wim Dejonghe after his election to Global Managing Partner), Filip Tanghe, Filip Stuer and Beatrice Vos (Pro Bono Co-ordinator).

The Board decides on priorities and selects projects based on the proposals it receives. As the Board believes pro bono involvement must remain a question of personal choice according to an individual's interests, its role is limited to supporting financial, legal or community action projects in which members of A&O are involved.

OVK-PEVR

The Belgian offices have a close working relationship with an association for parents of young road victims (OVK-PEVR). It advises on legal issues in order to assist road victims and victims of acts of violence and to improve the Belgian traffic code and its enforcement by police and judicial authorities. The association was restructured in 2004 and now employs a full-time manager, a project assistant and two co-ordinators as local contacts with the families of the victims. Until January 2006 A&O provided the association with free office space, secretarial and some logistical support, as well as free legal advice. OVK-PEVR has now moved to new premises, but receives substantial A&O funding to the amount of €25,000. Through a special Christmas card, A&O has spread awareness of the charity amongst 5,500 clients and contacts in Belgium.

Zebra

Another organisation the Belgian offices have a working relationship with is Zebra VZW, an organisation for the co-ordination of assistance to young road victims, including brothers and sisters and children of road victims. Francis Herbert (Brussels) organises and supervises the A&O pro bono work for this project. Zebra VZW co-operates fully with the Association of Parents of Children Killed on the Roads, with which it has established a privileged relationship. Zebra VZW grew out of a project called Huis voor Jonge Verkeersslachtoffers (House for Young Road Victims), which was the culmination of a one-year fundraising project, Levenslijn-Kinderfonds.

Child Focus

Child Focus, a Belgian umbrella NGO involved in fighting child abduction and abuse, functions at a number of levels, starting with help in finding missing and abducted children, and counselling the children and their families in situations of child abuse. Child Focus is also active at national and international levels as a voice for these and related issues, and operates as the secretariat for the European Centre for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children. The Belgian offices provide a range of pro bono services to the NGO. The work is mainly non-contentious and relates to a wide variety of legal problems that a not-for-profit organisation such as Child Focus might encounter. Francis Herbert of the Brussels office has been leading the project. Through this relationship between the Belgian offices and Child Focus, eleven of A&O's European offices were involved since 2001 in preparing a comprehensive report on the application of the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction across Europe.

Missing and Exploited Children Europe

The Brussels offices co-ordinates the assistance of eleven European offices for MCE in its implementation of an international Financial Coalition against commercial sexual exploitation of children on the internet. For further details of the project, please see the summary of the project in the Global section at the beginning of this report. Since 2008, Francis Herbert has been the secretary-general of the NGO Missing Children Europe.

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SOS Children’s Villages

We have continued supporting SOS Kinderdorpen/Villages d’Enfants, the world's largest orphan and abandoned children charity. Our support consists of direct financial support through charity actions and legal support. Now in its third year, the Brussels Legal Run, which A&O initiated in 2005, has grown further with 20 Brussels-based law firms taking part in this 20km run. We convinced the other law firms to adopt SOS Children’s Villages as the common charity for the 2007 event, leading to over €6000 in sponsorship donations from other law firms, and again as much from A&O Belgium. Dirk Meeus threw a birthday party where clients were asked to donate money to SOS Children's Villages. The total donation to SOS Children’s Villages was €25,000.

Pro Deo

In order to be accepted as a member of a Belgian bar, a trainee must, under the rules of the Brussels Bar authorities, take on 20 to 40 so-called “pro deo clients”, people in need of legal advice who meet the requirements for free legal advice and assistance in court. Each local bar in Belgium (in the case of A&O Belgium the Bars of Antwerp and Brussels) organises weekly contact sessions for pro deo clients. On average, a trainee attends one session a month. At these sessions, clients are allocated to lawyers. During the first three years as a lawyer, each trainee will spend a considerable amount of time working on these pro deo cases. A small rather symbolic fee is paid by the federal government per pro deo case. Although our trainees’ involvement in such cases is not “voluntary” in the proper sense of the word, A&O Belgium strongly believes this work is very important and just as valuable as other pro bono work. It provides our juniors with exposure to the day-to-day reality of criminal law, divorce cases, asylum seekers, amongst others, of which we are too often insufficiently aware as business lawyers. It gives people in need access to bright young lawyers who can rely on the resources of a well-known top firm to provide the best advice and assistance possible. It also contributes to the development of more versatile lawyers (for example, it is not uncommon for Banking or Corporate trainees to deal with cases involving pleadings in the administrative court).

We are proud of this professional obligation which all Belgian lawyers face. It demonstrates a shared sense of duty to society. We support this time-consuming and intense work by reducing the billable hours target for trainees (and raising it for more senior lawyers to ensure we maintain overall targets per lawyer). Trainees can turn to other lawyers for help with these cases, which are often complicated and sensitive (such as granting the status of refugee, the issue of child custody and abuse cases). In addition, we have set up a help desk of dedicated senior lawyers who help trainees with pro deo work.

To guide Belgian trainees through their pro deo cases and obligations, the Belgian offices established a Pro Deo Helpdesk headed by Axel Craeybeckx (Antwerp) and Peter Van Dyck (Brussels). The Pro Deo Helpdesk assists many of the Belgian trainees with their everyday questions.

Community Activities

Peter Bienenstock (Brussels) is a member of the board of the Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) not-for-profit organisation, LCH-Belgium VZW, which works with related groups in other countries. LCH is a rare disease, usually affecting young children. Peter is also on the Steering Committee of the Nikolas Symposium, a privately funded think tank which sponsors a medical conference and related efforts aimed at providing a better understanding of, and developing a cure for, histiocytic diseases. Peter is also a trustee and vice-president of the Histiocytosis Research Trust, a UK-registered charity.

Geert Glas (Brussels) is a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Scientific Research and Educational Exchange. The Foundation grants scholarships to Belgian students and academics to study and carry out research in the United States. Geert also sits on the board of Timber, a day centre for mentally impaired adults. He is also a member of the Intellectual Property Council, a public body advising the Belgian Minister of Economic Affairs, on intellectual property legislation.

Francis Herbert (Brussels), who retired in January 2008, was actively involved as Secretary General of the Association of Parents of Children Killed on the Roads. Francis took part in several ministerial working groups. These are devoted to issues of assistance to road victims and victims of acts of violence, and to the improvement of the Belgian traffic code and its enforcement by police and judicial authorities. He was also a representative of the

European Federation of Road Victims and on the European Transport Safety Council. Francis has also been invited by the Supreme Council for Justice (Conseil Supérieure de la Justice) to take part in a training programme on victims’ rights for judges and members of the Public Prosecutor’s office.

Luc Demeyere (Antwerp) has been acting as an accredited mediator in a number of fee disputes after the Antwerp Bar introduced mediation for disputes on fees. The Antwerp Bar together with Antwerp University Law School organises seminars for permanent education. Luc is a member of the Committee providing suggestions for next yearʼs conferences. The Flemish Bar established a task force for reviewing the Bar Exam for all Flemish Bars and Luc participates as a member of that committee. Luc also participates in the “Lawyers in Schools” programme, organised by the Flemish Bar, whereby a lawyer gives a one-hour presentation to school children in either their last year of primary or secondary school. A&O has been requested to sponsor the participation of the University of Antwerp and Ghent at the Willem Vis Moot in Vienna. Luc coaches the teams from these universities.

Stéphanie Houx (Brussels) sits as an assistant judge at the Brussels Fiscal Court.

Thierry Van Innis (Brussels) sits every week as an assistant judge at the Brussels Court of Appeal. He volunteered to do so as part of a government initiative to speed up the process of reducing the judicial backlog.

Nele De Volder, Helga Van Peer and Ingrid De Wilde assisted Oxfam Solidarité by setting up a Christmas collection of second-hand winter clothes to give people in Belgium who live below the poverty line the opportunity to buy cheaper clothes. The clothes were given to Oxfam shops in Belgium. With the money from the sale of second-hand clothes in the shops, Oxfam finances projects in developing countries.

Wim Dejonghe has participated in the annual Aardbeitocht, a cycling event which raises money for Anautica, a home for mentally impaired adults.

Werner Eyskens is a member of the Brussels Bar Council and is responsible for the regulatory monitoring and approval procedures of firms and other legal entities through which Brussels bar lawyers practise.

CHINA In August 2007 we appointed a pro bono and community co-ordinator for each of our Beijing and Shanghai offices. We then invited all People’s Republic of China staff to volunteer to join the new pro bono and community committees in those offices. We subsequently conducted a survey in both Beijing and Shanghai which revealed that our staff are particularly interested in supporting projects involving children and education. That has determined how we allocate our efforts and resources. Lead members of the pro bono and community committees in the PRC are, in Beijing: Grace Xu, Jocelyn Wang, Huawei Sun, Chenghong Wang, Yanan Zhou and, in Shanghai: Richard Kim, Louise Ridgwick and Julia Zhang.

PRO BONO WORK

Orphanage project

The Beijing office has been helping with the initial stages of the establishment of a privately run orphanage in Beijing. Currently, all orphanages in China need to be set up with governmental approval. A&O has become involved to help advise on the legal framework and practicalities of setting up a private orphanage. This is a particularly interesting project, because – so far as we are aware – there are currently no private orphanages operating in China, making this a legal first. A&O is also investigating ways in which the orphanage might be able to accept funds from within China and abroad. In the longer term, we hope to continue to support the orphanage with fundraising and volunteer work. This way we hope to be able to include as many of the Beijing staff, both fee-earning and support staff, as want to be involved.

The team working on the orphanage project includes: Robert Cui, Michael Gu, Hetti Jackson-Stops, Tom Jones, Rebecca Law, Dora Luo, Emily Ma, Huawei Sun, Chenghong Wang, Jocelyn Wang, Grace Xu, Lisa Zhao, Aaron Zhou and Yanan Zhou.

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Roots & Shoots

In Shanghai, Victor Ho, Ning Sun, Li Ping Peng and Fai Hung Cheung have provided pro bono legal advice to the Shanghai branch of Roots & Shoots, an environmental education programme for young people which promotes care and concern for the environment, animals and people through community service projects and educational activities. We have also raised money for Roots & Shoots (see below).

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

University Scholarship programme

Allen & Overy is seeking to make a contribution to Chinese legal education and promote the effectiveness of law in areas of public interest through a university scholarship programme. Under this programme, law students at six of the top universities in Shanghai and Beijing can apply for a grant to conduct legal research or field work on issues relating to corporate responsibility, law reform, legal aid, environmental protection, criminal justice, or, alternatively, on a project promoting public interest of their own design. Tom Jones, James Hu, Wensheng Ma, Grace Xu, Chenghong Wang, Jing Wang and Shuang Liu have been working on this in Beijing, and Louise Ridgwick, Ivy Tang, Allan Fan and Tony Zhong are involved in Shanghai.

European Chamber of Commerce Community Involvement Day

At the beginning of November 2007, Jessica Shen, Julia Zhang, Vivian Lo and Sylvia Liu from the Shanghai office participated in the European Chamber of Commerce Community Involvement Day at the Shanghai School for Blind Children and the Fountain School for Autistic Children. The day was designed to enable volunteers to help children with visual disabilities and autism communicate better with the outside world. While the children experienced interaction with new faces and gained knowledge and self-esteem through information sharing and the sense of being respected, our volunteers found satisfaction in making a small difference to these children’s lives by giving them care and attention.

Childrenʼs Village

Also in November 2007, a collection took place in the Beijing office for, and a visit made to, the Children's Village, a refuge for disabled children abandoned by their parents. Volunteers took crates of milk powder and nappies to the refuge, which was established with the aim of creating a safe environment for orphans and the goal of finding parents willing to care for the children over the long term. Those who went to the orphanage included: Carrie Dai, Michael Edwards, Lisa Feng, Carrie He, Tom Jones, Phoebe Li, Dora Luo, Huawei Sun, Christie Tao, Peter Thorp, Jing Wang, Jocelyn Wang, Ralph Wang and Lisa Zhao.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

Roots & Shoots

In November 2007, the Shanghai office sponsored a dinner for Roots & Shoots student volunteers. The guest of honour at the dinner was the primatologist and environmental activist Dr. Jane Goodall.

HuaQiao Foundation

In lieu of spending money on Christmas cards this year, a donation was made to the HuaQiao Foundation, an organisation supporting education in rural China. Our money went towards the completion of a primary school serving over 200 students, of whom many are AIDS orphans.

CZECH REPUBLIC The Prague office continues to develop long-term relationships with the charities and community organisations for whom we have done work. The programme is co-ordinated by Marcela Hogenova and Denisa Mannova.

PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

The majority of the Prague office’s pro bono legal work is carried out through the multi-jurisdictional projects the firm participates in, which are described elsewhere in this report. We also act on ad hoc instructions from the Czech Bar Association in various pro bono cases, with many of our lawyers and partners being involved. These cases may involve representing individuals in court or giving advice to local community organisations.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

ENGAGE

The Prague office has been involved with ENGAGE since December 2006. ENGAGE is an international network of businesses and community organisations that collaborate to bring together employees and their communities around the globe. ENGAGE helps to identify projects through its local broker organisation, Hestia.

Hestia has organised a series of seminars on the issue of corporate social responsibility delivered by different law firms to university students. The aim is to inform the next generation of business people about CSR and why it matters for business. The first seminar was delivered by A&O at the Metropolitan University in Prague. The programme has been extended to include the Law Universities in Pilsner and Olomouc.

We also took part in another ENGAGE project, “Around the World in 80 Minutes”. The aim of this project is to teach children from disadvantaged families about life outside their own country, including introducing them to new foods. This took place on one Saturday afternoon and was attended by some three dozen children as well as many of our staff.

Project Kamos (Project Buddy)

We participate in Project Kamos, which helps children from underprivileged backgrounds to get better grades at school and to find new worthwhile hobbies. The project is designed to support these children, especially when they are going through a difficult period at home, to prevent them from having to go to a children's home. The hope is that once that difficulty is resolved, they can get back on track and stay positive. We provide funding for two assistants on the Project.

Project “Kdo komu”

From time to time, staff members visit a children's home in Sazena, “Kdo komu”, to spend an evening with the children there. There, we share our experiences with them, through stories, music, and food. If we tell them about England, we usually take along food and sweets from Marks & Spencer. These visits are organised by Barevny Svet Deti, a local charity.

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Children’s Burns Unit

The Prague office has supported the Childrenʼs Burns Unit at Vinohrady Hospital for several years now. We sponsor a psychologist working at the Children's Burns Injury Clinic at the hospital. The psychologist helps these children to come to terms with their injuries as well as helping their parents. We donated toys to the children who had to stay in the burns injury ward over the Christmas period. We also hope to spend time in the next year helping to redecorate the ward.

CHARITY DONATIONS AND FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES

Christmas Cards

As in previous years, the partners in the Prague office decided not to send Christmas cards to clients. The money saved together with additional donations totalled approximately €12,000. This was donated to the Motol Childrenʼs Hospital Cardio Centre in Prague.

Office Christmas Market and Picture Exhibition

It has become a tradition for us to sell goods in the client area of our office at both Christmas and Easter. The goods on sale are made by people with learning disabilities and are provided by organisations including Jedlickuv Ustav, Nadace Duha and Barveny Svet Deti.

International Christmas Bazaar

The bazaar is organised by the Diplomatic Ladies Association (DLA) and was opened by the First Lady, Mrs Livia Klausova. We participated by giving a small donation and supporting the British Embassy stand with some of our corporate gifts, including computer memory sticks, balls and t-shirts.

UNICEF

The Prague office regularly purchases stationery such as cards and calendars from UNICEF.

IT and Furniture Recycling

We sold IT equipment and office furniture no longer being used or need to raise money on behalf of Fokus, an organisation which supports people with learning disabilities. In addition, some items including chairs, tables, mattresses and pillows were taken to a refugee centre in Liberec.

FRANCE

Anne-Laurence Faroux co-ordinates the pro bono programme in the Paris office, with guidance from partner Jean-Claude Rivalland.

PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

Avocats sans Frontières France

A&O Paris co-operates with Avocats sans Frontières France (ASF) (Lawyers Without Borders France) to support ASF activity. ASF is an international non-governmental organisation mostly composed of lawyers, law firms and lawyersʼ professional organisations, whose purpose is to contribute, independently, to:

n the promotion of the rights for everyone to be defended, access to justice, the due process of law and the improvement of the rule of law;

n the fight against impunity, by acting locally in the field; and

n the professional training of lawyers in France or abroad.

ASF currently carries out missions in Colombia, in Libya (defending Bulgarian nurses who have been sentenced to death), in Cambodia and in Nigeria.

We provide ASF France with financial and logistic support, and we offer our expertise on a pro bono basis. In return, ASF France provides our lawyers with professional training in the field of fundamental human rights and right to have due process of law followed. These training sessions have been organised in our offices. Some of our lawyers have already participated in the Nigeria Project currently being managed by ASF France. In future, we are looking to become more closely involved with ASF France with a special project in which A&O lawyers will be more specifically involved.

Le Bus de la Solidarité

Le Bus de la Solidarité in co-operation with the Paris Bar gives access to justice to people who cannot afford it. Thirty lawyers from A&O Paris are involved in this project and provide free legal assistance.

Pro Bono Round Table

Members of the A&O Paris office attend discussions organised by the Paris Pro Bono Round Table. The Round Table is a forum for lawyers in Paris to discuss pro bono activities in which they are involved. Speakers from different associations are invited to speak at the discussions.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

HEC Foundation

A&O is a member of the HEC School of Management Foundation. The HEC Foundation is involved in a programme run by two schools, the Henri IV lycée in Paris and the Michelet lycée in Vanves (a suburb close to Paris), which provide preparatory classes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enable them to prepare for entrance exams for the French Grandes Ecoles, such as HEC School of Management. Students who take part in this programme are also provided with accommodation and educational materials. As members of the HEC Foundation, A&O Paris is also involved in mentoring particular students.

Book collection – Droits d'Urgence

Droits d'Urgence is an association which provides free advice and legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals in order to help them understand and enforce their legal rights. The association provides its services in around 20 health and humanitarian centres in the Île de France region. The association's volunteers attend these centres to give advice to people there. A&O Paris is currently involved in a project to provide legal textbooks and codes to the association for volunteers to use in the various centres. Some A&O lawyers are also volunteers for the organisation.

CHARITY DONATIONS AND FUNDRAISING

Paris Half-Marathon

Twenty-four people from A&O Paris and A&O London ran the Paris half-marathon on 2 March 2008 raising money for the French Haemophilia Association (Association Française des Hémophiles).

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GERMANY

The Frankfurt office pro bono/community programme is run by a committee made up of associates (Volker Enseleit, Vanessa Pfeiffer, Myriam Schilling and Alexander Wuepper), legal PAs (Alexandra Faus and Lisa Kramm), the librarian (Ludger Hartmann), a billing co-ordinator (Stefania Arenella), a marketing co-ordinator (Steffen Mueller), the professional development manager (Katrin Stapper) and the evening support manager (Sabine Schumacher). The committee was co-chaired in 2007/8 by Vanessa Pfeiffer and Alexander Wuepper.

In the Hamburg office, the pro bono/community programme is run by a committee made up of legal PAs (Alexandra Niederelc and Katja Stiebler), an administration assistant (Eckhard Lohse), IT-support (Markus Schmidt) and receptionist (Vivien Huebner).

Both offices have a very active programme, based largely on themes of homelessness, disability and less-fortunate children. Members of the two committees will support the new offices in Dusseldorf and Mannheim as they begin to look at opportunities for staff there to become involved in pro bono and community work.

PRO BONO WORK

Frankfurt Pro Bono Round Table

The Frankfurt office is an active member of the Frankfurt Pro Bono Round Table together with other law firms and organisations in Frankfurt. The Round Table is seeking to clarify whether it is permissible or not to give free legal advice in Germany, which, as the regulations currently stand, may not be allowed. Until the position is clarified, the Frankfurt office is being cautious about providing free legal advice in Germany.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Frankfurter Tafel

The first Saturday of each month, two A&O Frankfurt employees drive around Frankfurt collecting food and delivering it to women and children living in a women's shelter and large low-income families in Frankfurt and its surrounding areas.

Volunteers: Stefania Arenella, Christine Bader, Alexandra Fries, Ludger Hartmann, Wibke Kleber, Lisa Kramm, Rosalind Lang, Ann-Kathrin Maack, Olaf Meisen, Christine Mingers, Vanessa Pfeiffer, Britta Scheiber-Somfelean, Sabine Schumacher and Katrin Stapper.

Mitternachtsbus

The “Mitternachtsbus” (midnight bus) was originally set up in Hamburg by a group of volunteers, and was then taken over by the Protestant Church. The Mitternachtsbus visits the places frequented by homeless people. In the cold months the bus runs daily, in the warm season every other day. The homeless are provided with warm drinks and snacks and if needed with clothes. It is also important for them that they know they are not forgotten and have someone to talk to. A Hamburg bakery donates leftovers. The bus itself is provided by the church. Once a month, an A&O team from the Hamburg office operates and runs one complete tour of the bus.

Volunteers: Alexandra Niederelc and Katja Stiebler.

Employability Skills Workshop

In November 2007 and February 2008, a group of A&O Frankfurt employees attended the Bachschule in Offenbach (in the Frankfurt area) to help local teenagers who have not been able to go to university to learn how successfully to complete job applications and interview skills techniques.

Volunteers: Student legal PAs, Inga Feser, Jennifer Franken, Ludger Hartmann, Simon Hennes, Vivian Leydecker, Vanessa Pfeiffer, Philipp Schneider, Angela Taylor, Katja Wolf and Alexander Wuepper.

Down-Sportlerfestival

On 12 May 2007, 18 A&O Frankfurt staff members and their friends volunteered to help at the annual Down-Sportlerfestival at the Sport and Recreation Centre in Frankfurt Kalbach. The festival helps children with Down's syndrome to play many sports and generally to gain in self-confidence. More than 400 children took part, watched by some 1,700 spectators.

Volunteers: Liam Ayre, Christine Bader, Felix Bürger, Alexandra Faus, Cristina Freudenberger, Wibke Kleber, Vivian Leydecker, Steffen Lindenthal, Olaf Meisen, Isabelle Navone, Vanessa Pfeiffer, Ann-Kathrin Plate, Myriam Schilling, Amber Sinclair, Katrin Stapper and Alexander Wuepper.

Carnival

On 26 January 2008, ten A&O Frankfurt staff members attended the annual carnival celebration for the “Verein gemeinsam mit Behinderten e. V.” This carnival is for the benefit of those with disabilities. Our staff helped prepare and serve food and drinks as well as being part of the entertainment.

Volunteers: Seyda Duman, Volker Enseleit, Alexandra Faus, Rosalind Lang, Steffen Lindenthal, Tanja Manojlovic, Vanessa Pfeiffer, Jemma Prince and Katrin Stapper.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge

On 13 June 2007, 60 A&O Frankfurt staff members participated in the annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge 5.6km run through the City of Frankfurt. A&O Frankfurt sponsored this event by paying the entry fee for each participant in support of the beneficiary Deutsche Sporthilfe – JPMorgan Helps: Handicapped Kids in Motion.

Dragon Boat Festival

On 16 June and 17 June 2007, 20 A&O Frankfurt staff members and friends took part in the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Frankfurt. These people dedicated their entire weekend to paddle in support of the Special Olympics Germany.

Lauf für Mehr Zeit

On 9 September 2007, a group of A&O Frankfurt staff members participated in the annual 5km run through the City of Frankfurt in support of AIDS-Hilfe Frankfurt e. V.

HSH Nordbank Run

The HSH Nordbank Run is a 4km run (with walking and jogging also permitted) through the area where the Hamburg office is located. Local companies enter teams, with the entrance fee of €4 per person being donated to the charity Children help Children (Kinder helfen Kindern). This organisation enables children from less well off families to join sports clubs. In 2008 A&O Hamburg will enter a team for the third consecutive year.

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Race for the Cure

On 30 September 2007, a group of A&O Frankfurt staff members participated in the annual 5km run along the waterfront in Frankfurt in support of KOMEN Deutschland e. V., a charity which is working for a cure against breast cancer.

Clothing Donations

In September 2007, A&O Frankfurt collected over 40 bags of shoes and clothing which were donated to the women's shelter Frauencafé Kassandra in the Bahnhofsviertel in Frankfurt. Any items they cannot use are donated to other people in need in the Frankfurt area via the Frankfurter Verein. We are also collecting all kind of clothes in the Hamburg office. Every few months we give the collected clothes to the Mitternachtsbus (see above), which hands out donations to people in need.

Volunteers: Bruntje Veizi and Steffi Drabsch.

Toy Drive

In February and March 2008 A&O Frankfurt collected toys which will be donated to the Verein gemeinsam mit Behinderten e. V. to improve the possibilities of child care for disabled children.

Book collection

Used books are being collected in the Hamburg office which will be donated a local hospital or a home for old people.

Volunteers: Manja Busse and Steffi Drabsch.

IT Equipment Sale

A&O Germany's IT team sold used equipment no longer needed employees in both offices. The proceeds are donated to charity and the reuse of the equipment is environmentally friendly.

Unicef Christmas Card Sale

In December 2007, A&O Frankfurt sold charity Christmas cards to its employees to raise money for UNICEF.

Christmas Tree Project

In December 2007, A&O Frankfurt employees purchased and donated Christmas gifts (e.g. toys) for disabled and less fortunate children in Germany. Since 2005 there has also been a Christmas tree project in Hamburg, helping handicapped adults who are otherwise unsupported. The mental level of these adults often equals that of a child or teenager. Presents were bought for the residents of the Wohnanlage “Gräflingsberg” of the Rauhes Haus in Hamburg. Eckhard Lohse exchanged his business suit for the perfect Santa Claus attire and handed out the presents with the help of two angels from A&O. Approximately 40 A&O people from Hamburg participated in this project in 2007.

HONG KONG The Pro Bono Committee co-ordinates the Hong Kong officeʼs pro bono activities. Members of the committee represent a cross-section of disciplines and departments. The current committee members are Matthew Chen, Gordon Fong, Barbara Hou, Catherine Husted, May Lo, Roger Lui, Jade Man, Paul Porter, Murray Prior,

Joan Tan and Eric Tse. John Knox, Yvonne Lau and Annette So retired from the committee this year. The committee meets each month to monitor activities and discuss future initiatives. Currently, the Hong Kong office supports a variety of community projects and schemes, partnering with various social sectors.

Helpers for Domestic Helpers (“HDH”)

We are now in our seventh year of supporting HDH, a non-profit organisation that provides legal advice, counselling and guidance for foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. HDH deals with a wide variety of issues covering employment, immigration and human rights issues affecting those foreign domestic helpers.

The charity has only two full-time members of staff and is open from Monday to Friday, and on Sundays, when most domestic helpers in Hong Kong have their day off work. From A&O those volunteering and offering advice on the HDH rota include Matt Bower, Melody Chu, Anthony Fan, Regina Fan, Brian Harrison, Yvette Leung, May Lo, Roger Lui, Laveena Mahtani, Clarissa Ogden, Angus Ross, Amy Supangkat, Joan Tan, Eric Tse, Frances Van Eupen and Cathy Yeung. Our litigation department also continues to offer litigation support for HDH, and we have formalised a system of referral with HDH.

For more information on HDH, visit www.stjohnscathedral.org.hk/helpers.htm.

Enlighten

Enlighten works to improve the quality of life for people with epilepsy and their family members. It advises patients with their medication, advises on other therapeutic approaches to epilepsy and provides information, education and support to patients through one-to-one counselling and self-help support groups.

Having advised Enlighten on establishing its Hong Kong branch and as a charity, the Hong Kong office gives ongoing legal advice and other support to this charity. We sponsored an advertisement in the programme for Enlightenʼs Fundraising Dinner held on 15 March 2008.

For more information on Enlighten, visit www.enlighten.hk.org.

St Maryʼs Home for the Aged

St Maryʼs Home for the Aged is run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, who provide care for the poor and needy, the homeless and abandoned old people. The Sisters have no subsidy from the government or from the Community Chest of Hong Kong (which subsidises many charities in Hong Kong). They are not allowed under their constitution to have any form of investments or any regular income, so historically, the Sisters “live on daily charity” and can only raise funds by relying on the generosity of voluntary donors. The elderly who stay at the home only need to pay a minimal contribution from their old age government allowance (which is barely enough to pay for their food and lodging). The Sisters run two homes in Hong Kong – one in Kowloon and one in Wong Chuk Hang/Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island. The Sisters look after the residents with the help of voluntary workers. A portion of all donations received is used to hire paid staff to provide medical care, do the cooking and some of the cleaning.

We provide cash donations and ongoing legal advice to the Little Sisters of the Poor. We donated Christmas gifts and food to St. Maryʼs and hosted a Christmas tea party for the residents which included running a bingo session for them.

A&O volunteers for St. Maryʼs include Shirley Au-Yeung, Carmen Fung, Lucy Haslewood, Catherine Husted, Kim Hyo Jung, Joseph Lee, Jade Man, Ben Rossan, Agnes Tsang, Eric Tse and Judy Zhu.

Hans Andersen Club (“HAC”)

HAC is a local charity that runs child and youth projects for underprivileged children. We provide pro bono legal advice and participate in fundraising activities. Gordon Fong is a director on the HAC executive committee, contributing to the development of business and strategic planning for the club. As part of the business strategy developed by the executive committee last year, HAC was able to secure further funding from various funding bodies for expansion. Hundreds of children and young people from both the Lamma Island Centre and the Chuk Yuen Centre are now able to enjoy their new facilities in the new locations. Some of these features include a spacious library and a workshop for storytelling.

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On 16 June 2007, a group of volunteers (Elaine Chiu, Maria Fan, Gordon Fong, Jade Man, Paul Porter, Julia Sheng, Annette So and Michelle Yip) from the office took part in a trip to Lamma Island. The volunteers assisted at a playgroup run by HAC, had lunch with the children at the playgroup and gave out various gifts.

Staff from the Hong Kong office donated Christmas gifts for the children of HAC. These gifts were distributed to the children by Santa and a group of volunteers (Gordon Fong, Winnie Wong and Julia Sheng) at the annual HAC Christmas party.

We also sponsored a charity performance held on 13 January 2008, which took place at the Hong Kong Polytechnic.

We have made our training rooms available to HAC for various social events and activities and sponsored an advertisement for HAC which was displayed in many of the MTR stations. We also set up coin collection boxes in the office to collect spare coins for HAC.

For more information on HAC, visit www.hac.org.hk.

World Cancer Research Fund Hong Kong (“Fund”)

The Fund organised a “Fruity Friday” on 29 June 2007. This is a public awareness campaign which began in 2005 to promote the importance of a healthy diet, and in particular the benefits of eating fruit, to maintain good health and as a protection against many common cancers. The Fund asked participating companies to hold their own “fruity” events. The Hong Kong office organised fruit boxes for all members of staff and a donation was made to the Fund. We also set up coin collection boxes in the office to collect spare coins for the Fund.

For more information on the Fund, visit www.wcrf-hk.org.

ORBIS

We made various cash donations to ORBIS which works in partnership with local health professionals in many countries to improve the quality and accessibility of eye care for people living where the need is greatest. We set up coin collection boxes in the office to collect spare coins for ORBIS. Jade Man participated in the ORBIS “Walk for Sight” on 9 March 2008.

For more information on ORBIS, visit www.orbis.org.

Society for Community Organisation (“SOCO”)

SOCO is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the alleviation of poverty and social inequality in Hong Kong. It runs numerous projects, including the Childrenʼs Rights Project and the New Immigrants Project. We organised a book collection for SOCO in the office. The books were sent to SOCO’s community centre in Sham Shui Po.

For more information on SOCO, visit www.soco.org.hk.

Caring for Children Foundation (“CFCF”)

CFCF comprises a group or volunteers, medical and health care specialists, and professionals from different fields who work to help underprivileged children in remote villages in China.

On 28 October 2007 we sponsored a “Charity Fun Day” for the Foundation. A group of volunteers (Peter Crossan, Regina Fan, Gordon Fong, Matthew Hebburn, Jade Man, Hélène Mottais, Paul Porter and Kurt Sherwood) took part in a tug-of-war competition, which was one of the events, and was awarded the “most united team” award for team effort and spirit.

We also organised a collection of clothes and toys in the office for CFCF.

For more information on CCF, visit www.cfcf.org.hk.

Crossroads International (“Crossroads”)

Crossroads was established in Hong Kong by a husband and wife team in 1995. It now employs 35 full-time staff and receives regular support from volunteers. Crossroads identifies humanitarian organisations with specific needs. It then responds to those needs by collecting and delivering goods such as food, clothes, medical supplies or bedding – both locally and internationally. Crossroads has sent goods to many places including China, Africa, Nepal, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, always with a specific project in mind (for example, orphanages, hospitals and schools).

The Hong Kong office continues to support this charity. This year teams of recruits volunteered their services to help with packing and shipping goods at the Crossroads Gold Coast premises (formerly known as Perowne Barracks).

Crossroads volunteers this year have included Catherine Husted, Jade Man, Paul Porter, Neela Ramanathan and Eric Tse.

We have also given IP and other legal advice to Crossroads in connection with a project which will recycle old palm pilots for use in rural areas by farmers, doctors and schools so that they can have easier access to information. The first project was for farmers in Indonesia and the next project is expected to be for doctors in China.

In addition, we organised collections of furniture from members of staff which Crossroads will distribute.

For more information on Crossroads, visit www.crossroads.org.hk.

Community Business Limited (“CBL”)

CBL was established to work with companies in Hong Kong to address their Corporate Social Responsibility in the areas of corporate community involvement and workplace initiatives (including diversity in the workplace). CBL is the Hong Kong partner of Business in the Community, UK, which is the largest CSR organisation in the world and supported by four-fifths of FTSE100 Companies, many of whom have offices in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong office signed up as the first “Gold Package Citizen” of CBL in January 2003. We also act as CBLʼs pro bono lawyers and in this capacity we have advised them on:

n various company secretarial matters – including the holding of board and shareholder meetings, the appointment of a new company secretary, the execution of various company documents and the use of the company seal;

n drafting a confidentiality and IP agreement to be entered into by CBL with its staff of volunteers;

n drafting copyright and liability disclaimers to be used by CBL in all of its marketing and training materials and on its web site;

n drafting standard form “Citizenship Agreements” to be entered into by CBL with all of its Citizens and “Gold Package” Citizens, and drafting and assisting in negotiations of specific Citizenship Agreements entered into by CBL with various CBL Citizens; and

n assisting in negotiations of tenancy agreement to be entered into by CBL.

Catherine Husted continues in her role as deputy chair of CBL's Leadership Team. The Leadership Team comprises senior representatives from each of the CBL Citizens (including ABN AMRO, Barclays, HSBC, Lehmans, Standard Chartered Bank and the MTR Corporation).

We have made our training rooms available to CBL for a number of employee volunteering workshops during the year and have hosted meetings for the Leadership Team. We also hosted a CBL Members Forum on the topic of “Engaging Your Employees in Corporate Community Investment” at which Catherine Husted made a presentation on “Sharing Best CCI Practice”.

For more information on CBL, visit www.communitybusiness.org.hk.

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Caring Company

In an effort to recognise and promote good corporate citizenship, the Hong Kong Council of Social Services continued its Caring Company Scheme for the sixth year. Companies demonstrating commitment in the areas listed below are awarded Caring Company Status and the right to use the official Caring Company Logo:

n encouraging and support employee volunteering.

n providing family-friendly environment for employees and being gender-sensitive.

n being willing to employ vulnerable groups.

n developing partnership projects with the social service sector.

n sharing business expertise with the social service organisations.

n donating or giving in kind to the community.

We were delighted to be nominated for this award by both the Hans Andersen Club and Community Business Limited, and to have been awarded Caring Company Status for the sixth year running. Henry Tong, the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong SAR, presided at the awards ceremony on 21 February 2008. Murray Prior and Gordon Fong attended the ceremony on behalf of the office.

Companies who are given this award are entitled to use the Caring Company Logo in the coming year for both internal and external public relations activities, letting people know of their caring deeds and good practices. As we have been awarded Caring Company Status for six consecutive years, this year we are also entitled to use the “Five Year Plus Award Logo” for our public relations activities in the coming year.

Gordon Fong and Catherine Husted have been nominated as Caring Ambassadors under the Caring Company Scheme.

For more information on the Caring Company Scheme, visit www.caringcompany.net.

Equal Opportunities Commission (“EOC”)

We were approached by the EOC to see whether we could offer free legal advice to people on issues relating to equal opportunities where the EOC is unable to assist. As a result, our litigation department has agreed to take on such matters where no conflict of interest exists with our current client base.

Matilda Sedan Chair Race and Bazaar

This is an annual event which raises money to donate to local charities. A&O sponsored an advert in the race programme.

UNICEF

We set up coin collection boxes in the office to collect spare foreign coins for UNICEF.

For more information on UNICEF, visit www.unicef.org.

Stride for a Cure

We are now in our sixth year of supporting Stride for a Cure. This yearʼs annual Stride for a Cure in aid of The Hong Kong Cancer Fund was held on 4 November 2007. Routes of 5km and 12km were organised through Tai Tam Country Park. The event had a carnival atmosphere with live entertainment and game booths available throughout the day, with a lucky draw to round off the festivities.

Funds raised by Stride for a Cure will go towards continued cancer research in Hong Kong as well as funding the purchase of new equipment for cancer units at various hospitals in Hong Kong.

The A&O volunteers who participated were: Stephen Chan, Matthew Chen, Angela Cheung, Vi Vi Chow, Guy Connell, Gordon Fong, Carmen Fung, Andrew Harrow, Nicholas Ho, Larry Hu, Joyce Leung, Laveena Mahtani, Rebecca Ng, Winnie Wong, Edward Xu, Bernice Yung and Linda Zheng.

For more information on the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, visit www.cancer-fund.org.

Guangzhou Orphanage

In December 2007, a group of A&O volunteers, family and friends spent a day at the Guangzhou Orphanage. The volunteers helped out at three parties at the orphanage. This involved participating in nativity plays and carol singing as well as generally helping out with food and drinks and the giving-out of presents. Thanks to the generosity of the Hong Kong office, we gave approximately 800 Christmas gifts to the orphanage. We also took a large amount of chocolates and biscuits which went down extremely well with the children.

The A&O volunteers who visited the Orphanage were: Melody Chu, Peter Crossan, Gordon Fong, Jessica Hamilton, Catherine Husted, May Lo, Jade Man, Hélène Mottais, Neil Patel and Julia Sheng.

We organised a collection of toys, clothes and dental supplies for the orphanage. UBS, Morgan Stanley and HSBC also contributed to this collection.

We also made a donation towards the purchase of a wheelchair for a resident of the orphanage.

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Animals Asia Foundation

The Animals Asia Foundation is involved in a number of activities in Hong Kong and Mainland China, including its China Bear Rescue Campaign. The campaign aims to rescue bears from bear farms where they are kept in cages for the purposes of extracting bile from their gall bladders for use in various medicines. The bears who are rescued are cared for at a centre in Chengdu, Sichuan province in China. We donated money to the foundation, which will be used to feed ‘our’ bear for a year and also pay for veterinary care.

Gordon Fong attended the foundation’s campaign launch party in Hong Kong.

For more information on the Animal Asia Foundation, visit www.animalsasia.org.

Society for Abandoned Animals (“SAA”)

The SAA runs an animal shelter in the New Territories. This year we organised a collection of newspapers for the shelter. The shelter includes mostly dogs but there are also cats, rabbits, pigs, goats and hamsters.

A&O volunteers spent a day at SAA on 19 January 2008 and helped to feed the animals and walk the dogs. The A&O team of volunteers were: Stephen Chan, Melody Chu, Desmond Lee, Vivian Mak, Murray Prior, Neela Ramanathan and Desiree Sumilang. We bought raffle tickets from SAA to help support the daily operation costs for all of the animals at SAA.

For more information on SAA, visit www.saa.org.hk.

World Wide Fund for Nature (“WWF”)

This year we continued to be a silver corporate sponsor of WWF. Our corporate donation will be used for WWFʼs environmental projects in Hong Kong.

For more information on WWF, visit www.wwf.org.hk.

Hike for Hospice

On 24 February 2008, Jade Man, Paul Porter, Terris Tang and Jessica Hamilton took part in a hike to raise funds for the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care. The Society is dedicated to promoting hospice care, providing bereavement support services and developing related training. It advocates a positive attitude towards those facing terminal illness.

For more information on the Society, visit www.hospicecare.org.hk.

Cyber Run

We sponsored staff (Regina Fan, Gordon Fong and Nicholas Ho) to take part in the Cyber Run, held on 25 November 2007. This was a joint event co-organised by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation (HKSR) and the Cyberport Tenants Club (CTC) to raise funds for the HKSR to help people with disability in China and Hong Kong. HKSR is a non-profit organisation that provides services to enhance the quality of life for the elderly and people with disability or chronic illness.

For further details, visit www.cyberrun.hk.

World Vision

We support the Corporate Child Sponsorship Programme run by World Vision. This provides long-term support to child-focused community development. The sponsors' monthly contributions fund development programmes in the sponsored childʼs community. The contributions also provide the sponsored child with access to clean water, nutritious food, basic health care and a chance for education.

For more information on World Vision, visit www.worldvision.org.hk.

Home of Loving Faithfulness

A group of volunteers from the office visited the Home Of Loving Faithfulness in Sheung Shui on 28 July 2007. The home is a local charity run by a group of volunteers who care for children (and some long-term residents) with physical and mental disabilities. The A&O volunteers (Marcus Agnew, Matthew Chen, Robin Cao, Maria Fan, Gordon Fong, Charlie Hung, Yvette Leung, Gary Li, Jade Man, Phoebe Ng, Clarissa Ogden, Julia Sheng, Stephanie Wang and Natalya Xavier) helped with a birthday party for one of the residents.

Oxfam Trailwalker

Simon Berry, Matt Bower, Julia Wood and Joseph Lee took part in this annual 100km walk to raise funds for Oxfam.

For more information on Oxfam, visit www.oxfam.org.hk.

Nepal Enfance et Lumiere

The Hong Kong office is sponsoring five schoolgirlsʼ attendance at a boarding school in Kathmandu, Nepal. Our donation covers accommodation, food, medicine, clothes, education, books and stationery for the girls. Each girl will be writing to their allocated A&O ‘Uncle/Aunty’ (Rashmi Lama (Brian Harrison), Pooja Rai (Michael Liu), Sanu Tamang (Gordon Fong), Kabita Bishwakarma (Andrew Harrow) and Juneli Bishwakarma (Catherine Husted)) to tell them how they are getting on.

In addition, we are in the process of sourcing computer equipment for the school to facilitate computer classes for the girls.

Toiletries Collection

We set up collection boxes in the office to collect airline and other miniature toiletries and amenity kits to donate to the Missionaries of Charity Home of Love. This is a charitable organisation that offers temporary shelter for homeless people in Hong Kong. Our regular donations assist them in providing free showers and toiletries to the homeless.

General Pro Bono Legal Advice

As a result of the firmʼs increasing reputation in Hong Kong for pro bono work, the office has received various requests over the course of the year for free legal advice from local charities. This has included advice by Jane Ng and Zoe Lau on the following matters:

n Advising Hands on Shanghai with the preparation of documents to set up a company and bank account, and advising on Hong Kong work visa requirements for a director of the company.

n Advising the Hong Kong Marrow Match Foundation on a change of legal representative on the Board of Governors and attending a meeting of the Executive Committee and the Annual General Meeting.

n Advising the Spinal Cord Injury Fund on various matters including advising on, and preparing documents for, a change of name of the Fund, attending a meeting of the Executive Board and advising on and attending a meeting in relation to the setting up of a representative office in the People’s Republic of China.

n Advising Greater China Culture on, and preparing documents for, the appointment of directors.

n Providing general corporate advice to the World Food Programme.

n Advising the Clinton Global Foundation on employment and visa issues and reviewing a standard form consultant engagement letter.

n Providing general corporate advice and reviewing agreements for the International Association of CFOs and Corporate Treasures (China) Limited.

Pro Bono Support for Clients

We have given advice to a number of clients (including GE, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup) on how best to organise their pro bono activities.

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Donation of Computer Equipment

We have donated printers and computer equipment to a number of organisations, including HDH, the Guangzhou Orphanage, HAC, SAA, CFCF and Enlighten. We also sold computers in the office and used the proceeds to make donations to various charities.

Christmas Events

In lieu of Christmas cards, the Hong Kong office sent clients an e-card with seasonʼs greetings and used the money saved to make charitable donations to Médecins Sans Frontières and Enlighten.

Following the success of last yearʼs appeal, the office once again organised a gift collection. Gifts were donated to the Hans Andersen Club, St. Mary's Home for the Aged and the Guangzhou Orphanage.

We entered a team in the Operation Santa Clausʼ five-a-side corporate football tournament held on 2 December 2007 at Stanley Fort. We also entered a team in a related football quiz on 8 November 2007. The A&O team and supporters were Gordon Fong, Jade Man, Hélène Mottais, Jessica Hamilton and Patrick Wong. Operation Santa Claus raises money each December for various local charities in Hong Kong. There were 20 teams in the tournament, including many of our clients. The A&O football team players were Eugene Man, Bernard Chain, Jacob Shek, Henry Sohn, Nicholas Ho, Patrick Wong and Terris Tang.

We also raised funds for Operation Santa Claus through an office Christmas raffle. The prizes were donated by the partners and tickets sold by trainees. A total of HK$20,260 was raised.

Individual Pro Bono and Community Work

Gordon Fong sits on the board of the Hans Andersen Club Committee.

David Kidd chairs the board of governors of Kellett School.

Joseph Tse acts as a trust member of the Outward Bound Trust in Hong Kong.

Koh-Ann Chu is a hostel committee member for the Spastics Association, which runs boarding facilities and shelter workshops for the physically handicapped. She is also the supervisor for one of the boarding facilities.

Joseph Lee participated in a fundraising event organised by the A&O London office in May 2007, to raise funds for the homeless on behalf of the London-based charity organisation, Crisis. Joseph raised funds by riding his bicycle from London to Paris in four days, covering a distance of more than 500km. We made a cash donation to Crisis and sponsored Joseph’s transportation expenses.

In January 2008 Sharon Pun took part in a charity walk for the Youth Hotel Association on Lantau Island.

Charitable Donations

In addition to those referred to above, donations were made to various charities during the year.

HUNGARY The Budapest office is small and is not able to have a structured pro bono programme yet. However, we do respond to individual requests either from personal contacts or from organisations known to us, such as the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI).

PRO BONO ADVICE

Roma Segregation Case

We are representing several Roma families (an ethnic minority group) in their dispute with the city of Miskolc in relation to segregation within schools. Balázs Sahin-Tóth and Gergely Juhász carried out interviews on behalf of the Roma people following which they drafted and delivered demands to the city. After the city responded negatively, we began proceedings on our clients’ behalf for compensation and damages. The first court hearing is scheduled for 7 May 2008.

Interights

Julianna Béndek, Márton Eörsi and Barbara Forman assisted the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (Interights) in carrying out research into the legality of actions taken by the Russian government during the Moscow Theatre siege of October 2002. The case is to be heard before the European Court of Human Rights.

Hungarian income tax allowance

We advised the Hungarian government, together with Deloitte and Ernst & Young, in an issue of corporate income tax being scrutinised by the European Commission. The A&O team was led by associate Levente Torma and included trainees Gábor Papp, Dániel Szabó and Balázs Kántor. The A&O team has contributed more than 300 hours to this joint effort.

ITALY

The pro bono and community affairs programme in Italy is managed by Giovanni Gazzaniga in Milan and Roberto Donnini in Rome, and organised by Antonella Jannelli.

PRO BONO ADVICE

Fondo per lʼAmbiente Italiano

A&O Milan advised Fondo per lʼAmbiente Italiano (FAI) on the acquisition of a heritage real estate complex in Assisi (Perugia). This was a challenging project. FAI is a private, non-profit trust, incorporated in 1975 with the purpose of helping to protect, preserve and enhance the Italian artistic and environmental heritage. The real estate complex in question is composed of an ancient church and monastery located within a park in Assisi, close to the Basilica. We helped negotiate a good deal on behalf of FAI which involved the mortgagor, Intesa SanPaolo SpA, effectively donating €1.5 million of credit and waiving its mortgage rights over the real estate.

The involvement of A&O Milan in this matter was led by Antonella Jannelli, A&O BD co-ordinator, who established and managed A&O's relationship with FAI. The A&O team was led by corporate partner Giovanni Gazzaniga, assisted by associate Lodovico Bianchi Di Giulio and trainee Paolo Nastasi from the Milan office. Partner Antonella Capria, head of the Italian administrative and environmental group, and senior associate Daniela Frascella, worked on the regulatory aspects of the transaction.

Commenting, Giovanni Gazzaniga said: “It has been great to work on such a difficult transaction for a reputable institution such as FAI. I am personally proud of the enthusiasm, dedication and high level contribution given by the A&O team to this pro bono project.”

European Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Working in co-operation with A&O lawyers in Belgium, Francesca Turitto and Luisa Gatti have been advising the European Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (EACAP) on the establishment of an Italian entity dedicated to treatment of psychiatric illnesses in children and adolescents.

World Swim for Malaria

The Italian offices continued to advise the World Swim for Malaria organisation concerning the constitution a foundation in Italy, as part of its international network. The foundation organises swimming events to raise money which funds the purchase of anti-malaria devices, including bed nets. Roberto Donnini worked on this project.

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Prize4life

We have been assisting Prize4life, a US non-profit organisation, on the creation of an associated organisation, Italian Onulus. This organisation seeks to promote research into accelerated lateral sclerosis (ALS) by offering substantial prizes to scientists who overcome the most critical scientific obstacles to discover new and effective treatments for ALS and Motor Neurone Disease. Lawyers who have worked on this project include: Massimiliano Danusso, Elena Radicella Chiaramonte, Francesco Bonichi and Valentina Roticiani

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

Amani for Africa

Amani is an NGO which set up a project called “Anitaʼs House” in Nairobi. The project supports a group of families who provide care and education to homeless young girls.

Christmas Cards and Donation

Continuing its commitment to support UNICEF, A&O Italy chose branded Christmas cards for the Italian offices and also made a Christmas donation to Save the Children.

Recycling Initiatives

A&O Italy donates its used computer equipment to a number of schools in Milan, to allow school children better access to technology and to help them learn about IT.

We also collect plastic bottle caps in our Milan office, which we donate to a non-profit organisation which uses the caps to produce wheelchairs that are cheaper, lighter and more efficient than their traditionally produced counterparts.

JAPAN

Activities in the Tokyo office are co-ordinated by Kaori Nasu and Kyoko Shimoyamada, with Aled Davies as the partner responsible for the programme. The Tokyo office is very small, and so is in the early stages of developing its pro bono and community work.

PRO BONO ADVICE

A group of newly qualified lawyers offered pro bono legal advice and assistance to defendants in criminal proceedings in cases where the defendants were not able to pay for formal representation. They also helped these defendants to reintegrate into society with the hope of preventing the defendants from committing crimes again. The following people provided legal defence: Mitsuharu Kataoka, Izuru Kato, Reiko Koizumi, Taro Nakashima and Chiyokazau Shindo.

CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Gareth Edward’s 60th birthday gala dinner

On 8 June 2007, five members of Tokyo office and our clients participated in Gareth Edward’s 60th Birthday Gala Dinner, organised by the Tyler Foundation, a children’s cancer charity. Money was raised by selling raffle tickets, having special live events and auctions. We raised Yen230,000 to donate to the Tyler Foundation. The following people participated at the gala dinner: Aled Davies, Scott Neilson, Andrew Roche, Gareth Ryan and Richard White.

KidsXpress donation

In July 2007, Mike Young organised a donation of AUD200 to KidsXpress, a charity that supports disadvantaged children of between four and 14.

Tokyo Charity Cup

On 6 October 2007 nine members of the Tokyo office participated in the Tokyo Charity Cup, a fundraising football tournament, organised by UK law firms and investment bankers in Japan. The event was in aid of “Nanohana no Ie” (Wildflower House) to support children from dysfunctional families and of the “House for Women Saalaa” to support foreign women victims of violence in Tokyo. We raised Yen200,000. Those who participated were: David Gartside, Glen McAskill, Hans Menski, Toshikazu Miyamoto, David Peters, Joshua Schwab, Kyoko Shimoyamada, Jeremy White and Richard White.

Christmas gifts donation

In December 2007 members of Tokyo office made a charitable donation of Yen11,800 by purchasing gifts through a UNICEF gift catalogue. The following people contributed to the donation: Saki Hasegawa, Kyoko Shimoyamada, Chiyokazau Shindo, Kikue Tamura, Kazumasa Tateno and Mayuko Yoshii.

Charity Quiz Night

On 24 April 2008, the Tokyo office entered a team to take part in Charity Quiz Night, organised by “Make-A-Wish Foundation of Japan”, a non-profit group to help children who are battling life-threatening illnesses. By taking part, the Tokyo office donated Yen100,000. The following people participated: Portia Edmiston, Nick Fawcett, David Gartside, Ryan Loren, Hans Menski, Dominic Saunders and Joshua Schwab.

Autism Awareness Day

Allen & Overy is a sponsor of the Autism Awareness Family Day which this year was held on 4 April 2008 to mark the UN designated World Autism Awareness Day. We raised Yen250,000. Funds raised through the event will be sent to the Tokyo Life Line, the Autism Society Japan and other local autism charities. The event was co-organised by Clare Humphreys (wife of partner Jason Humphreys). Kaori Nasu and Yui Hanza helped with arranging this event and Jason Humphreys participated in the event on the day. Various members of the office also contributed to a fundraising raffle for the same good causes.

LUXEMBOURG The Luxembourg office is developing long-term relationships with two selected associations, one local and one international. This fits in well with our position of being a local Luxembourg firm with historic roots and also, at the same time, being a member of an international network. Even though poverty, sickness and inequality are still evident within our own community, we should never ignore the situation in other parts of the world, where the situation is often far worse.

That is why, on the one hand, we have maintained our growing relationship with la Fondation Sclérose en Plaques Luxembourg and, on the other hand, we accepted a request from Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) to provide it with pro bono legal support. Requests, events, progress and donations are centrally managed by our marketing manager, Cédric Delahaye, and then allocated to support staff and fee-earners on a voluntary basis.

PRO BONO ADVICE

A large part of individual pro bono work is done by trainees who, during their two-year traineeship, are obliged by the Luxembourg Bar to take on a yearly quota of commissions d'office, to provide legal assistance to people who have insufficient financial resources to pay for a full-cost lawyer. Our Know-How Manager and one senior associate oversee these cases.

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La Fondation Sclérose en Plaques Luxembourg

La Fondation Sclérose en Plaques Luxembourg is an association which supports research into finding a cure for multiple sclerosis and provides support for patients and their families. The Luxembourg office is legal counsel for this association and Marc Feider, the office's Managing Partner, is a member of the board. In the past year, we assisted with the association’s real estate requirements, as well raising funds by taking part in the Luxembourg marathon (see below).

Regular pro bono work

Prior to admission to the Bar, Luxembourg lawyers must, as part of their training, undertake a certain minimum number of cases in the Luxembourg courts in the areas of insolvency, liquidation, criminal, divorce, administrative or tax law, civil, lease contract, labour law and commercial law. The majority of cases undertaken tend to concern requests for political asylum, refugee status, divorce and drug-related criminal behaviour.

As part of their pro bono obligations, trainees may be required to be on stand-by at night or over the weekend in order to go to police stations and the courts at short notice. All Luxembourg trainees have to make themselves available for two “Saturday clinics” during their traineeship. At each clinic, they have to provide legal advice to whoever turns up.

The following trainees provided legal advice this year: Sabine Belair, Tom Berend, Julie Chartrain-Hecklen, Nicolas Fermaud, Augustin Gille, Colette Lorang, Anne Morocutti, Paul Péporté, Françoise Schroeder and Florent Trouiller.

Christiane Denzle and Donata Grasso provided the young lawyers with support and advice. During the past year, trainees have advised on 38 cases.

Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)

Against Malaria Foundation is an international charity that held its first major fundraising event in 2005. Funds were, and are, raised by people taking part in sponsored swims and from direct donations. The foundation uses these funds to buy long-lasting insecticidal nets which are then distributed to selected locations via the Red Cross and other distribution partners. All of the money raised goes directly to paying for bed nets. There are no administrative overheads, because of support offered by organisations such as Allen & Overy, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Citigroup and Microsoft. The A&O network has been extremely helpful in advising AMF on the need to set up local foundations or associations in various countries.

Allen & Overy Luxembourg advised the charity on the potential benefits and tax advantages of establishing a Luxembourg association. Having found that this was the case, we assisted the foundation with local registration. The registration of the new association in Luxembourg is currently in progress and the lawyers in charge of the project are Patrick Mischo (tax) and Augustin Gille (corporate finance).

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

In spring 2008 several members of the office and other overseas departments (14 A&O people in total) took part in the Luxembourg ING Marathon and raised money for la Fondation Sclérose en Plaques Luxembourg. The participants were sponsored by private individuals and raised €1,905. Allen & Overy Luxembourg doubled this amount and made a further donation of €3,810. The following people participated in the run:

Luxembourg: Christophe Balthazard, Tom Berend, Nicole Di Vora-Pissinger, Caroline Hay, Steve Koenig, André Marc, Philippe Ney, Arnaud Pabst, Paul Péporté, Jean Schaffner and Robert Steinmetzer.

London: Adam Luckie. Paris: Luke Muchamore. Bratislava: Martin Magal.

The office participation was managed by Aurélia Wieseler, assisted by Carline François.

NETHERLANDS The Amsterdam office has long adopted a strong policy of corporate social responsibility, in which our pro bono work has always played a central role. Employees value the opportunities to get involved in pro bono and community work. Over the past year we have invested over 1,000 hours on such initiatives.

Under the global theme of “access to education and employment”, the Amsterdam office does a variety of work for local charitable organisations and initiatives. Important themes that link our CSR programme are “children” and “Amsterdam”.

The office has a partnership programme with three Dutch charities – War Child, Amsterdam Cares and the Giving Back Foundation. Additionally, our partners encourage staff involvement in pro bono or community work projects, resulting in work for nearly 50 different charitable organisations in the past year. The programme is co-ordinated by the Partnership Secretary, Mieke De Vos.

THE GIVING BACK FOUNDATION

The Giving Back Foundation helps secondary school students from around the Netherlands who have poor career expectations to develop into well-rounded individuals with good prospects. These children, often from ethnic minorities, are offered a mentor and group programme comprising workshops, excursions, meetings and other activities. We have been involved in a number of activities in support of the Giving Back Foundation, as follows:

Legal workshop

Each year, the Amsterdam office organises a popular legal workshop for the mentees of Giving Back, designed by Steven Schuit. Together with a team of ten lawyers, he hosts this workshop in which the group prepares and enacts a court case. The students play the roles of plaintiffs, lawyers and judges. The workshop gives students an idea of what the legal profession is about and what the opportunities are if they choose to develop in that direction.

“A musical handshake”

On 28 November 2007 we combined our sponsorship of the Dutch Royal Concert Orchestra and our partnership with Giving Back to create “the musical handshake”. Allen & Overy invited the Amsterdam mentees and their mentors to join our senior associates and orchestra members for dinner and a concert in the “Concertgebouw”. Held especially for Giving Back mentees, the event offered a unique opportunity to learn more about our lawyers, the legal profession and classical music. The event turned out to be a great experience for all participants.

Other services

We also help the foundation with pro bono legal advice and deliver practical help in the form of secretarial support and meeting room facilities.

In the past year volunteers have included: Martijn Brinkhuis, Ellen Cramer-De Jong, Jasper De Jong, Tessa De Mönnink, Marnix De Planque, Aleid De Savornin Lohman, Matthijs Driedonks, Marianne Drijgers, Kiki Grooss, Nicolette Huisman, Godfried Kinnegim, Thomas Kollée, Quinten Kroes, Jelle Menalda van Schouwenburg, Catelijne Muller, Barbara Nijhuis, Joris Ravelli, Sophie Roozendaal, Paula Ter Beek, Jetty Tukker, Esther Van Der Plaat and Suzette Van Gendt.

More information (in Dutch) can be found on: www.givingback.nl

WAR CHILD

War Child provides psychosocial assistance to children in war-affected regions by means of psychological aid using creative therapies. The objective is to improve the healthy psychological development of children who can then contribute to the peaceful future of their countries. The Amsterdam office has a long-standing relationship with War Child and the partnership has encompassed a great variety of projects, among which are:

Pro bono support

Since 2005 we have assisted War Child with the notarial performance of donations. After execution of the notarial deeds, all work that needs to be done to complete the donations is also carried out for War Child. In addition to this, we provide other pro bono advice on a regular basis to the charity.

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Other support

In the past year we have further strengthened the relationship with War Child by creating more opportunities for employees to get involved. Initiatives have included the participation in the Peace, Love and Ice Cream programme of War Child in August 2007. Together with Ben & Jerryʼs, the ice cream maker, War Child offers organisations the opportunity to ‘rentʼ a fridge with Ben & Jerry's ice cream for €1,000. The contribution goes fully to War Child projects in Sierra Leone. Allen & Overy donated the fridge to the nationwide “Advolympics”, the annual sports event organised by and for Dutch lawyers in Amsterdam.

In September 2007 an Allen & Overy team raised money for War Child in the Dam-to-Damloop, a ten-mile run from Amsterdam to Zaandam.

On 3 October 2007 a group of eight senior associates invited some of their clients to join them for the popular annual War Child concert. This event raised the profile of War Child amongst our clients, generating new “Friends of War Child”.

In February 2008 the Banking and Real Estate practice organised the first “Charity on Ice” skating event. Together, the participants managed to skate together a great donation for War Child.

In the past year participants have included: Leontine Bark, Ellen Cramer-De Jong, Arnold Croiset Van Uchelen, Richard De Haan, Maarten De Jong, Tessa De Mönnink, Marianne Drijgers, Liesbeth Franx-Schaap, Daniel Gerdes, Kiki Grooss, Rolinde Hoorntje, Charlotte Horsten, Sigrid Jansen, Godfried Kinnegim, Jelle Menalda Van Schouwenburg, Michiel Odink, Joris Oster, Tina Raaijen, Leonie Sinnige, Tania Smith, Jetty Tukker, Niels Van Loon, Marleen Veenstra, Theo Visser and Marinus Winters.

More information (in Dutch) can be found on: www.warchild.nl

AMSTERDAM CARES FOUNDATION

Barbara Nijhuis and Maaike Janssen are members of the board of the Amsterdam Cares Foundation. The mission of the Amsterdam Cares Foundation is to increase the social involvement of Amsterdam-based companies and their employees by organising flexible volunteering opportunities that have a positive impact on individuals and communities. Accessible for people who work and live in Amsterdam, people who have busy lives with busy jobs, sports and social activities, people with views, opinions and ideas, but most of all people who care.

Amsterdam Cares offers hands-on flexible volunteer work. Volunteers can get involved in activities ranging from playing board games with homeless people and providing hot drinks for the elderly, to taking part in dance sessions with children with learning disabilities.

In 2006 volunteers of Amsterdam Cares provided services to more than 1,180 people in need of help with over 10,620 hours of volunteer work.

To date, more than 40 people working at the Amsterdam office (both lawyers and support staff) have signed up to become volunteers for Amsterdam Cares.

Community Work

Over the past 12 months Allen & Overy employees have volunteered to assist in numerous projects offered by Amsterdam Cares for children with disabilities and the elderly. Projects include a visit to the Christmas Fair, the “Austrian dinner and concert” and a “Valentines dinner”.

Other support

Amsterdam Cares also benefits from pro bono legal advice from our lawyers, enabling them to run a professional organisation.

During the Christmas period the majority of the office participated in a special project for Amsterdam Cares that benefited the children of the Amsterdam “Voedselbank”. This was the “Donate a toy” initiative. In total employees donated over 165 new gifts for Amsterdam children living in poverty. With the additional gifts bought from the office Christmas donation we collected over 700 gifts that were handed out to the children through the Red Cross.

In the past year participants have included: Cynthia Cournuejouls, Robert-Jan De Bruin, Linde Groven, Maaike Janssen, Pit Kuijper, Leon Mensink, Barbara Nijhuis, Eveline Scholvink, Angelique Schuyt, Mardin Smayel, Critania Smith, Jochem Spaans, Bas Stevens, Carolijn Ulmers, Jantine Vermont, Luurt Wildeboer and Merel Zwankhuizen. In addition, around half of the office employees donated a toy for the “Donate a toy” initiative.

More information (Dutch) can be found on: www.amsterdamcares.nl

STICHTING LEZEN & SCHRIJVEN

Stichting Lezen & Schrijven (The Reading & Writing Foundation) is an initiative of Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. The foundation was launched in May 2004 (with which we assisted), its objective being to devote attention to the 1.5 million members of the Dutch population who, because of poor literacy, are unable to participate fully within society. The foundation aims to stimulate debate about this problem and to contribute to its alleviation.

Volunteers have included: Jasper de Jong, Martin Plak, Wijnanda Rutten and Michiel Wuisman.

More information (Dutch) can be found on: www.lezenenschrijven.nl

PRO BONO WORK

The activities described above are a general overview of the pro bono and community work carried out by the Amsterdam office and its individual employees. This overview, however, is not an all-embracing report of all our community work. The work of our non-legal staff, for instance, is not registered in a pro bono timekeeping system. Furthermore, many of the initiatives taken by our fee-earners are not recorded. That is because in the Netherlands, pro bono and community work are often regarded as private commitments, not as commitments to or of the firm.

Other work over the past year has included that for Madurodam, Plan Nederland, Stichting Streetwise Network, AMREF, Ronald McDonald Stichting, Stichting Kids Moving the World, Stichting Missing Children Europe and Stichting ZAM-net.

Additionally, the Employment department of the Amsterdam office regularly acts on a pro bono basis for individuals who have difficulties with their employers but who can neither afford to pay for legal advice nor are eligible to apply for state-subsidised lawyers. We only offer such help where the employers in such instances are not our clients.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

We participated in the Peace, Love and Ice Cream programme of War Child in August 2007 (see above).

Two A&O teams participated in the Dam tot Damloop run (see above).

It is customary for the Amsterdam office to contribute to charity at Christmas, with many employees choosing to contribute part of their salary to a given cause. The office Christmas contributions this year went to Amsterdam Cares and Giving Back.

The Amsterdam Cares Christmas donation was used to boost the amount of Christmas gifts we could donate to the “Donate a toy” initiative of the Red Cross. Gifts went to the 1,400 Amsterdam Children living under the bread line and that receive food support from the Amsterdam “Voedselbank”. Altogether around 700 new gifts were donated.

Also at Christmas, the Amsterdam office purchased War Child Christmas Cards, hence donating to their cause.

During the year the office supports Giving Back by providing much needed meeting room facilities and secretarial support. This support enables the foundation to maintain a professional service levels to its volunteers and partners as well as keeping costs down.

We sponsored the Kinder en Jongerenrechtswinkel, an organisation that offers children free access to legal expertise and help.

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POLAND The Warsaw office is very active in pro bono and community work. We have developed a diverse pro bono and community affairs programme which reflects the interests, aspirations and skills of our staff.

PRO BONO ADVICE

In June 2007 Allen & Overy Warsaw established a partnership with PILI (Public Interest Law Institute) by signing a declaration on Pro Bono Publico. The declaration was discussed by representatives of various law firms during a meeting held by the Constitutional Tribunal on Legal Pro Bono Support in Poland. The following law firms took part in the discussion panel: Dewey Ballantine, Hogan & Hartson, Lovells, Miller Canfield, Baker & McKenzie, White & Case, Linklaters, Gide Loyrette Nouel and seven Polish law firms. Allen & Overy was represented by Arkadiusz Pędzich.

PILI is an international NGO headquartered in Budapest which advances human rights around the world by stimulating public-interest advocacy and developing the infrastructure to sustain it. PILI pursues its objectives through five programmes: promoting pro bono practice, legal aid reform, legal education reform, NGO advocacy training, and public interest law fellowships.

We are now acting to identify possibilities for Allen & Overy’s (Warsaw) active participation in PILI’s projects. We are also establishing a partnership with one of the charity brokers. We have selected three of them: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Centrum Pro Bono (Clearing House) and ENGAGE acting through Centrum Wolontariatu. We are about to make the final choice. After signing the agreement, we provide pro bono assistance to a range of not-for-profit organisations and charities (and in some cases to individuals) that will be referred to us by the charity broker.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

The Warsaw office supports two orphanages on a regular basis – the Tczew Orphanage in the Pomorskie Voiodeship, northern Poland and the Kruszwica Orphanage near Inowrocław.

In December 2007, during the Christmas party, we organised a charity auction to raise money for our sponsored charity. It was a huge success since we managed to raise PLN129,000. The money collected during the auction was spent on Christmas presents for children from the Tczew orphanage. Some of the money raised will be spent during the year on new clothes, bed linen and books for the children, furniture, paying for holidays for the children, sightseeing trips, renovation and redecoration (for example new playground equipment, preparing the football and volleyball fields, new entrance door), and paying for internet connections.

Legal Education

As in previous years, we donated PLN20,000 to ELSA (the European Law Students Association) and £10,000 to the British Centre to support legal education in Poland.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

The community activities of the Warsaw office are linked to our relationships with the two selected orphanages and includes the following activities:

n in June 2008, organising a weekend in Warsaw for older children from the Tczew orphanage to visit the most important cultural sites and to have lunch; to visit the office where they will be given a presentation on the legal profession; to have dinner and a trip to an IMAX cinema;

n providing computer training;

n giving a workshop on the job application process;

n in summer 2008, renovating and redecorating the kids’ playroom in the Tczew Orphanage;

n organising Christmas events;

n individual staff committments (e.g. participating in summer camp/weekend with the children).

Our mission is to show the children the possibilities for their future and to encourage self-development.

RUSSIA

Our community work is managed by the Moscow office marketing team, particularly Ekaterina Gorchakova and Natasha Gagarina. The office has had a relationship with an orphanage in the Moscow region since 2000, and over the past year, a pro bono committee has been formed to help set the course of the office’s pro bono programme development.

PRO BONO WORK

We have established contacts with the pro bono clearing house of the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI). PILI identifies clients and matters that are likely to be acceptable to the interested firms and companies. Every month we get a list from PILI with descriptions of opportunities for pro bono work. As this is the first time we have worked with a pro bono clearing house in the Russian market, the procedures and policies are still in the process of being developed. PILI has arranged for training and seminars that may be relevant to us.

Kyle Davis has been key in developing this new pro bono initiative in the Moscow office, along with Tony Humphrey, Stephen Matthews, Anton Konnov and Vasily Averin. Vasily Averin, Ilya Kuznetsov and Olga Labutova have all participated in training sessions in preparation for taking on pro bono work through the clearing house scheme.

COMMUNITY AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Krasnopolyansky orphanage and Podolsky orphanage

Since 2000 the Moscow office has been helping the Krasnopolyansky orphanage which is situated in the village of Krasnaya Polyana (Red Meadow), about 20km from Moscow. The orphanage is specially designed for children who suffer from various diseases of the central nervous system, intra cranial pressure (ICP), and, starting from the end of last year, children with AIDS. About 70 children permanently reside at the orphanage, ranging in age from several months to four years.

Every year staff take part in charitable fundraising with the purpose of providing children from the orphanage with the necessities of life. In October, a number of staff members visited the Krasnopolyansky Orphanage, a visit organised by Natasha Gagarina and Ekaterina Gorchakova. As a result of contributions made by the staff members of A&O, we were able to buy a lot of things required by the children: children’s clothes and shoes, food, juices and fruits, baby cream, wipes and medicine to keep the orphanage well provisioned for a long time.

This year, Eugenia Okanova, Natalya Dontsova and others also gave a puppet performance for the children.

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Natalya Dontsova wrote after the visit: “For me it was alarming but very useful experience to see that there's another side of life, and that there are people who need our help and support. From birth, these children have had nothing good happen to them. Compared with them, you realise how lucky you are. We are so used to living in comfort that it's hard to imagine that there are many helpless kids. But we can really help them, and that is why I fully endorse the policy of Allen & Overy management to support those who need our care and kind attention.”

This year, we also decided to support a second orphanage. This is the Podolsky Orphanage, based in Podolsky near Moscow. This orphanage houses around 50 children, who suffer from ICP, Down's syndrome and other diseases of the central nervous system. At the instigation of Olga Zaitseva staff members visited the orphanage and handed over essential goods such as medicine, food, diapers and household supplies.

Christmas cards donation

This year, for the first time, instead of producing printed Christmas cards, we made a donation to Krasnopolyansky Orphanage.

Furniture Donations

We donated office furniture which was no longer required, following the move of our Moscow office, to several boarding schools and orphanages in Moscow and the surrounding region,.

SINGAPORE A&O Singaporeʼs pro bono programme supports local charities that provide assistance to children, the elderly and the disabled. We also participate in cross-border programmes that help the homeless and those in disaster-struck locations in Asia. The programme is run with assistance from partners Ken Aboud, John Richards and Kayal Sachi. The initiatives are managed by Sharon How and participation is encouraged by all levels of staff.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Batam Build Project

The firm took two teams of staff volunteers in March and April 2008 to Batam, Indonesia, to participate and contribute towards Habitat for Humanity. This organisation is committed to eliminate sub-standard housing. About a quarter of the office went, including partners, lawyers,

professional assistants and other staff members. Our teams worked alongside local residents to build Habitat houses and, in return, we gained an educational experience within this cross-cultural/border environment.

JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge

This is an annual event in Singapore for the staff. This year more than a dozen A&O runners completed the 5.6 km JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. The theme of the event was ʼTeaming Up For A Greener Tomorrow” and, in support of the green initiative, the team walked to the starting point from the office instead of taking transportation.

The race helped support the new ImaginAsia programme at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, designed to provide an educational, confidence-inspiring day for at-risk children.

John Richards, a partner in the Singapore office who was a member of the team, said, “It was great fun to run with such a large A&O team in support of what has now become a well established and supported event amongst the Singapore corporate community.”

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

Charitable donations

We made donations to a family service centre to pay for Christmas presents for 250 children and to a home for the elderly to purchase food and daily necessities for the residents. In addition, we helped fund activities that raise funds for charities that support those with Down’s syndrome, learning disabilities and autism.

Donation of computer equipment

We have also donated computer equipment to a number of charitable organisations.

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Partners Jane Townsend and Hugh Owen oversee the pro bono and community activities of the Bratislava office, which are co-ordinated by Eva Sedničková.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITES

The Young Roma Artist Education Fund (YRAEF)

Allen & Overy Bratislava continues to support YRAEF, a project which started in 2005 in co-operation with Association for Culture, Education and Communication (ACEC). The YRAEF selects gifted Roma children, who then attend ACEC educational centres for help with their studies. The children learn how to play musical instruments, read music and sing. The more talented of them also learn other specialised skills needed to be accepted into music conservatories in Bratislava and Košice. In the past year two new educational centres have opened in the eastern region and a leader of a famous Roma band, Sendrejʼs, has become a teacher in one of these centres.

ENGAGE

Allen & Overy Bratislava continues to be an active member of the ENGAGE group. ENGAGE is an international network of businesses and community organisations which collaborate to bring together employees and their communities around the globe. Here are some of the projects organised by ENGAGE in which A&O has participated in the past year.

Calvary in Banská Štiavnica

This project gave us an opportunity to join a volunteering initiative which aimed to help to renovate a UNESCO heritage site – the Calvary in Banská Štiavnica (Middle Slovakia). In July 2007, ten A&O volunteers spent an active weekend in Banská Štiavnica where they mowed, cleaned and repaired wooden benches and wooden steps. This project has been very successful and popular among all the volunteers who are looking forward taking part again this year.

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Improving Bratislava

In September 2007, A&O Bratislava took part in a number of community activities in the city. The scheme was organised by the group of companies who are part of ENGAGE in co-operation with the Pontis Foundation. A&O Bratislava joined with more than 400 volunteers and 20 other organisations to take part in a number of social and environmental projects. Some volunteers from A&O Bratislava provided help to an animal sanctuary which had just been built, by cleaning and providing general maintenance support. An analyst from our IT department provided the Fair Play Alliance (a Slovakian non-governmental organisation that monitors political party finance and promotes transparency in party financing and procurement) with help on computer usage and local IT issues. Another team built a natural barrier to prevent erosion in one of the city parks and to ensure that forest vegetation can grow.

The purpose of these activities was to “make the city of Bratislava more beautiful and enhance the environment in which we live,” says Eva Sedničková, Slovakia Business Services secretary with A&O, “but it also gave us the opportunity to meet people from other organisations including past and present clients. Working together on projects which we all had an interest in was a really novel way to meet.”

Club for Childrenʼs Hope

At the end of 2007, some of our staff members approached the Club for Children's Hope to offer their help. That brought them into contact with the Childrenʼs Hospital in Bratislava. They now regularly visit the hospital, spending time with the children, who are cancer sufferers, reading to them and playing with them. They have also organised trips for the children to concerts and camping trips. We hope that this will become a principal project involving Allen & Overy Bratislava.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

Baden-Powell Foundation

We donated €1,700 to the Baden-Powell Foundation in relation to one of the ENGAGE projects – the renovation of the Calvary in Banská Štiavnica.

The American Chamber of Commerce

We donated €900 to the American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic, which organised its 13th Annual AmCham Thanksgiving Charity Drive. Continuing this Thanksgiving tradition, AmCham has identified the following organisations, located throughout Slovakia, as worthy recipients of the donated funds: Civil Association Cardo, Children’s Hospital in Košice, Association Dživipen Život, Crisis Centre Dúha, J. Murgaš Foundation, Krista Veľkňaza Institute, Civil Association Medzi nami, Memory Foundation, Mother Theresa Missionaries of Charity, House of Social Services Slatinka, House of Social Services Svetluška.

Club for Childrenʼs Hope

We donated €300 to the Club for Children's Hope to support their activities with the children suffering from cancer. They regularly organise camps and other various trips and activities.

UNICEF

The office raised funds for UNICEF to support orphans in Uganda. Staff donated €257 from their own pockets. The money raised will go towards helping 6,206 orphaned children in the Kamwenge and Kitgum districts.

ENGAGE

As members of ENGAGE, we pay a membership fee of €900, which money is used to support general activities by ENGAGE.

The British Chamber of Commerce

Allen & Overy donated a bag of toys to the British Chamber of Commerce Christmas dinner. These toys were donated to an orphanage in Košice.

Last year Allen & Overy Bratislava also donated two photocopiers to a local elementary school.

SPAIN The Madrid office manages its pro bono and community programmes through a committee formed by partners (Eduardo Sebastian De Erice and Antonio Vazquez-Guillén) and associates and staff support (Maribel Gonzalez and Julio Alonso). We are looking at the themes of corporate responsibility, environment, people and special projects. We always take into consideration the needs of our local community and how we can work with local non-profit Spanish organisations.

PRO BONO WORK

Fundación También.

Fundación También is a non-profit organisation that works with disabled people. We advised on structuring and legally registering the organisation. Antonio Vazquez-Guillén has been leading a group of associates that have given their expertise to the foundation. Others involved were: Borja Fernandez, Clara Garvayo, Ignacio Hornedo, Gonzalo Jimenez, Enrique Lopez de Ceballos, Alicia Muñoz-Costi, Rocio Pulido, Pilar Sanchez and Cesar Sanz.

Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC)

A team of associates has assisted AECC to recover possession of a property in Madrid that had been bequeathed by a former member. We have also assisted AECC in relation to agreements for the lease of premises for the development of their ongoing business.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Fundacion Empresa y Sociedad

Fundacion Empresa y Sociedad is a member of Business in the Community, and identifies projects in need of community support. We are working on a couple of projects, to encourage youngsters to stay at school to complete their education and another to provide for the elderly.

CHARITABLE GIVING AND FUNDRAISING

Acción Contra el Hambre

This involves a day in which staff eat just one meagre meal to last the entire day, equivalent to the amounts that refugees the world over often live on every day. This impresses upon them the difficult conditions in which refugees have to live. Staff raised total donations of €1,000, a sum which the firm matched.

THAILAND The Bangkok office continues to support charities and foundations for children and education in Thailand. We encourage all members of staff to become involved in pro bono and social community work. As well as providing support to the local community, those involved in these projects also benefit from them, improving their skills and gaining a valuable and justified sense of satisfaction and achievement. The themes of our office pro bono and community programme are based on firmwide themes but also cover staff interests and local community needs.

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PRO BONO WORK

Plant-A-Tree-Today (PATT Foundation)

We are advising PATT Foundation on its establishment as a charitable organisation in Thailand.

COMMUNITY WORK

Teacher Plus Foundation

The Teacher Plus Foundation funds teachers, equipment, facilities and teacher training programmes in northeast Thailand to endeavour to give rural students the same educational opportunities as those experienced by students in the cities. The aim is also to help them to develop their thinking and analytical skills. We regularly support the Teacher Plus Foundation with money, used computers and fundraising.

School Trip

We regularly organise trips for staff to visit schools in the provincial areas. The aim of this project is to support local education projects and underprivileged children in Thailand. Staff contribute to this project by donating various items such as sports equipment, stationery, books, food, used clothing and money.

In September 2007, we visited Baan Tung Sala School in Ratchaburi province. The firm and staff supported the school by donating equipment for the playground by donating fans, tables, chairs and crockery for the canteen. We also donated food, clothing, stationery and sports equipment, and gave money to fund scholarships for some of the poorer students.

Away Weekend Fundraising Day

This year we included pro bono and community work in our away weekend programme. This entailed some fundraising, the proceeds of which were given to a nearby school. Staff also donated used computers, books, stationery and clothing.

Computer Recycling Project

During the course of the year, the Bangkok office donated 15 computers to various charities and schools in provincial areas, including the Suan Kaew Temple Foundation and the PATT Foundation.

Tree Planting Weekend

Staff participated in a tree planting trip organised by PATT Foundation. We planted 400 rubber trees in Chantaburi province together with volunteers from other organisations, villagers, local teachers and students. The trees are located on land adjacent to a school and the staff and students will be responsible for ensuring the trees are looked after. When the trees are mature the school will harvest the rubber produced and sell it, using the income raised to help the local community.

The British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN)

Every year the Bangkok office supports the annual fundraising event “Ploenchit Fair” organised by BCTFN under the auspices of the British Embassy. The Fair is an international community event, with representation from almost every country and culture – all with the common goal of improving the lives of the poor and the underprivileged. Funds raised go to various Thai charities.

The Thai Red Cross Society

Each year, we donate money to the Thai Red Cross Society to support the annual fundraising event “Thai Red Cross Fair”.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Whilst pro bono efforts have not featured heavily in the Middle East business activities over the past year, as the region grows and the market develops, businesses are becoming more attuned to the idea of giving something back to the community. A new pro bono team has taken on the role of co-ordinating activities in the UAE offices, and we hope to get involved with as much CSR and pro bono work as possible in the region. What follows below is a summary of those activities the offices have participated in over the past year.

CHARITABLE DONATIONS

Cricket for Charity Tournament

In November 2007, the office made a donation of AED5,000 in support of a Cricket for Charity Tournament organised by Linklaters.

Dubai and Hatta Desert Challenge

In December 2007, Sheryl Niblett was part of a team that took part in a charity challenge, riding across the Dubai and Hatta desert for 478 kilometres, reaching the destination of Muscat in a record 22 hours and raising AED4,800 from staff donations.

Dubai Terry Fox Run

In February 2008, Aimee Maskell and Joanne Tull took part in the Dubai Terry Fox Run at Al Mazmar Park. They both gave personal donations of around AED200 each.

Recycling and In-Kind Donations

The Dubai office has recently moved premises, which gave us an opportunity to donate old furniture to The English College, worth approximately AED24,000, and to the Kings Dubai School, worth approximately AED46,000.

In April 2008, desktop computers and other unwanted IT equipment was donated to three organisations: Charity of Hope-Shelter for Abused Women and Children; the Dubai Centre for Special Needs; and the Dubai Autism Centre.

Throughout the year we also donated our used printer cartridges to Riding for the Disabled and Feline Friends.

UNITED STATES

Under the direction of the pro bono committee, headed by partner Ken Rivlin, the New York office again maintained a high level of commitment to pro bono, providing over 8,500 hours in fiscal year 2007-8.

PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

Securing political asylum

An A&O team secured political asylum for Ms. A., a Colombian woman, based on what the immigration judge found was a well-founded fear that she would suffer persecution as a result of the political activities of her sons, both of whom had been killed. The cross-border element of the case was unique and required documentation of human rights and political conditions in both Venezuela and Colombia. The legal team included: Sarah Dadush, Sara Grdan, Eloise Kauvar, Toby Mann, Brittany Prelogar, Jacob Pultman and Kurt Vellek.

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South Bronx arts and community centre

A team headed by partner Kevin O’Shea and including Helen Kim, Joanna Hancock and Randi Goring represented the New York City Investment Fund in connection with a loan that will go towards developing a former engraving plant in the South Bronx into an arts and community centre. The new owners plan to develop the building into a multi-use centre that will include office and performance space for arts groups, design firms, community groups, non-profit organisations and a food market. The building already houses two of the South Bronx’s most important arts organisations: BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts And Dance, and Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre. These two organisations, founded in 1998 and 1996 respectively, have been at the forefront of the economic and cultural development of the South Bronx that the new ABN building hopes to build upon.

Volunteer Appellate Defender programme

Working in conjunction with the Office of the Appellate Defender’s Volunteer Appellate Defender programme, associate Zorka Milin represented a client who had been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for robbery, burglary and criminal possession of a weapon. Zorka argued the client’s appeal before the Appellate Division, First Department, which unanimously reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial because the client's constitutional right to counsel was violated when the trial judge summarily denied his request for new counsel.

City of New York

Several associates and partners are representing the City of New York pro bono in connection with claims of false arrest, malicious prosecution and deprivation of civil rights. They include: Brian De Haan, Michael Feldberg, Adam Herman, Nicholas Mitchell, Chintan Panchal, Nathan Reilly and Julie Withers.

Human Rights Institute and America Civil Liberties Union

Working with the Human Rights Institute of Columbia Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union, Aimee Ferrer, Carrie Baker, Eloise Kauvar and Jacob Pultman co-authored an amicus curiae brief in a case pending before the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The case concerns the constitutionality of the so-called “Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance” enacted by the town of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, which is intended to deter undocumented immigrants from living in that town by making it difficult for them to secure housing and employment. The amicus brief urges the appellate court to affirm the lower court’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)

New York partners and associates, including David Slade, Lawton Camp, Kieran Brenner, Benno Kimmelman and Brian De Haan are among the global Allen & Overy team who are advising the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) in connection with the joint formation of a mortgage finance corporation to promote the private ownership of residential housing in Palestine.

In another pro bono matter involving OPIC, David Slade, Ricardo Martinez and Vinod Aravind provided legal advice and co-ordination on establishing a standby loan facility to the non-profit organisation, the Calvert Social Foundation. Calvert “raises investment capital through individuals and institutions, and uses it to provide affordable loans to non-profit organisations and microfinance lenders that assist impoverished communities in at-risk global markets.” The A&O team that drafted and negotiated the OPIC loan facility over the course of about three months required additional legal expertise from a number of lawyers in the A&O global network, including ICM partners Cathleen McLaughlin and Diana Billik on certain securities law issues.

Representation of Guantanamo Bay detainees

Allen & Overy’s New York litigation department continues to represent ten Yemeni citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay in federal habeas corpus proceedings. We have participated in the briefing of several appeals concerning the rights of non-citizens who are alleged “enemy combatants”, including an appeal that was recently argued before the United States Supreme Court concerning the constitutionality of legislation that purports to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. While the appeals are pending, Allen & Overy attorneys continue to visit their clients in Guantanamo and to lobby the US and Yemeni governments for the repatriation of their clients. The A&O team includes: Sarah Havens, Julie Withers, Chintan Panchal, Carrie Baker, Brandon O'Neil and Pamela Chepiga. Allen & Overy alumni Scott Sullivan and Doug Cox continue to be involved in this matter.

Hurricane Katrina

In conjunction with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law and the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, we continued in 2007 our participation in a programme to represent residents of the US Gulf Coast whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Our work involves representing our clients in proceedings before the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which, in many cases, has failed to provide adequate financial relief. A&O lawyers involved in these cases include: Pamela Chepiga, Nathan Reilly, Judy Mok, Sarah Dadush, Carolin Spiegel and Kimberlee Streiff.

Representation before the US Court of International Trade

Sarah Dadush, Chintan Panchal and Todd Fishman are representing a group of former employees of a major US semiconductor manufacturer in litigation before the United States Court of International Trade. The clients lost their jobs when their plant was relocated overseas, and are challenging the US Department of Labor’s denial of their application for trade adjustment assistance, a government-administered programme that seeks to address some of the negative consequences of outsourcing in a variety of ways, such as worker retraining. The trial court issued a decision in our favour on 19 April 2008, and remanded the case to the Department of Labor for further consideration.

Agaduth Israel of America

Mitchell Silk, Lanier Saperstein, Owen Alterman and Judah Kupfer are continuing to represent Agudath Israel of America, the largest Orthodox Jewish grassroots advocacy organisation in the US with chapters in 36 states and over 50 cities, in various matters, including a multi-state major child custody dispute. The case involves important legal issues that arise in child custody matters involving education and the free exercise of religion. Mitchell and Judah are also assisting in the formation of a pro bono legal services programme that will be run under the Agudath.

Domestic Violence

Ken Coleman and Aimee Ferrer represent two victims of domestic violence in their self-petitions for US residency filed under the Violence Against Women Act. One client was an Ecuadorian national whom they represented in her successful petition to have the conditions removed on her residency. She is now a legal permanent resident in the US. The other is a national of the Dominican Republic. They have represented her in her filing and interview with USCIS, and she, too, has been granted legal permanent residency.

U Visa immigration case

Matthew North, Ken Coleman and Aimee Ferrer represent an Ecuadorian national in her U Visa immigration case. U visas are available to crime victims who assist in investigating and prosecuting crimes and have suffered substantial physical or emotional harm as a result. The legislation was intended to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute certain crimes against immigrants, including domestic violence.

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The client suffered severe abuse by her husband and assisted the government in investigating and prosecuting her husband for that abuse. The U visa was created seven years ago, but implementing regulations were not issued until 17 September 2007. Regulations have finally been issued and require certain filings to ensure that removal proceedings are not initiated against our client, who previously received interim relief. They have filed the requisite documents and are now awaiting further instructions.

Noor Foundation

Dave Lewis and Brian Schultz have been researching the requirements of obtaining tax-exempt status for the Noor Foundation, which facilitates the documentation of world events by award-winning photographers. In the near future, they will be assisting Noor to obtain IRS classification to allow them to receive tax-deductible donations.

The American Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Professional Training

The American Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Professional Training (“AIS”) is a specialised, non-profit treatment centre for children, teens and adults who stutter. AIS, founded in 1997, is the only non-profit facility in the United States that offers both day and evening intensive and individual treatment options for people of all ages while also providing clinical training to both new and established speech and language pathologists and conducting public education and government advocacy. In February 2008, AIS was sued in a breach of contract action in New York state court by an event planner in connection with a fundraising event that AIS held last year. Michael Reisman and David Esseks are defending AIS and have brought a counter-claim alleging that the event planner's failure to perform the contract caused substantial damages to AIS.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Many of our lawyers devote substantial time to community service, working with or serving on the boards of national and local charitable and service organisations.

Dress for Success

Members of our legal and marketing staff have been involved with Dress for Success, a non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. The group is headquartered in New York with affiliates across the US and in a number of international centres. The organisation also provides career development training and other services to its clients.

Individual Activities

Ian Shrank has for six years been co-chair of the Law Firm Division of the New York Blood Services Campaign and is in charge of recruiting law firms in the NYC area to run blood drives on their premises. Ian is also a member of the Blood Service Community Relations Advisory Council which advises the New York Blood Service on how to improve its community relations and attract greater donations of blood and blood products. The New York office holds blood drives twice a year.

Ian Shrank is also a member of the Board of Trustees and chairs the Audit Committee of The Pingry School in New Jersey. Founded in 1861, The Pingry School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory day school for students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. The mission of the school is to foster in students a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth and social responsibility by inspiring and supporting them to strive for academic and personal excellence within an ethical framework that places the highest value on honour and respect for others.

Stephen Doody is a board member for a not-for-profit dance company, and has worked pro bono on contract, real estate and insurance matters for the company.

Dan Cunningham serves as the board chair of Job Path, an organisation that supports people with developmental disabilities in their efforts to make choices about their lives. They provide the opportunities and support to them whether it is paid or volunteer work, living in their own homes or participating in community life. Job Path has helped people with developmental disabilities find, excel in and stay in mainstream jobs.

In 2007, Patricia Hynes, senior counsel in Litigation, was named in the National Law Journalʼs list of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America”. As chair of the board of directors of the Legal Aid Society, Patricia is credited with saving the Society from bankruptcy. She was also elected president of the New York City Bar Association.

Brooklyn Law School Vis Moot team

The New York office hosted a practice session for the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot, an international moot court competition held annually in Vienna, Austria. In addition to hosting the practice moot, A&O attorneys are coaching a Vis team from Brooklyn Law School. A&O partner Benno Kimmelman is an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches courses in both international commercial arbitration and international commercial litigation. Together with A&O New York attorneys Dana MacGrath and Allie Cheatham (a recent alumna of Brooklyn Law School), the three are co-coaches of the inaugural Brooklyn Law School Vis moot team. Dana MacGrath and Benno Kimmelman served as arbitrators during the Vis moot in Vienna, which was held in March 2008.

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PRO BONO AND COMMUNITY WORK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The London officesʼ Pro Bono and Community Affairs programme is supervised and managed by the Pro Bono Committee. This comprises a partner or director in each department, and this year, an associate representative and trainee representative were elected to the committee.

The committee is chaired by Colin Pearson (CO), and includes: David Campbell (BK), Robert Bulling (PCD), Mark Mansell (E&B), Mark Levy (LT), Colleen Keck (CO), David Williams (RE), Lydia Challen (TX), Chris Bernard (US Law Group), Angela Clist (ICM), Genevieve Tennant (HR), Jason Haines (IT), Suzy Hardyman (Associates) and Richard Whitaker (Trainees). The committee's meetings are co-ordinated by Tracy Smith, PA to Colin Pearson. The role of the committee is to encourage, supervise and recognise the commitment of volunteers in each department, and to give guidance and support to the Pro Bono and Community Affairs Team on policy issues.

COMMUNITY WORK

EDUCATION

Allen & Overy London has an active role in the social regeneration efforts taking place in Tower Hamlets, the borough in which we have our offices. Although Tower Hamlets encompasses some of the wealthiest companies in the country, it is also one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Europe. Our aim is to help with the regeneration of Tower Hamlets and make a real impact in the area.

Our contribution to our local community started out through the educational schemes in 1998, addressing the needs of low literacy and numeracy levels. Partnerships with both primary and secondary schools continue to flourish, and programmes continue to develop and engage students from as early as nursery through to those who are studying for A-level and Degree qualifications.

Allen & Overyʼs educational programmes reflect the changing educational and employability needs for todayʼs young people.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

We currently offer two Primary Partner schemes to staff. These are Reading and Numeracy Partners. Primary Partners are people from the world of work who give up their time to help a young person improve their basic skills. Volunteers visit a school for half an hour one lunch time a week, or fortnight if sharing the commitment with a colleague.

Reading Scheme at St Johnʼs C of E Primary School

The scheme is in its ninth successful year. Volunteers support children with their reading, comprehension and verbal skills. These sessions build self-esteem, confidence and motivation to read.

Those who have volunteered during the year are: Abisade Adenubi, Amanda Arnold, Tim Austen, Paul Bedford, Natasha Bharwani, Lisa Calder-Patrick, Ian Carnochan, Laura Cohen, Richard Cohen, Susan Crabtree, Ingrid Curran, Imogen Dempsey, Sue Eve, Sarah Francis, Judith Gill, Narda Graham, Yvette Gustave, Angela Halstead, Miriam Hashim, Susan Hazledine, Natalie Hill, Catherine Hinchcliffe, Emily Holden, Gillian Hoxley, Chris Jackson, Tracey Jepson, Christina Johnson, Melanie Jones, Siobhan Lambert, Caroline Lindner, Caroline Mackay, Laura-Jo Mackinnon, Kirsty McCarroll, Victoria Marsh, Katy Marx, Eliza Meehan, Jeremy Metson, Negin Minakaran, Manisha Mistry, Abdul Muith, Kim Nicholl, Minesh Patel, Justin Pavry, Anish Raja, Helen Rigley, Jason Rix, Daniel Roberts, Jane Samuelson, Claire Savill, Anna Saville, James Sinclair, Catriona Smith, Nikki Starkey, Jo Taylor, Maria Vassalos, Jocelyn Virtue, Frances Williams, Sarah Williams and Nikola Zahariev. The scheme is coordinated by Cassie Austin-McKenzie, Emma Fell and Tina Menish.

Numeracy Scheme at St Johnʼs C of E Primary School

Volunteers support children with their numeracy through playing maths-related games. This helps to show pupils that numbers should be fun. The pupils are selected by the school either because they are lacking in confidence with their maths or need some extra support.

Those who have volunteered during the year are: Harky Atwal, Richard Browne, Lauren Cannon, Chun Chow, Hayley Cook, Nicola Cousins, Maya Dole, Emily Dupee, Thomas Evans, Dave Gifford, Laura Gatward, Jodie Greer, Lyn Hanson, Sarah Harris, Louise Howarth, Jay Jamnadas, Brooke Joy, Tessa MacAndrew, Carys McMillan, Jenny Ljunghammar, Samir Mehta, Heather Ormsby, Michelle Quinn, Susie Rutherford, Dominic Saunders, Fiona Scanlon, Eric Stieber, Sebastian Steinfeld, William Swan, Cameron Thomson, Richard Whitaker, Frances Williams and Hannah Willoughby. The scheme is co-ordinated by Tricia Beckford and Sue Wisbey.

Reading Scheme at Stepney Greencoats

In May 2007 we set up a joint Reading Partner Scheme with Stepney Greencoats School in Limehouse and volunteers from Barclays. The scheme was set up to give staff at Bank Street an opportunity to get involved in a community project with children. The scheme works in the same way as our very successful reading scheme with St John's School in Bethnal Green. If the first year is anything to go by, the scheme will go from strength to strength.

Staff who have volunteered during the year are: Jane Avenell, Karen Brown, Lisa Chan, Torquil Gibbs, Will McAdam, Catherine McDougal, Amanda Osuchowski, Katherine Price, Amy Wagstaff, Richard Whitaker and Nicole Williams, with Leighsa Kelly co-ordinating all the volunteers.

Spitalfields City Farm Project with St Johnʼs C of E Primary School

The Spitalfields City Farm Project is now in its second year. Allen & Overy sponsors the project, which supports Year 4 children, aged 10-11. Activities focus on the key curriculum subjects of literacy and numeracy and use real life topics to reinforce the learning that takes place in the classroom. Pupils learn, with the help of volunteers, farm staff and teachers, about issues including the environment, trade, nutrition and animal welfare.

Those who have volunteered during the year are: Katherine Atkinson, Gwen Brookes, Lucinda Capel, Alex Capp, Bas Dixon, Christina Johnson, Sam Merullo, Lucy Simpson and Rachael Visick.

Fiona Singleton, head teacher from St John's Primary School, commented that, “The Farm provides the children with exciting learning opportunities across the curriculum in the meaningful context of the farm. The project has a significant impact on pupils social and emotional development as well as on their progress in literacy, numeracy and science.”

Rachael Visick has really enjoyed her time on the project: “My experience of helping with the St Johnʼs School/ Spitalfields City Farm project has been fantastic. It has been a real pleasure to get to know the class and work with a fun group of children and to see just how much A&Oʼs help is valued by the school and farm also by the children themselves.”

A Year 4 pupil from St John's Primary School said, “I would teach other pupils how to look after animals and not to scare them and to make sure they have everything they need.”

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Campaign for Drawing – St Johnʼs Primary School

As part of the Campaign for Drawing's Big East Draw, A&O invited students from St Johnʼs Primary School to brush up on their art on the roof terraces of Bishops Square. Pro Bono and Community affairs Officer, Emma Shaw, said, “The idea for the project came from former partner Ian Elder, who acts as trustee for the charity Campaign for Drawing. He approached us and asked if we would be interested in sponsoring an event. Getting involved in the Big Draw has been great for strengthening our links with the local community. It was a chance for us to work with a new group of younger students from St Johnʼs and open up the city to young eyes.”

Head teacher at St John's, Fiona Singleton, said: “Taking part in the campaign has provided Year 2 children at St John’s with a fantastic opportunity to work with professional artists on an exciting and creative project. It has been a marvellous project which really motivated the children and is another good example of how A&O continues to work with St John’s to offer the children exciting experiences to enhance their learning. The photos and artwork produced clearly show how much the children enjoyed the experience.”

Volunteers who took part included: Claire Butterfill, Ingrid Curran, Francois De La Rhonde, Rod Green, Monica Mirchandani, Emma Shaw, Angela Smith, Lifen Tang and Sue Wisbey.

Peter Pan Event

On 20 December 2007 Allen & Overy invited children from Christ Church and St Johnʼs Primary Schools to join the Peter Pan Extravaganza! Boo Productions provided the theme, setting up a childrenʼs paradise consisting of a huge pirate ship, Santaʼs grotto, bouncy castle, surfing, huge scalextrics track, face painting and a fantastic show with a real life Captain Hook, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Some 180 children aged between 4 and 11 attended the event with their teachers and head teachers.

Judi Hammill, the head teacher from Christ Church C of E Primary School, commented, “The Peter Pan event was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to attend a well planned, resourced and managed event that was very different from their

normal life experiences. It was the first time for many of our younger children that they had seen people performing on a stage. Most of our children do not celebrate Christmas, but this event helped them to enjoy something of the magic and excitement of the Christmas season.”

Added Fiona Singleton, head teacher of St Johnʼs Primary School, “The range of activities provided by professional actors and entertainers was excellent, as was the quality of their interaction with the children. This would be the first opportunity for many of our children to experience live entertainment such as this and was a fabulous end of term treat for them.”

Sweet Exhibition at V&A Museum of Childhood

The A&O Foundation donated £2,000 to help support the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green with its community programme, which involves running art projects with schools and community groups, to produce work inspired by the museumʼs collections and exhibitions on display.

The foundationʼs support enabled a project with Year 1 students from St Johnʼs C of E Primary School to take place. The project – Sugar and Spice – created models of buildings made by the students using the produce of colonial trade such as sugar, spice, coffee and cocoa. Students spent afternoons over a six-week period at the museum working with three artists. They were encouraged to study buildings in the museum's collections such as dollsʼ houses, as well as the surrounding city architecture, and to consider topics such as empire, architecture and trade.

The children produced the following installations:

Canary Wharf Tower – the pupils drew their own interpretations of the tower from memory and photographs. They then translated this into a large-scale model constructed from card and collaged with foil and sweet wrappers.

Sweet Street – using the museum's Georgian dolls’ houses as inspiration, the pupils created an installation of an 18th Century street. They studied the architecture of the dollsʼ houses and managed to capture some of the neo-classical references to the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. The roofs of the houses were decorated with a tantalising mixture of jelly beans, marshmallows and smarties!

Sue Wisbey, pro bono and community affairs assistant, says: “The children displayed a remarkable progression in their observational drawing, as they studied the architectural detail of the dolls' houses and developed their dexterous skills in the collage work. The class has returned to look at their work on display since the exhibition was installed, on one occasion when the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Children attended. This gave the children the opportunity to take pride in their achievements and meet other contributors.”

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Christ Church Music Project – Christ Church Primary School

From January to June 2008, a team of Allen & Overy volunteers has been utilising their creative skills and energies on a collaborative music project with Christ Church C of E Primary School, Spitalfields and City Music Services (CMS). The project consisted of weekly workshops, involving music, dance, movement, drama, art and costume-making, which culminated in the performance of an original work to celebrate the schoolʼs 300th anniversary in June 2008.

Sara Charles (CMS) wrote an original piece exploring the last 300 years of the Spitalfields area in songs, dance, poetry and physical theatre. The children not only learnt about the history of the area, but the piece also increased their awareness of the world beyond school, with the intention of raising their aspirations. The creative skills and the confidence of the children was developed through the expressive qualities of music, dance and performance. Volunteers worked with the children, the teachers and CMS to put together the performance, choreographing dances, coaching singing, crafting props, costume and scenery, and providing audio-visual and stage management support, and the performance was brought to life on 26 June 2008.

With thanks to the teachers and parents from Christ Church Primary School, Sara and Howard Charles from CMS, Kara Fisher from Allen & Overy, who co-ordinated the project, and all the volunteers from Allen & Overy, including Elena Argent, Rebecca Ashford, Rachel Coates, Steve Ferrett, Katie Grimshaw, Kathryn Herbert, Michael Hosannah, Colleen Keck, Nigel Laws, Tony Lesforis, Ravi Mahabir, Jessica Martin, Nanet Nieuwenhuis, Sandra Nsia-Boachie, Susie Rutherford, Jane Sandilands, Jeremy Thomas, Sarah Warden, Andy Watson and Sue Wisbey.

BETHNAL GREEN TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

Bethnal Green Technology College (BGTC) is a secondary school in Tower Hamlets. The school is for children aged 11-16 in one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK. BGTC had been placed into special measures following a government inspection in late 2005. A&O was approached to be a key partner in the schoolʼs recovery plan. In July 2007 BGTC was taken out of special measures, and an article in the national newspapers identified the strong partnership between BGTC and A&O as the schoolʼs “secret weapon” in achieving this success.

The A&O London office has supported students at BGTC through a number of educational activities (detailed below) as well as placing Ian Thomas, a senior lawyer and member of the partnership office, on BGTCʼs school governing body to provide guidance on strategic and management issues ranging from budget control to curriculum delivery.

Mark Keary, head teacher, notes: “We have moved on from simply being at the receiving end of some generous assistance and charity to becoming a partnership. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Allen & Overy for the investment in time and resources which have supported the school and I very much look forward to developing this relationship further.”

Coaching Partners

Coaching Partners builds on our successful mentoring scheme and is for Year 10 students (14-15 year olds) who need some extra help to reach their potential in school. Students attend a half-day training session every term, over the course of an academic year, to set and work towards goals within school and for their future life. Each student is assigned a volunteer coach from the business world who will meet with him or her fortnightly to keep them focussed on achieving their goals.

The following staff coached pupils at Bethnal Green Technology College in Tower Hamlets: Tina Alexander, Temi Fatogun, Alis Gozen, Mirea Lynton-Grotz, Bilal Mahmood, Cleuma Nascimento and James Reynolds.

Citizenship Foundation

The Citizenship Foundation is an educational charity which aims to promote the values of responsible citizenship amongst young people by increasing their understanding of law and society. As part of its twinning programme, the Citizenship Foundation trains lawyers and students to set up workshops to help young people learn about the law and current moral issues. This gives volunteers hands-on experience of teaching young people about their rights and responsibilities, citizenship and issues as diverse as discrimination law, consumer law, employment law, human rights and the youth justice system.

Trainee solicitors together with students at the College of Law delivered sessions to the students of Bethnal Green Technology College. Volunteers from A&O were: Portia Edmiston, Thomas Evans, Narda Graham, Matthew Longstaff and Shanthi Vignasen.

Head2Head Interviews

The scheme is run in conjunction with Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership and the aim is to introduce pupils to a basic interview experience and is relevant for those about to go on work experience, applying for access to higher education or applying for jobs. Volunteers conducted a number of 30-minute one-to-one interviews with Year 11 pupils (15/16 year olds), getting the young people to talk about themselves, school work, hobbies and interests, their achievements and their plans for the future. At the end, students were provided with feedback on their performance covering areas such as CV content, first impressions, body language, communication skills and overall performance. Volunteers on the programme were: Nadine Barron, Lesley Dunne, Sarah Fahy, Maria Iannella, Laura Kwiatkowski, Heather Ormsby and Katherine Turner.

Getting Ahead – Work-related Conferences

Getting Ahead is a unique programme of work and enterprise-related activities for young people aged 14 to 15. It is designed to develop the employability skills and raise the aspirations of those taking part. The scheme is run in conjunction with Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership and the aims of the programme are to develop the studentsʼ life, job finding and enterprise skills and to raise their aspirations. It also offers staff involved the chance to develop their own team-building, motivation, management and communication skills.

In its purest form, the programme lasts for two days and volunteers help motivate and support teams of students through activities and act as role models and add real experience and credibility to the event. As well as developing practical skills, the volunteers also gain an invaluable insight into inner-city schools and the local community.

Volunteers who took part were: Lauren Cannon, Jason Featherstone, Anna Fisher, Georgina Fulham, Keshinda Johnson-Lewis, Laura Kwiatkowski, Tinashe Makoni, Alan Mato, Charlotte Phipps, David Power, Laura Savill, Emily Tew and Clare Wilson.

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Work Experience

In June 2007, A&O offered two weeksʼ work experience to nine students from Bethnal Green Technology College. Students were placed in departments through the firm. Those involved in the work experience weeks were: Shabnam Amos, Jackie Hill, Kathryn Carlile, Sarah Churchill, Karen Dines, Georgie Edwards, Emma Fell, Aimee Forman, Jill Fuller, Emma Harris, Cathy Jameison, Audrey Larmond, Jeremy Mavor, Tina Menish, Alix Mitchell, Michelle O'Bryan, Phoebe Olsen, Debbie Pickernell, Amy Rowe, Sheena Spears, Karen Sumner, Jane Templeman and Frances Williams.

Terracotta Army Project

At the start of 2007, A&O teamed up with a social enterprise called Signs of Life. Since 1999, Signs of Life has successfully engaged with schools and community groups to produce distinctive murals and professional public art, transforming walls and spaces with educational and creative themes. Working with more than 160 students from Bethnal Green Technology College, the Signs of Life artists inspired students to produce their own terracotta army of soldiers and horses, which formed a class clay army.

Volunteers were not required to be an expert on the history of the terracotta army or have an artistic flair for working with clay, just a willingness to work alongside students to encourage them with their creations. Those involved were: Michelle Blythe, Anne Blondel, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Richard Griffiths, Susan Hazledine, Katie Hoare, Bon Joyce, Sahar Kianfar, Lucy Liu, Joanna Mahood, Ciaran McNamee, Rosemary Miles, Kenneth Okumura, Cheri Peck, Charles Philip, Victoria Sharpe, Emma Shaw, Tamsin Sparrow and Sue Wisbey.

ARTBEAT

Artbeat is a community arts initiative that links A&O London to secondary schools and sixth-form colleges in Tower Hamlets. Through Artbeat, A&O sponsors professional artists to lead in-class and after-school workshops at which students are challenged to create work for display at A&O’s London offices. With the opening of our new flagship office at Bishops Square, Spitalfields, Artbeat now has two homes in Tower Hamlets – one in Docklands and the other in the heart of the City of London. At the beginning of each project, the students are invited to our offices for a preliminary site visit and then return at the end of the project to attend an exhibition of their work. Most of the pieces are displayed for one year and then returned to the schools to make way for a new generation of Artbeat artwork. A selection of works is retained as part of A&Oʼs permanent art collection.

In 2007, the fifth year of the initiative, 37 students from Bethnal Green Technology College participated in innovative workshops resulting in a manipulation of colour in multi-panelled oil works and a diverse interpretation of the meaning of the word “home” through the medium of clay. A&O was also invited to display a selection of Artbeat artwork at the Window Gallery in the Canary Wharf shopping centre for four weeks during 2008.

Artbeat uses art to help break down the invisible barrier between the City and A&O’s neighbours in Tower Hamlets. The positive impact on the students is confirmed by Rob Sommerville, the participating art teacher at Bethnal Green Technology College: “For many of my students, the opportunities and wealth of ‘The City’ appear out of reach even though organisations such as Allen & Overy are only a short walk away. This project allowed my students to enter that world and helped to raise expectations of what and where they could be when they are older.”

Artbeat is co-ordinated by a team of fee-earners which includes Rachel Bravard, Lauren Warner and Dominique Ashby, assisted by a broad cross-section of support staff, including Sue Smith and Leighsa Kelly, as well as other fee-earners and support staff. Further information can be found at www.allenovery.com/artbeat. Copies of the Artbeat catalogue are available from Rachel Bravard.

Artbeat Scholarship

In the autumn/winter 2007/2008, A&O ran its Artbeat Scholarship and Mentoring Programme, which was first piloted in 2005/2006. This is a programme which is funded by the A&O Foundation for Artbeat participants and graduates who are applying to higher education programmes in art and design, including disciplines such as fine art, textiles, fashion, interior design and product design. The applicants were paired with A&O mentors who guided them on writing their personal statements and coached them for interviews with the Artbeat selection panel. The goal of the experience was to assist all of the applicants to acquire the “street smarts” of the application process. After interviewing all of the candidates, a £5,000 scholarship was awarded to Rafia Begum of Tower Hamlets College, conditional upon her obtaining a place at university. To recognise the high standards at interview that the students displayed in the 2006/2007 programme, the 2007/2008 programme saw the introduction of two “runner-up” awards of £500 and £250. The 2007/2008 prizes of £500 and £250 were awarded to Anika Amrin and Stacey-Danielle Rolfe, respectively.

TOWER HAMLETS COLLEGE

Diversity Bursary

Over the next three years, A&O will award bursaries of £6,000 to six students from Tower Hamlets College (THC) to help fund university degree courses. The scholarships will be offered to high achieving students who would find it challenging to attend university, for social/financial reasons. David Campbell is the partner in charge of the panel that awards these scholarships.

Placement week in July

In readiness for the Sutton Trust Pathways to Law placement week, A&O piloted a week-long placement with 10 first-year A-level students from THC. The week was designed to give students an insight into A&O, a chance to meet and hear from trainee solicitors, associates and partners. A team building and confidence development session was organised by our in-house Personal Learning and Development Team as well valuable time spent with our HR and Graduate Recruitment teams.

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The template designed by A&O was then used by the innovative cross-profession partnership between the Sutton Trust and the College of Law, valued at £1.5 million. This aims to broaden access to the legal profession for students from non-traditional backgrounds through a comprehensive programme of workshops, mentoring and work placements. A&O has committed £20,000 per year for the next five years to this worthwhile initiative.

Lothifa Khanom shares her experiences on the week: “Allen & Overy has given me a wonderful opportunity and insight into such a well established law firm. The staff are exceptionally welcoming and friendly and it is much appreciated. I would recommend this opportunity to anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in law.”

Those involved in the week were: Brian Ahearne, Matthew Appleton, Kathryn Ballintine, Kathryn Boland, Amelia Bracken, Adam Callahan, Debbie Chambers, Binita Chowdhury, Helen Cowley, Georgina Éclair-Heath, Zina Elimelakh, Alice Falconer, Zoe Gordon, Louise Hamilton, Sarah Harris, Andy Jackson, Tamsin Jones, Robert Kerrigan, April King, Siobhan Lambert, Caroline Lindner, Sophie Maggs, Richard Norridge, Edward OʼFlynn, Caroline Pellow, Rhiannon Saunders, Harriet Territt, Ruben Van Schalkwyk, Anna Whitney and Hui Zheng.

SUTTON TRUST – PATHWAYS TO LAW PROJECT

Pathways to Law is a £1.5m programme which is being delivered by five leading UK universities – Leeds, LSE, Manchester, Southampton, Warwick – and funded by The Sutton Trust and The College of Law. It is designed to attract fresh talent to the legal profession by targeting students from state schools who will be the first in their families to attend university, and whose parents are in non-professional occupations. The project offers students careers advice and guidance on university applications in Years 12 and 13, provides mentoring while they are at school and university, and enables them to undertake work placements at law firms.

The specific aims of the work placement at law firms are:

n To inform Pathways students about careers within the legal profession (as lawyers and in other business areas) and the routes into these careers.

n To raise Pathways students’ aspirations for law-based career opportunities.

n To provide Pathways students with a valuable insight into the workings of a law firm, including support areas.

n To assist Pathways students with the development of soft skills such as presentation and communication skills.

n To give Pathways students a meaningful experience, which can be incorporated into their university applications.

Sarah Newman, Pathways to Law student, writes: “The week I spent at Allen & Overy was an amazing opportunity. I got to meet inspirational people at the top of their careers, go to places I would otherwise never be able to; I had a fantastic time and learnt a lot. Long may you continue to offer such an outstanding opportunity to young people.”

Those involved in organising and taking part in the week included: Caroline Addison, Shabnam Amos, Patrick Arnold, Nicole Bell, Guy Beringer, Melanie Boland, Colin Bole, Amelia Bracken, Adrian Brown, Chris Burkett, Andrew Castle, Shankari Chandran, John Coburn, Tim Conduit, Viv Cotes, Stephanie Dee, Natalie Donald, Alice Falconer, Richard Freed, James Gallagher, Sara George, Zoë Gordon, Ana-Katarina Hajduka, Sasha Hardman, Natalie Hill, Bon Joyce, Val Jupp, Ron Kirschner, Hannah Lacey, Caroline Lindner, Maria Loucas, Bilal Mahmood, Leigh-Anne Males, Jane Masey, Louise Mathews, James McRobbie, Joanna Neale, Claire Poli, Nicola Rogers, Tobi Rufus, Prashanthy Shankar, Emma Shaw, Nicola Simson, Tracy Smith, Tim Stewart, Sandy Tapnack, Sophie Thomashausen, Ruben Van Schalkwyk, Mark Wesseldine and Jared Zakrzewski.

REACH DIVERSITY MENTORING SCHEME

The REACH Diversity Mentoring Scheme brings together students from the University of London (excluding Imperial) with our lawyers in the London office. The scheme is open to any student who feels they face particular barriers to career success, including, but not limited to, disability, age, race, sex, sexuality and religion. The students are paired with a mentor currently working in their chosen career from a range of different firms and companies, including A&O, so that they can find out more about the career they are interested in. The mentoring process helps develop the studentsʼ self-confidence, professionalism and employability skills. It is also an opportunity for mentors to practise their coaching skills and understand the issues faced by students from underrepresented groups.

One of our mentees this year, a Masters student at Kings' College London, was particularly interested in IP law. He wanted guidance about whether he could succeed at a career in law despite being registered blind. His mentor, Jaime Lee, arranged for him to meet with her and IP partner Catriona Smith, who had worked with partially sighted colleagues in her team. They had a very helpful discussion about practising law generally and how disability should not restrict his career choice. Caroline Lindner in Graduate Recruitment also offered the student follow-up support to discuss training contract application procedures and the best way to approach the graduate recruitment process. Our REACH mentors are: Richard Freed, Abbie Grace, Zied Hanayen, Jaime Lee, Mahmood Lone, Joanna Mahood and Serena Seddon.

SCHOOL GOVERNORS

Staff can choose to be governors of schools both local to work and home. Through the charity, School Governorsʼ One-Stop Shop (SGOSS), annual recruitment drives are held for staff wishing to know more and applications are processed through them.

At a School Governorsʼ One-Stop Shop Reception at the Guildhall in October, Allen & Overy was presented with a certificate in recognition of exceptional support to the charity. Support given to the SGOSS included reviewing a new lease for their premises and supplying surplus office furniture.

The following staff are school governors: Wendy Braithwaite, Caroline Brown, Russell Clifford, Dan Cocker, Sara George, Tom Levine, Nicholas Manassei, John Scriven, Ian Thomas, Matthew Townsend and Colin Whittington.

BROKERAGE CITYLINK SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

Brokerage Citylink works with young people from the disadvantaged areas surrounding the City of London to help raise their aspirations by providing an insight into the various careers in the City and business etiquette generally. This is achieved by running workshops on life in the City, recruitment methods, CV preparation and interview techniques at the premises of City companies such as Allen & Overy. Each year thousands of young people leave inner city schools and colleges unprepared for the intricacies of the current job market, lacking

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information on employer expectations and without the necessary information to successfully compete in the job market. Many also lack the confidence and self-esteem to realise their potential.

In 2007/08, Allen & Overy provided facilities for 18 workshops with 545 students coming through our doors. We also provided two business traineeship places for A-level leavers. This year was our most successful year to date. A&O now holds the record for highest feedback scores from students attending workshops for this year. Students commented:

“I enjoyed myself at the workshop as it taught me a lot about working life.”

“I enjoyed my day in the City because this has shown me that there are a lot of opportunities around.”

“My day in the City was enjoyable and it has made me more confident to pursue my career in accountancy.”

With thanks to: Graham Adamson, Michelle Alexander, Laura Axtell, Anne Baldock, Lauren Baldwin, Brandon Barnes, Anthony Bavan, Tim Beech, Imogen Buchan, Sharon Burrell, Neil Caddy, Alex Carington, Alys Carlton, Hayley Cohen, Richard Cohen, David Cummings, Katherine Elkington, Annemarie Elmer, Jacqui Evans, Nick Evans, Caroline Fletcher, Aimee Forman, Angela Giles, David Gilinsky, Judith Gill, Pamela Hague-Wilton, Jason Haines, Angela Halstead, Kathryn Herbert, Jo Hickey, Sharon Ives, Nick Jackson, Yvette James, Christina Johnston, Lee Katipunan, James Keeping, Siriana Kress, Laura Kwiatkowski, Laura Lawton, Kathy Lee, Eleanor Ley, Mark Martin, Carol Mash, Kellie Matthews, Will McAdam, Kirsty McCarroll, Rosemary Miles, George Moore, Matt Moore, Mia Moore, Ann Moseley, Parminder Nahl, Nomita Nair, Sandra Nsia-Boachie, Victoria Oates, Heather Ormsby, Joanna Page, Valerie Platitsa, Loretta Pugh, Aline Shuttleworth, Karen Smith, Jo Terry, Sharon Tregaskes, Ruben Van Schalkwyk, Shanthi Vignasen, Sylvie Watts, Mark Wesseldine, Nikki Williams, Clare Wilson and Hannah Wrigley.

Caroline Fletcher commented: “It was a real pleasure to speak to such an enthusiastic and engaged group of students. It was clear that Brokerage is performing a very valuable role in broadening these children's horizons.”

CITY GATEWAY INSIGHT DAYS

City Gateway is an organisation working with young people in the Tower Hamlets and Spitalfields area to engage them in education, employment and training, and to help them gain qualifications and skills which will make them more attractive to potential employers.

As part of our commitment to City Gateway, we run a number of “Insight Days” during the year, which gives the students invaluable exposure to life in the City and the practical skills needed to gain employment. These are organised by Andrew Gilmour, Jacqui Grundy, Sanjay Nayee and Jon Palmer from our IT department and consist of a number of presentations given during the day, including sessions on CV writing and interview skills. Those who have given presentations include Lauren Baldwin, Hayley Cohen, Fiyin Fayeye, Yvette James, Valerie Jupp, Edward Moser, Abdul Muith, Nicola Munro, Seetal Patel, Kirralee Sanders, Katie Spooner, Ben Tillson, Dave Tregaskes and Shuhel Uddin.

We have also hosted a number of “Insight Tours” this year, which are shorter visits focusing on specific areas of the office. Nick Croker, manager of the Health and Wellbeing Centre in Bishops Square, organised a tour of the gym for students, with Vicky Smith and Tim Austen assisting on the day. Michael Hosannah and Tony Lesforis led another tour which visited the Creative Services and AV Media teams.

GENERAL COMMUNITY WORK

Maxitech

Maxitech is a non-profit social enterprise company and has an ongoing programme to train and develop young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds through work placement schemes.

These programmes are conducted in conjunction with re-employment organisations and train young people on computer hardware using our redundant equipment. Maxitech's aim is to help young people overcome the pattern of social exclusion.

Maxitech arranges for Allen & Overyʼs unwanted equipment to be tested and given to charities in and around Tower Hamlets. Currently we have donated around £20,000 worth of hardware including base units, monitors, printers and laptops that are either reused or disposed of in accordance with the Governments new WEEE Regulations.

Alan Terry and Gregory Morgan put in all the hard work to make sure that the equipment is ready for collection by Maxitech.

This year Alan Terry also secured a cheque from shpSolutions which purchased 400 redundant mobile phones for £784. This money has been donated to our Community Partner of the Year.

StreetShine

StreetShine is a social enterprise that gives people who have experienced homelessness, suffered disadvantage in the job market and are in the process of rebuilding their lives the chance to earn a regular income by operating a shoeshine service within offices in the City of London. One Bishops Square provides this popular shoeshine service in the lobby once a week.

Geraldine Artuso, who works in Bishops Square through StreetShine, says, “I would like to be seen working because it reflects better on everything, and I bring in cash that goes back into developing the business and helping more people.”

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is an international charity dedicated to building affordable housing for low-income families around the world. One of their current projects in the UK is based in Southwark. Over the past year, a number of teams from A&O have volunteered at the site. Our volunteers have been involved at many different stages, from helping to clear the site and dig trenches at the beginning of the project, to installing plasterboards and radiators inside the new properties. One lucky member of staff even got to drive the siteʼs dump-truck.

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Dominique Ashby commented that “it was brilliant fun – the site staff were both professional and very friendly trying to get us involved whenever they could in what they were doing. So we experienced digging, sawing and lots of carrying of planks. I learnt a lot about the community in Peckham and the importance of affordable housing in London, as well as the building-type skills we were taught.”

Volunteers include: Sally Andrews, Dominique Ashby, Claire Butterfill, Reuben Connolly, Justine Deighan, Emma Fell, John Francis, Sophie Hogg, Kseniya Elfimova, Conan Lauterpacht, Vince Neicho, Rosemary Oxley, Joanna Page, Patrizia Pasqualini, Nirali Patel, Raj Patel, Reshma Patel, Ben Price, David Shaw, Pete Smith, Laura Spearing, Luke Streatfeild, Jan Thirley, Sara Vandore, Maria Vassalos, Anthony Ward and Heather Webster.

Book Aid International “Bring a Book to Work” Week

In October Allen & Overy participated in Book Aid International's (BAI) Bring a Book to Work Week. This event is an important fundraiser for Book Aid International and A&O staff were encouraged to donate books to BAIʼs books provision programme for sub-Saharan Africa. The books were donated to disadvantaged communities including refugees, girls and women, people with disabilities and in rural populations.

Donation of law books

The Library in A&Oʼs London office regularly donates old editions of books within its collections to a number of different organisations, including Battersea Legal Advice Centre, the International Book Facility, the Statute Law Revision Society and the English-speaking Polish Law Club based in Dabrowa, Poland. These donations are coordinated by Philippa Smart.

CLIENT COLLABORATION PROJECTS

Working with our corporate clients on pro bono and community projects offers a new way of developing client relationships and working together to have an impact on the communities that surround the City. In addition to the two workshops described below, other collaborative projects with clients include the Debt Advice clinic at Toynbee Hall, which was set up jointly with ABN Amro, and the Spitalfields-based project being developed with Deutsche Bank, Hammerson plc and the East London Business Alliance. Further information on both of these projects can be found elsewhere in this report.

GE Secondment

At the start of this year we seconded Louise Zekaria, from our Private Client Department to GE Corporate to assist with the development of GEʼs European pro bono programme.

Our seconded associate is working with the lawyer responsible for European pro bono at GE to implement an internal infrastructure to manage the day-to-day operation of pro bono projects for GE. Her responsibilities and outcomes include creating policies, a database of volunteers, working with “local champions” and committees for each of the GE businesses, engaging in consultation with GE staff to find out their interests, and liaising with local NGOs in communities where GE operates to understand local needs. Our secondee is also identifying and setting up suitable pro bono projects for GE lawyers, some of which A&O and GE lawyers will get involved in together.

For example, A&O and GE are piloting a legal seminars programme for charities in Budapest. We will cover our areas of expertise (corporate structures, directors' duties, employment, tax, property etc) and will be able to reach large sections of the local community in this way. This work develops the expertise and presentation skills of lawyers from both Allen & Overy and GE in Budapest as well as having an impact on the local community.

Joint Workshops

UBS

Volunteers from the London Leveraged Finance team recently teamed up with counterparts from client UBS to allow themselves to be quizzed by inner city school students. Two City Life workshops, held first at Bishops Square on 27 November and then at UBS offices in Finsbury Avenue on 5 December, were organised by the charity Brokerage Citylink. Although A&O staff regularly support the charity’s City Life programme through workshops, it is the first time that the firm has joined with a client to take part.

Brokerage Citylink’s aim is to increase the number of residents of boroughs close to the City who earn their living in the financial and business services sector. With a particular focus on inner city school students who might not have had exposure to City professions, the workshops enable the youngsters to ask City workers in detail about their roles, what they actually do and how they got where they are today.

Banking partner Mark Wesseldine said that UBS, which was recently named the Brokerage’s Employer of the Year, was thrilled at the opportunity to join forces with A&O in the pro bono initiative. He said: “Because we and UBS work together on a day-to-day basis, we were able to offer the workshops something unique in how we interact. Christian Rothhardt, executive director at UBS, and I kicked off the workshop by talking about our own roles. We explained how we work together on deals – and also how working in the city can be about working with people that you like.”

He added that the joint workshops were an excellent way of developing the relationship between firm and client, while also contributing to the Brokerage Citylink cause. Being interviewed by the students was an eye-opening experience too. “Some of the students were, as you might expect, not necessarily knowing what they want to do, while others were very focused, with their careers mapped out, and asked very detailed questions,” said Mark. “Some said they hadn’t imagined that there could be a job for them in the City that could be interesting and exciting. We were delighted to get the ball rolling on these joint workshops and hope that we will do more in the future.”

Volunteers were: Imogen Buchan, Neil Caddy, Richard Cohen, Jacqui Evans, Matt Moore, Mia Moore, Parminder Nahl, Loretta Pugh, Aline Shuttleworth and Mark Wesseldine.

HSBC

Banking department associate Will McAdam, during his secondment, supported a pro bono event involving members of the Export and Credit Agency team (attached to P&EF) and A&O volunteers. With the assistance of A&O's in-house pro-bono team, an afternoon workshop was organised with The Brokerage Citylink, which involved students from areas and backgrounds under-represented in the City interviewing HSBC and A&O professionals to understand what the Square Mile is, what careers it offers and what they would need to achieve to get a job in the City.

More than 50 schools take part each year and the feedback from the students and the professionals involved was very positive. Student feedback included the following two quotes:

“I learnt a lot about the ways some of the employees took different routes to become solicitors. It helped me to figure out what I want to do after university.”

“I will say that everything went very well. We all had the opportunity to experience new things. Personally, it gave me the opportunity to know and to think more about what I am planning to do in the future.”

Participants included: Anne Baldock, Lee Katipunan, Will McAdam, Nomita Nair and Shanthi Vignasen.

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CRISIS

Allen & Overy supports Crisis throughout the year in a variety of ways. As well as providing it with pro bono legal advice (see below), we also support it through fundraising and volunteering schemes.

Crisis Christmas Card Challenge

A&O continued to support Crisis by donating its 2007 Christmas card budget to the charity instead of sending cards. This year's e-card featured the Crisis choir performing a festive song. The singers were either friends of Crisis or homeless people who would be spending the festive season at Crisis Open Christmas. One such ‘friendly singer’ was managing (now senior) partner, David Morley.

David Morley commented: “A&O has supported the Crisis Christmas Card challenge for many years. This year I decided to go one step further and become part of the Crisis Choir, to show that it's not just about donating money, it's about actively supporting Crisis. As a firm we need to define our success by a sustainable, positive impact on our clients, our people and the local communities in which we operate. This is just one way we demonstrate our commitment to local charities.”

Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “Crisis hugely values Allen and Overy’s support of the Christmas Card Challenge. The money raised through this campaign plays a vital role in funding the services we provide over the Christmas period. Coming to the Open Christmas is often the first door many guests open before rebuilding their lives, taking up year-round opportunities within Crisis and securing their own independent futures. We particularly appreciate David Morley’s personal support and input into the Christmas Card Challenge which acts as a very real and compelling example to other business leaders to also get behind this campaign.”

Challenge Days with Crisis

The Crisis Open Christmas centres offer an alternative family for many homeless and vulnerably housed people who feel particularly lonely and isolated over the Christmas period. As well as companionship, the centres provide homeless visitors with shelter and a range of over 20 essential services, whether housing and benefits advice, full health checks or access to the Crisis learning zones for training and further education.

Volunteers from A&O helped to organise clothing and books which had been donated to Crisis for use at the centres. Pamela Chambers commented that “we were faced with hundreds of bags of donated clothing and boxes containing thousands of books: one team sorted out new clothing into categories of boys, girls, ladies and gentlemen, and the other team chose a selection of books to create eight libraries, one library for each of their Christmas Centres.” Warehouse manager, Richard King, remarked on the expertise of our organisational abilities and exceptional industry, having completed both tasks on the day.

Adam Johnson, of Crisis, said: “Your attitude and enthusiasm was yet another example of A&O’s fantastic approach to working with Crisis and it is, as ever, greatly appreciated. Your hard work will help ensure that the 2,000 guests who stay at our centres over Christmas have an experience that will have a major impact on their lives.”

Volunteers who participated were: Gordana Banjac, Pamela Chambers, Amelia Cross, Peter Fallows, Jan Gruter, Anna Jewitt, Stephen Jurica, Jennifer MacKinnon, Cherry Nelson, Nanet Nieuwenhuis, Gail Palmer, Natalie Perryman, Antony Stokes, Bibi Twahid and Katie White.

ATTLEE YOUTH & COMMUNITY CENTRE

The Attlee Youth & Community Centre is located in Thrawl Street and is only five minutes from the Bishops Square office. The centre is an inner city oasis for children and young people from the age of five upwards. Their aim is to provide personal development opportunities through play, leisure and a wide range of recreational activities, both on- and off-site. Being able to socialise and play with people of different ages and different abilities is something much valued by the young people that use it.

This year we have set up a project with a team from the Banking department (B3) lead by the B3 Pro Bono Board consisting of Jacqueline Evans, Tracey Jepson, Mark Wesseldine, Janie Tremblay and Fiona Cumming. The project will encompass a wide variety of activities; in particular, members of B3 will be making regular visits to the centre to help supervise activities. This allows staff to accommodate more children at peak times as the adult-to-child ratio is increased. It also acts as a team-building opportunity for the different strands of the B3 department including partners, associates, paralegals, trainees and PAs.

This year we have also donated £5,000 to the centre’s Karate project and Three Year Sports programme. The Karate project will accommodate a Tuesday karate class for ladies only; and the sports programme is being set up with the long-term goal of getting young people into sport on a regular basis with access to facilities around London that they would otherwise not be able to use.

ISLE OF DOGS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

The Isle of Dogs Community Foundation (IDCF) is an effective link between the voluntary, corporate and statutory sectors working within the Isle of Dogs and South Poplar area of East London. It helps to focus priorities on addressing local needs and assists local groups in seeking funds from the corporate sector. Despite the establishment and growth of the Canary Wharf business district, these areas are still among some of the most deprived wards in the UK.

James McRobbie, an associate in Securitisation acts as company secretary for the IDCF: “IDCF is an important organisation which has a significant impact on the quality of life for people living within the Isle of Dogs and South Poplar area. It is a pleasure to work so closely with such a motivated Board of Trustees who represent other high-profile businesses based in the Canary Wharf Estate and other key voluntary sector organisations in the local community.”

Allen & Overy supports the IDCF throughout the year on various projects:

Island Exchange Project

In September 2007, we ran a clothing and toy appeal for baby goods to help with the Island Exchange Project. A&O staff were extremely generous with their donations which included 45 books, 20 toys, 20 pairs of shoes, 7 sterilisers, 1 cot, 1 crib, 2 bouncy chairs and many bags of clothes and pre-school toys. The exchange project allows families to borrow baby goods and clothes which they would not otherwise be able to afford. Many of the items have also been distributed amongst local community groups such as the Barkantine Social Housing Partnership (which runs play groups) and the Isle of Dogs Children’s Centres. With thanks to Caroline Fletcher, Gemma Birt, Ali Dawson and Joanna Hughes for making generous donations.

Over 50s Tea Dance

After the success of last year’s tea dance, we sponsored the event again this year. The event was held at George Green’s School in the Isle of Dogs. The hall was decked out with pink and gold balloons. Each round table was laden with cakes and sandwiches. Volunteers from A&O really got into the spirit of the afternoon and waltzed and danced with the elders. The line dancing proved most popular. The MC (and expert dance instructor) for the event was Ken Moran and he was accompanied by the DJ, Billy House.

Staff brave enough to put their dancing shoes on were: Gergana Avramova, Michelle Blythe, Corinne Brett, Gwen Brookes, Suzanne Dodd, James McRobbie, Rachel Nicholson, Helen Rogers, Amy Rowe, Emma Shaw, Terri Wipperman and Amanda Woods.

James McRobbie commented, “The annual tea dance provides a rare opportunity for the elders of the Isle of Dogs community to come together. Everyone seemed to enjoy the occasion.”

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Gergana Avramova said, “The dancing was far more lively and fun than I expected. Under the lead of an experienced teacher we could try a variety of dances – from charleston, swing, waltz and rumba to US country, rock-n-roll and The Beatles. There were some really good dancers among the old ladies, who could show us a step or two. I will be certain to join the dancing next year.”

CHALLENGE DAYS

Wapping Blitz

Wapping is an area within our local borough of Tower Hamlets which suffers from a marked contrast in fortunes – the upmarket converted warehouses, new apartment blocks and trendy gastro pubs nestle side-by-side with areas of social housing which have high levels of deprivation and very diverse communities. On 27 September, A&O volunteers offered their assistance working in two areas on projects that had an immediate and visible impact on the lives of local residents: Matilda Estate and the Wapping Playground.

Matilda Estate houses 133 flats, mostly still council tenancies, and has been managed by a tenants’ co-operative since the 1970s. The tenant co-operative is responsible for managing the residential areas as well as the maintenance of the grounds around them. Many of these tenants are now elderly. Our volunteers spent the day helping to redecorate a playhouse for the children of the estate.

The Wapping Playground gives the children access to a safe and engaging place to play and explore the world around them. Our volunteers helped to improve the playground by repainting the play equipment and tidying up the planted areas, ensuring that the playground continued to be a safe and welcoming space for the local residents and their children.

Dave Couch from the Matilda Estate said: “The play flat and the fence which was painted look significantly better than they did. Obviously on an estate like this there is an endless number of small to medium sized jobs – being able to deal with a number of them in this way is extremely helpful and everyoneʼs efforts today are very much appreciated.”

The volunteers who took part in these activities were: Holly Adams, Catherine Antcliffe, Katy Argrave, Victoria Broadbent, Stuart Burnside, Shankari Chandran, Sarah Clift, Bernadine Coombs, Mark Davis, Andrew Denny, Portia Edmiston, Dave Gifford, Sarah Lankowski, Patricia Mailer, Laura Maitland, Joanna Neale, Susan Phillips, Emma Shaw, Gary Sorhaindo and Lisa Tolliss.

Look Ahead Hostel

On 21 November 2007, a team of future A&O trainees, currently studying for their LPC at the College of Law, swapped their textbooks for paintbrushes and gave up a day of revision to decorate several communal areas at the Look Ahead Hostel in Aldgate. Look Ahead provides housing and support to a range of vulnerable people with differing needs, including single homeless people, those with mental health needs and young people leaving the care system. The Aldgate Hostel is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and provides accommodation and support services for 158 homeless people between the ages of 18 and 65.

The students spent the day redecorating several communal areas and two small rooms used by the residents for meetings with key workers and other support staff. At the end of the day the students also created some canvasses to be hung on the walls and corridors in the hostel, a simple way of bringing more colour and interest into the building for the residents. The studentsʼ enthusiasm, energy and handiwork were admired by the residents and staff.

Mark Phillippo, senior homelessness manager, Look Ahead, wrote: “I was greatly impressed with the enthusiasm, energy and good spirits in which you all threw yourselves into the task and this ensured the outstanding results you achieved. I would like to thank you all on behalf of the residents and staff here, for showing that you care and by helping to brighten those areas of the hostel in need of a facelift.”

The students who took part in the challenge were: Paul Allen, Dominique Askew, Sonya Barcant, Helen Beaumont, Thomas Bullock, Jilly Combley, Rebecca Copcutt, Johan de Jong, Katie Hickmet, Simon Hooks, Christian La-Roda Thomas, Emma Muskat, Morwenna Pestell, Isabel Regan, Helen Smith, Rose Spencer-Longhurst, Serena Stewart, Jared Tausz, Nick Tye, David Varney, Rebecca Wallen, Tom Wallis and David Wigg.

MAGIC ME

Magic Me is the UKʼs leading provider of intergenerational arts projects, using creative activities to bring together young and older people who would otherwise not meet, for mutual benefit, learning and enjoyment. Since April 2006, Magic Me has been running Our Generations, a programme of creative arts activities with young and older people's groups and individuals across Tower Hamlets. One of the projects within in the Our Generations programme is The Media Group. This brings together local people to work with a professional photographer to learn digital camera skills and to document Magic Me events and activities. The group has recently photographed Wiltonʼs Music Hall, one of the last remaining Victorian music halls in the world, and situated not far from our offices, in the East End of London.

On 17 March, the group paid a visit to our Bishops Square offices, whose sleek modern lines and crisp glass surfaces provided a strong contrast to the decorative architecture they had seen at Wiltonʼs. The photographs taken by the group at these two very different but close neighbours will be exhibited as part of their annual

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Summer Exhibition later in 2008. The group was also able to talk to Michael Hosannah, one of A&Oʼs in-house photographers, who shared his experiences with the group as he recorded the visit on his own camera.

The A&O Foundation has also made a donation to support the Our Generations projects, in recognition of the positive impact they have on bringing together generations and communities within Tower Hamlets.

WHITECHAPEL MISSION

Whitechapel Mission a small charity based in Tower Hamlets which has been providing care for homeless people for over 130 years. Staff volunteer at the charity on a monthly basis, assisting with meals, organising collections and sorting clothes.

Those involved were: Melinda Boland, Dana Burstow, Philip Carstairs, Fiona Cassidy, Ash Chandhok, May Chiu, Russell Clifford, Fiona Coady, Viv Cotes, Lucy Coyle, Inewari Diete-Spiff, Bas Dixon, Rebecca Windle, Zina Elimelakh, Helen Ennis, Shelia Fahy, Alice Falconer, Zoe Gordon, Sarah Harris, Susan Hazledine, Katie Joyce, Stephen Jurica, Sarah Lankowski, Rebecca Law, Guy Livingstone, Matthew Longstaff, Sophie Maggs, Julia Marriott, Stefan Martin, Liz Mircica, Shama Naqushbandi, Julie Quinn, Susie Rutherford, Derek Sloan, Kim Stirling, Alexia Takis, Rebecca Tandy, Dawn Tate, Richard Whitaker, Nicole Williams, Nikki Williams, Jamie Wiseman-Clarke and Kevin Young.

Shelia Fahy is a trustee of the Mission.

In July 2007, Amelia Bracken and Viv Cotes took part in the British 10K Run to raise funds for the Whitechapel Mission.

TOWER HAMLETS SUMMER UNIVERSITY

Tower Hamlets Summer University brings together young people from diverse backgrounds for an enriching educational experience. Aged 11-25, they have the chance to experiment and to sample new learning opportunities. The summer programme combines academic and vocational study, performing and visual arts, music, sports, information technology, new media, personal development and volunteer initiatives. THSU offers up to 100 courses each year, including careers in the City, first aid, photography, filmmaking, maths, tourism, cricket and psychology.

During August, A&O offered a week's placement for 24 students as part of the summer programme. The programme was aimed at students to give them an insight into an international law firm and a chance to meet and talk to staff. Students gained experience of the firm as well as practical advice on CV writing, interview techniques and applying for vacation placements or training contracts through a series of talks and workshops.

Those involved in the programme were: Sarah Bell, Sean Boyd, Amelia Bracken, Inewari Diete-Spiff, Nila Germain, Julia Gorham, Caroline Lindner, George Moore, Rachel Nicholson, Edward O'Flynn, Charlotte Stetzel, Melissa Sweeting, Ruben Van Schalkwyk and Letitia Wilkinson.

Students were asked: “What parts of the programme did you most enjoy?” The most common answer was: “The people”. Others responded as follows:

"I was provided with a good insight into what happens at A&O. The speakers were very beneficial and the activities enhanced my knowledge of how to progress further in law". Lee Kuhan

“It was great to talk to the trainee solicitors and the staff; I would never have had the chance to do this otherwise. There is only so much research you could on the internet. I am very thankful”. Maria Kovacova

“I think students that want to pursue a career in law should apply for this course because it gives a good insight into a career in law and talks through the different careers within the firm.” Sadia Khanom

The programme is co-ordinated and managed through Emma Shaw and Sue Wisbey.

ELBA LONDON LEGACY 2020

East London Business Alliance developed a bespoke programme, London Legacy 2020, which encourages member companies to be part of securing a legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games. Allen & Overy has had a long-standing relationship with ELBA, and we believe that the Legacy 2020 Youth Board framework will enhance our education programme, giving us a springboard from which to launch new initiatives and encourage all members of staff to become involved.

We recognise that, as well as providing support to the local community, staff involved in these projects also benefit from them, improving their skills and gaining a valuable and justified sense of satisfaction and achievement. We hope to work with Legacy 2020 to develop collaborative initiatives that will have a lasting impact on the community and our staff.

TAPEBALL CRICKET CHALLENGE

For five weeks during the Summer A&Oʼs finest cricket players took part in a community outreach programme working with the London Community Cricket Association to coach and play cricket with young people from schools and estates in East London. The sessions culminated in a tournament at the end of July where A&O came runners-up.

Omar Khan, A&O captain, says: “Allen & Overy is proud to be involved in the ELBA Tapeball Cricket Programme. It provides an opportunity for our keen sportsmen at A&O to share their knowledge and time with young people in their local community, sharing a common interest and passion for cricket.”

Staff who took part were: Graeme Ferguson, Omar Khan, Jonathan Kirsop, Tom Levine, Alistair Metcalfe, Jonathan Millard, Stephen Richards, Oliver Rule, Faraaz Samadi, Matthew Shaw and Rajindher Singh.

WORK PLACEMENTS

The Brokerage City Link

The Brokerage runs a programme which aims to empower disadvantaged young people to find employment by providing invaluable work experience at businesses in the City of London.

This was the sixth year that A&O have participated in this scheme, and we took on two placement students, Olubukola Mary Alade and Jeany Bocha Izimizy, who were of the same high calibre as previous candidates, and took the firm with ease and fitted in with every department in which they spent time.

The scheme is managed by Dave Tregaskes, who interviewed the candidates and then supervised their time with Business Services during their 12-week placement, which also included attending the Induction days and IT training sessions for all new joiners, as well as other relevant training courses during their time with their firm. As in previous years, the trainees were supported by a team of buddies, Tony Old (CFU), John Fleming and John Kiggins (Print Room), Lee Sanders (Despatch) and Vince Neicho (Litigation Paralegal) who provide advice and guidance to the trainees when necessary. Vince Neicho joined the buddies’ team last year due to the increasing interest amongst the trainees of progressing within the Law.

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Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH)

Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH) is a placement programme that encourages City firms to help mitigate the long-term effects of homelessness by offering structured work experience placements to formerly homeless people.

A&O offers the candidates a minimum of two weeksʼ work experience in one or more of the departments within Business Services, with overall supervision and support from Claire Gerritsen (Document Logistics Manager) and Dave Tregaskes (Central Records Supervisor). The candidatesʼ existing skills, capabilities and expectations are taken into account when selecting the most appropriate department for the placement. The work experience provides an opportunity for trainees to demonstrate their skills and talents and to rebuild confidence in a work setting. It is hoped that the programme is both stimulating and rewarding for the candidates and is a major step on the road to permanent employment.

For 2007, A&O took on two work experience candidates from BAOH, all of whom were interviewed and managed during their time at the firm by Dave Tregaskes. A buddy system was also introduced in order to obtain continuity throughout the year. Once the buddies were chosen, a presentation was arranged for them explaining what is expected and to discuss any feedback they may have had on the programme for the coming year. The following were buddies for last year: Tony Old (CFU), John Fleming and John Kiggins (Print Room) and Lee Sanders (Despatch), who all helped to encourage and help the work experience candidates throughout their time at A&O.

City Gateway

As well as the Insight visits, described elsewhere in this report, A&O have been offering six week work placements to City Gateway candidates for a number of years now, with the scheme co-ordinated by Andrew Gilmour, Clare Wilson, Tare Daobry, Charles Phillip, Jon Palmer and Sanjay Nayee in the IT department.

On arrival at A&O for their work placements, the City Gateway trainees are given a tour of the building, and then also undertake all relevant training, including on our IT systems.

The trainees are also supported by a Buddy scheme during their time here, including Bradley Allen, Nicola Munro and Grant Davis.

The feedback from City Gateway has been very positive, with the trainees saying that the buddies have created a supportive environment for them to develop their skills and gain valuable work experience. Of the eight trainees we have had on placements, three were then taken on as paid contractors within the IT department, one of whom, Shuhel Uddin¸ is still working with us at the moment.

COMMUNITY PARTNER OF THE YEAR

Our Community Partner of the Year for the past 12 months has been the Ocean Childrenʼs Centre, based on the Ocean Estate, an area within the borough of Tower Hamlets. The organisation was nominated by Bethan Chatters, who sits on the management committee of the centre. The Ocean Childrenʼs Centre combines a nursery school, family support and health services, and the day-care and access to training opportunities needed by local people to help them improve their employability. The centre aims to provide the children with the best possible environment for their early years development and to provide the local community with a place to access the services they need that is welcoming and easy to reach.

During the past year we have supported the centre in a number of ways, with many staff taking the opportunity to get involved in the different projects. We have given our time, our resources and also raised funds or given the centre and its users other gifts. In total, our funds raised, gifts-in-kind and donations from the A&O Foundation add up to £25,000.

Here are just a few highlights of how we have been involved over the past year:

Creating a butterfly garden

On a sunny autumn day, seven enthusiastic volunteers helped to transform a part of the centre's playground into a butterfly garden. Whether green-fingered or gardening novices, everyone who took part got stuck in, clearing away old shrubbery before preparing the ground ready for the new plants. The planting scheme had been created by a local garden designer, who led the way and taught the volunteers everything they needed to know about digging, planting and watering. The plants chosen for the garden will provide bright and interesting flowers that will attract not just butterflies but other forms of wildlife into the playground, which will provide the early years teachers with a fantastic resource to teach the children about the natural world. In an area where many of the children do not have access to outdoor space at home, creating a safe but stimulating playground for the children to use is one of the centreʼs priorities.

Gardeners for the day were: Gergana Avramova, Po-Siann Goh, Caroline Jones, Sandeep Keshani, Kelly Manning, Rachel Nicholson and Jocelyn Virtue.

Mosaic Project

We have been working on an exciting project in conjunction with the children and staff at the centre, and also a professional artist from Bow Arts Trust. Inspired by a trip to the London Aquarium and storytelling sessions to explore the themes of the ocean and underwater life, the children worked with the mosaic artist to use their thoughts and creativity to create a mosaic that will be a vibrant and lasting piece of artwork for the centre users and local community to enjoy.

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A&O volunteers have taken part at all of the key stages of this project, including accompanying the children on their visit to the aquarium, helping them when creating their mosaic animals and plants and then working alongside the artist to help install the finished design on the walls of the playground.

Staff who have taken part in this project include: Eesha Arora, Michelle Blythe, Sally Buckland, Louise Campion, Lucinda Capel, Sarah Chatburn, Martina Clay, Justine Deighan, Erin Duffy, Sue Hare, Sarah Harris, Katie Hoare, Zeyneb Ibrahim, Keshinda Johnson-Lewis, Mohamed-Ali Kada, Nafeesa Khan, Audrey Larmond, Sandra Louis, Lisa Meyer, Khrista Nanayakkara, Rachel Nicholson, Nanet Nieuwenhuis, Laura Paul, Rachel Ramsey, Susie Rutherford, Rhiannon Saunders, Holly Sheffield, Katie Spooner, Zubair Tamuri, Sam Turnbull, Bibi Twahid, Shanthi Vigasen, Jocelyn Virtue, Karen Wild, Beth Williams and Louise Williams.

Zubair Tamuri commented, “It was a great event, and the child I helped, Mehjabin, was awesome (by far the most intelligent) and the teacher was very friendly too. All in all a very enjoyable and rewarding day.”

Christmas Book Appeal

As the adult population on the Ocean Estate suffers from low levels of literacy and educational attainment, the centre tries to encourage the children to develop a love of reading and learning from an early age. At Christmas, an appeal for books to give to the children was launched in both of the London offices. Christmas trees were decorated with gift tags, one for each child who attends the day-care and nursery school, with a suggestion of a suitable book for that child. Many of the children do not have suitable books at home, and so by giving each child a book of their own, our gifts will have a positive impact on them, from the very youngest just starting to develop their vocabulary, to those taking their first steps in learning to read for themselves.

Anne McInerney, Shirley Fisher, Christine Simpson, Barbara Culleton, Pauline Klim and Linda Heath very kindly helped to wrap many of the books. In total, over 140 books were donated by members of staff, valued at approximately £900.

Winter Fair

On Monday 19 November, the Pro Bono and Community Affairs team invited staff to a Winter Fair held in the Auditorium at Bishops Square to raise funds for Ocean Children's Centre. Staff, local businesses and stallholders from Spitalfields Market all plied their trade, offering a wealth of opportunities for an early start to seasonal gift shopping. Some of our pro bono clients, including Crisis, Whitechapel Mission and We Are What We Do, were also invited to have stalls, with WAWWDʼs “Iʼm not a plastic bag” bags being a big draw for the crowds. The A&O Choir performed a medley of festive favourites to entertain the lunchtime shoppers, and mulled wine and mince pies were also served. Raffle tickets had been sold in both offices during the weeks leading up to the fair, and the prizes were drawn on the day by Jacqueline Priestly, head of centre at Ocean Children's Centre. Ticket sales from the raffle gave a fantastic boost to the money raised by the event, which came to a total of £6,040.

The Pro Bono team could not have put on this fantastic event without the support and help of a large number of people, and would like to extend their thanks again to everyone involved. These included: Elena Argent, Katy Argrave, Gergana Avramova, Derek Baird,

Nadine Barron, David Benton, Victoria Broadbent, Penny Carolan, Angela Carpenter, Sarah Churchill, Justine Deighan, Francois De La Rhonde, Anthony Drake-Brockman, Jacqueline Evans, Sheila Fahy, Emma Fell, Kara Fisher and the A&O Choir, Gill Francis, the Front of House team, Vicky Garland, John Goodall, Rod Green, Seonaid Grimstone, Silvia Gurnari, Debbie Harris, Emma Harris, Deborah Harrison, Rob Hill, Michael Hosannah, Anne Hubbard, Emma Johnson, Cathy Jones, Melanie Jones, Debbie Kemp, Paul King, Nicolette Lang-Andersen, Kay Lovick, Andy Madden and her team, Jessica Martin, Victoria Marsh, Kellie Matthews, Clare Maurice, Bradley Maxwell, Leigh Missig, Maria Montague, Claire Mousley, Lorna Muir, Ninth Floor Support, Andrew O'Keefe, Fiona O'Sullivan, Alan Paul, Cheri Peck, Sam Popplewell, Martyn Potts, everyone in the Print Room and the Loading Bay, Stephen Richards, Amy Rowe, Akash Sachdeva, Lisa Salvi, Lee Sanders, Brian Sher, Luis Fernando Simoes De Souza, James Sinclair, Tracy Smith, Vikki Smith, Denis Stefanopulos, Andrew Sulston, Ruben Van Schalkwyk, Mona Vaswani, Jess Vickery, Miles Walton, Debbie Ward, Tom Waterfall, Richard Whitaker, Mark Wippell, Terri Wipperman, Lai Lai Wong, Karen Young and Nikola Zahariev.

A&O FOUNDATION

Partners at the London office donate part of their profits to the A&O Foundation, which distributes this money to deserving causes. Guidelines, applied by the Charities Committee, determine the focus of the Foundationʼs efforts. For instance, causes are favoured which are connected to the law or help neighbouring boroughs, or that are supported strongly through personal involvement by staff in the activities of the charity. If you are significantly involved in the activities of a particular charity, the committee encourages you to make a request to the Foundation on behalf of your charity. For more information, contact Helen Rogers (Pro Bono & Community Affairs Officer). Robert Crane, the firmʼs Treasurer, manages the accounts for the Foundation and for all of the London office's charitable giving.

Give As You Earn

Payroll Giving is a valuable, regular source of income for charities, helping them to budget and plan ahead more effectively. A&O staff can support any charity of their choice with a monthly donation direct from their pay. It is also a tax-efficient way of donating – for example a donation of £5 per month costs the basic rate taxpayer £3.90 with the taxman paying the rest.

A&O operates a Give As You Earn scheme, and in 2007/8 staff donated £8,2560.05 through the scheme.

Members of staff also participated in donating their final hourʼs pay of 2007 to charity. The total contributions were £7,099.22, which was divided up amongst five charities, based on staff preferences: Whitechapel Mission, We Are What We Do, Age Concern, Room 2 Read and London Legal Support Trust.

PRO BONO WORK

ADVISORY WORK

In 2007/2008, the London office provided pro bono legal advice to many individuals, charities and community groups who could not afford to pay for legal support. This work makes a huge difference to those who we assist, many of whom would not have access to justice otherwise.

As well as the various pro bono schemes detailed elsewhere in this report, the following people have given legal advice on a wide range of matters for many different individuals and groups over the past year: Sarah Ahmed, Anne Baldock, Michelle Banfield, Simon Baum, Ian Bevan, Robert Bulling, Helen Buzzacott, Lauren Cannon, Lydia Challen, Jennifer Chambers, Emma Clark, Adam Cleal, Annabelle Croker, Jonathan Crompton, Tobias Crump, Chloe Dexter, Sophie Davenport, Vicky Downes, Sarah Earl, Tanya Etheridge, Richard Evans, Rainer Evers, Hayley Flat, Richard Flint, David Gilinsky, Annemarie Grant, Stefan Green, Earl Griffith, Jonathan Hibberts, Matt Huggett, Nick Jackson, Ian Johnston, Lydia Kinley, Hugh Lauritsen, Mark Levy,

70 © Allen & Overy LLP 2008 2007-2008 I Values into Community Action

Michael Ling, Mark Mansell, Brin Mazen, Marcus McCluggage, Carys McMillan, George Moore, Sidney Myers, Fabienne Parker, Nigel Parker, Colin Pearson, Lucinda Pfaff, Jemma Prince, Rebecca Quayle, Emily Roach, Kathryn Robinson, Kiralee Saunders, Sophie Schultz, John Scriven, Emma Slessenger, Catriona Smith, Annette So, Sandy Tapnack, Joel Tashjian, Emma Teale, Harriett Territt, Sophie Thomashausen, Lisa Thorncroft, Emma Trinick, Sara Vandore, Emma-Jane Weider, Gemma Westaby, David Williams, Jessica Williams, Trevor Withane, Nikola Zahriev and Louise Zekaria.

The Council on Social Action

The Council on Social Action is a government initiative which brings together people from the voluntary sector, business and government to develop projects that will transform communities at a local and national level. The council meets every six weeks and every second meeting is chaired by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Pro Bono & Community Affairs Senior Manager Shankari Chandran was appointed to sit on the council and we are currently involved with the council in a number of ways. We are helping the council with a project which involves setting up a new institution to help the voluntary sector access capital in innovative ways. The institution, called Social Finance, will advise on issues such as accessing “orphan” funds – small amounts left in client dormant bank accounts which are being brought together and intended to be used by the voluntary sector. Alan Ewins (Regulatory Funds and Financial Products) and Sergio Ung (Corporate) are running this project.

Akash Sachdeva, Deirdre Moynihan, Jonathan Kirsop, Naomi Leach, Jennifer Lovell and Pam Taak have been advising on trademark protection, data protection regulation and policy for the councilʼs “Chain Reaction” website which aims to create a global forum for social change. Simon Catterall (Real Estate) has also provided significant advice on another of the council's campaigns aimed at bringing local communities together.

Switchback

Switchback is a small, local organisation with a sound business plan that lawyers in the London office have been supporting this year. Switchback works intensively with small numbers of young adult offenders between the ages of 18 and 24 to tackle the ingrained behaviour and practical obstacles that lead to re-offending. The Switchback programme uses catering as a vehicle for developing new skills, and participants undertake a five-level programme that starts in the prison kitchen, progresses to catering training in the Crisis Skylight Café on Commercial Street and on to sustainable long-term employment. Participants learn in a real-life setting with one-to-one support that leaves them better equipped to retain paid employment in the long term.

Crime committed by ex-prisoners costs the UK economy at least £11 billion each year and is perpetuating the current prison-overcrowding crisis. Switchback's unique programme is designed to reduce re-conviction rates, currently at 73%, and impact on the wider community by addressing other social exclusion factors (unemployment, homelessness) at a fraction of the present financial cost to society.

Lucinda Pfaff helped Switchback become a registered charity and is providing long-term support as the charity grows. Toby Peregrine-Jones is acting as a pro bono advisor and an internal 'champion' for Switchback within A&O to provide a legal perspective on any basic legal issues they may face.

Chris Dighton and the Print Room team also helped Switchback to produce and print a number of information leaflets for circulation to potential funders and trustees without which they would have struggled to launch properly and professionally.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity (HfH) is an international charity that works to alleviate poverty housing worldwide. A&O have been involved with HfH for many years, with staff in several of our offices volunteering on their building sites, and with pro bono legal advice on a number of matters.

The UK branch of the charity has been working on a site in Peckham, south London, to build 12 flats, which it then intended to sell to a housing association to ensure that the new homes remain in the social sector and are available over the long term to people in severe housing need. As detailed elsewhere in this report, volunteers from the London office have been volunteering on this project over the past year, helping on a variety of elements within the build.

We were approached by HfH to advise it on its negotiations with a possible partner housing association, as well as to draft the commercial contract. We were then also asked to provide guidance on whether the HfH concept of “sweat equity”, whereby the future occupants of the flats contribute by assisting with the building work, would satisfy the Charity Commission that the sale of the properties to the housing association is within HfHʼs charitable purposes and would not affect its status as a registered charity.

Those who worked on this matter include: Robert Bulling, Helen Buzzacott, Nick Jackson, Lucinda Pfaff, David Williams and Louise Zekaria.

The Spitz

Spitalfields Arts Project Ltd, trading as The Spitz, was a music venue in Spitalfields, where it had been based for 11 years, which offered fantastic opportunities and performance space to both known and unknown musicians as well as a gallery space and a bistro. We were asked if we could advise The Spitz on the possible termination of its lease, as well as a range of other matters.

The following lawyers were part of the team who were involved with The Spitz over the past year: Jonathan Crompton, Jonathan Hibberts, Mark Levy, Mark Mansell and Sophie Thomashausen.

Brain Dunlop, Head of Finance, also provided advice to The Spitz on their financial position.

SS Robin

SS Robin is the only complete example in the world of a coastal cargo steamer, which was built in the shipyards of East London and launched in the 1890. She is included in the UK Core Collection of the National Register of Historic Vessels and is one of only three “Grade 1” ships in London, along with Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast.

The SS Robin Trust was founded in 2002 and took ownership of the vessel, based in West India Dock near Londonʼs Canary Wharf business district. Its aim was to repair and restore the steamer, and to convert her cargo hold into a centre for creative learning, incorporating an innovative heritage learning centre and education resource for schools.

A&O London has offered a variety of support to the SS Robin Trust including assistance from Victoria Tetis on achieving its lease agreement with British Waterways last year. This security of tenure in SS Robin's current location has been invaluable in subsequent negotiations with Crossrail, as SS Robin needed to be moved to allow work on the major transportation project for London took place in the area. Through A&O’s introduction to LawWorks and the Bar Pro Bono Unit, the SS Robin Trust was able to get the assistance it needed in its negotiations, which has enabled it to secure the future of this historic vessel.

“I would like to express the Trust’s thanks once again to Allen & Overy for the generous support in achieving the lease agreement … The consequent security of tenure contributed significant and influential leverage in the negotiating process, and we are highly indebted to A&O in helping us negotiate and reach this key milestone.” David Kampfner, Project Director and Co-Founder, SS Robin.

Community Food Enterprise

A&O has been involved with Community Food Enterprise (CFE) through Maureen O’Neill, whose work with CFE was profiled in the Pro Bono and Community Affairs Report 2006/2007. CFE was one of six organisations short-listed in a high profile competition to find 2007’s most successful social entrepreneurs, sponsored by The Independent newspaper.

BATTERSEA LEGAL ADVICE CENTRE

The London office’s relationship with Battersea Legal Advice Centre and its parent law centre, the South West London Law Centres (SWLLC), has developed over many years from simple beginnings, with A&O lawyers providing pro bono legal advice at Battersea's evening advice surgery, to become a true partnership encompassing a wide range of activities.

For the past 17 years, the London office lawyers have attended Battersea each Tuesday evening to provide pro bono legal advice to 700-800 local people each year. In addition the London office has advised the Law Centre itself on a number of matters ranging from employment issues to defamation and often assists in preparation of documents for the centre's office manual.

Michael Ashe, CEO of the SWLLC, describes the extent and impact of the relationship: “A&O arenʼt simply a donor, theyʼre a partner. Once theyʼre engaged with a community organisation, theyʼre committed. Although they have played a major part in keeping us open this year, the 26,000 clients who we helped with their support are not the limit of their ambition. A&O people give us their time, their know-how and their financial support and we make the most of every last drop. Working together, we achieve things that neither of us could accomplish alone.”

Trainee Secondments

Since 2004, four Allen & Overy trainees are seconded to Battersea every year, providing a valuable resource to the qualified solicitors who work there, and advising over 300 clients themselves.

Natalie Donald, Roz Allsopp, Tim Regis, Kamran Rabbani and Eesha Arora were seconded to the Battersea Law Centre in the 2007/2008 financial year.

Natalie Donald notes: “Whilst I was at Battersea Law Centre I gained a real insight into how much help and advice the lawyers at Battersea provide for their clients. I also realised just how much the staff at Battersea value the extra assistance that an A&O trainee brings. Whether assisting with answering the phone, clerking clients, undertaking research or representing a client at a court hearing, everything that you do is appreciated. An extra pair of hands at Battersea goes a long way and means that the Law Centre and its lawyers are able to help a few extra people who really need their help.”

“Battersea takes on clients from all walks of life, some with addictions and learning difficulties, others who speak little or no English. Working with these clients, I learned the importance of being patient and versatile. Helping the clients to understand their situation and how you can assist them, whilst simultaneously liaising with the Courts and the local authorities, is a quite a skill which the lawyers at Battersea have down to a fine art. As a trainee on secondment, you will certainly learn a lot from the lawyers at Battersea.”

“Working at Battersea also really makes you appreciate the support networks and resources which are in place at A&O. It makes you realise that these are a real luxury. Having an a A&O secondee working at Battersea means that their lawyers are able to benefit from resources and support networks which they would otherwise not have access to.”

Evening Surgery

Emma Shaw manages the Battersea evening surgery rota and organises in-house training seminars for volunteers in areas of law that they may encounter. This is complemented by the Law Works training programme which all volunteers are encouraged to attend.

The following people have participated at the Battersea evening surgery: Sejal Aghera, Nilon Akther, Hannah Ambrose, Chris Angus, Patrick Arnold, Laura Baird, Kathryn Ballintine, Peter Banks, Keily Beirne, Penny Blair, Caroline Bordas, David Bridge, Charles Buckworth, David Campbell, Alex Carrington, Ash Chandhok, Michelle Chowdhury, James Cockburn, Dan Cocker, Louise Coggins, Richard Cohen, Spencer Collins, Tim Conduit, Andy Cork, Viv Cotes, Helen Cowley, Stephanie Dee, Bas Dixon, Natasha Doulia, Suanne Duhig, Emily Dupee, Portia Edmiston, Claire Edmunton, Stina Ekblad, Katerina Engelbrecht, Rainer Evers, Thomas Evans, Alice Falconer, Daniel Fisher, Barbara Forman, Alastair Foy, James Freeman, Laura Gatward, Nesa Ghadiri-Zare, Davina Given, James Godfrey, Narda Graham, Seonaid Grimstone, James Haggie, Miriam Hashim, Alexis Hayworth, Jane Higgins, Alistair Hill, Matthew Hill, Natalie Hill, Rishi Hindocha, Matthew Hodgson, Andrew Howard, Kate Jackson, Hetti Jackson-Stops, Jay Jamnadas, Alison Jensen, Keshinda Johnson-Lewis, Cecelia Joyce, Katie Joyce, Sarah Juniper, Sophia Khan, Jonty Knight, Valentina Kovaluk, Kunal Kumbhat, Conan Lauterpacht, Jonathan Le Rossignol, Xia Li, Luke Lightfoot, Erynne Lim, Jenny Ljunghammar, Suzy Lloyd, James Loat, Matthew Longstaff, Genevieve Loveland, Laura MacFarlane, David Mackie, Jennifer Manning, Alasdair McKenzie, Eliza Meehan, Leigh Missig, Claire Mousley, Ed Murray, Eibhlin Murray, Christina Nayman-Mills, Richard Norridge, James Norris, Dominic O'Brien, Maureen O'Neill, Patrizia Pasqualini, Olivia Pim, Loretta Pugh, Tim Regis, Stephen Richards, Alistair Robertson, Tobi Rufus, Kate Rushworth, Paul Sampson, Jane Samuelson, Nick Saner, Hayk Sarkissian, Anna Saville, James Sealey, Serena Seddon, Prashanthy Shankar, Victoria Sharpe, Reena Sheth, Nicola Simson, James Sinclair, Anna Southworth, Katie Spooner, Sebastian Steinfeld, Tim Stewart, Luke Streatfeild, Rafiel Sunmonu, Melissa Sweeting, Pam Taak, Mark Thompson, Charles Toland, James Turnbull, Ekaterina Venidiktova, Rachael Visick, Xue Wang, Lauren Warner, Rachel Watson, Catherine Weller, Gemma Westaby, Luke Whibley, Richard Whitaker, Anna Whitney, Nicole Williams, Lauren Willis, Paula Wilson, Sarah Wilson, Rebecca Windle, Lai Lai Wong, Diane Wood, Jaclyn Yeap, Sophie Zadmehr and Shanshan Zhang.

PA rota

Since September 2006, A&O has been providing secretarial support to SWLLCʼs branches in Croydon and Colliers Wood, with a weekly rota managed by Sue Wisbey. This frees up the lawyers from administrative tasks, and the model is now being replicated by other firms. In addition, A&O provide further administrative support through an archiving service, storing hundreds of boxes of client files for Battersea in the firmʼs own storage facility.

Volunteers during the course of the year are: Helen Arnold, Tricia Beckford, Natalie Brough, Helen Ennis, Yvette Gustave, Angela Halstead, Melissa James, Soneua Jenoure, Audrey Larmond, Alison Lawrence, Nicola Martin, Khrista Nanayakkara and Nicola Spence.

LAW CENTRES’ FEDERATION

As well as providing SWLLC itself with advice on a wide range of matters, A&O has extended this advice and casework to help national organisations such as the Law Centresʼ Federation (LCF) and Advice UK as well as their member advice organisations and law centres.

The following people have provided advice through this scheme to the LCF and its member organisations, Advice UK and to SWLLC itself: Ian Bevan, Helen Buzzacott, Lydia Chesshyre, Tobias Crump, Haylie Flatt, Sarah Henchoz, Alistair Hill, Mark Mansell, Brin Mazen, Mark Simms, David Williams and Jessica Williams.

In addition, Sue Smith and Annmarie Elmer advised the LCF on the best use of space and desk layouts when they moved to new offices this year.

LONDON LEGAL SUPPORT TRUST

The London Legal Support Trust was launched in April 2004, with the support of the London office, to help raise funds for London's voluntary legal agencies such as the Law Centre and Citizens Advice Bureaux (including Battersea Legal Advice Centre). Bob Nightingale MBE is the CEO of the LLST.

In 2005, Allen & Overy pioneered a scheme under which it donates to the LLST an amount equivalent to the interest earned on consolidated client accounts. Over the last two years, Allen & Overy has donated £172,000 in this way and continues working to get other law firms to sign up to the scheme, which could potentially raise hundreds of thousands of pounds per year for law centres.

Contributions from Allen & Overy aside, the LLSTʼs largest source of funds is its annual walkathon. Representatives from across the legal community walk to raise funds for the LLST and various law centres. The inaugural walkathon saw 300 participants raise £35,000 for law centres. By 2007, this had increased to 1,800 walkers – including the entire judiciary – who raised £210,000.

Bob Nightingale says, “Law firms are our only source of finance, so it's really important for firms like A&O to continue to support us in our much-needed work.”

As a result, the LLST has been able to make grants to several law centres facing closure, as well as grants to allow advice agencies to continue their work and develop new services. The LLST funded Tower Hamlets Law Centre for three years to enable the centre to develop its services and integrate free legal advice services across the whole of East London.

Enormous support has been provided by Creative Services who have produced the majority of LLSTʼs materials including newsletters, banners and walkathon papers.

Robert Crane and Trevor Woodley from Finance created a detailed presentation for LLST to use whilst meeting senior partners of other law firms to encourage them to join the client account scheme. Jane Harold processed all of LLSTʼs Gift Aid forms. Mike Furr developed and updated the LLSTʼs website. Emma Shaw is the membership secretary and, together with Sue Wisbey, sits on the walk committee. Terri Wipperman provides admin support.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOUNDATION

On an even wider scale, Allen & Overy is helping to establish a national foundation, using the LLST model that it developed with Bob Nightingale. This national foundation will assist law centres across the UK improve funding and sustainability.

Ian Elder, a former partner, has been part of the working committee comprised of senior members of the bar, the Attorney Generalʼs pro bono ambassador, partners from other law firms and senior members of not-for-profit legal agencies who have been working to drive forward this important pro bono and social policy project.

The aim is to establish a new charity which will be able to receive funds from a variety of sources and then distribute these to legal advice agencies around the country, who are in desperate need of funding. Some of the potential sources of funds include:

n Pro bono costs awards made possible by the Legal Services Act;

n Interest on client account schemes;

n Donations and other funds raised from law firms and other organisations.

Liz Brownsell has been assisting Ian Elder with the legal documentation for the establishment of this new charity.

ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE ADVICE BUREAU

The Royal Courts of Justice Advice Bureau provides help and advice to those who find themselves in the unfortunate and often frightening position of being before the courts without legal presentation. Solicitors from the London office and over 60 other City firms volunteer their time acting as honorary legal advisors (HLAs). The HLAs provide preliminary legal assistance, as well as advice on court procedures.

The London office also provides substantial services in-kind helping them with designing and printing their annual report and advice leaflets and fundraising activities. Special thanks to Simon Shaw for pictorial and design work for the annual report.

The scheme is managed by Emma Shaw and Allayne Griffiths prepares the rota. This year the following advisors attended the Bureau as volunteers: Paul Adams, Sarah Ahmad, Joanne Bews, David Bridge, Arnondo Chakrabarti, Helen Cowley, Andrew Denny, Inewari Diete-Spiff, Emily Dupee, Kseniya Elfimova, Rainer Evers, Richard Farnhill, Richard Flint, Alastair Foy, James Freeman, Sarah Garvey, Sara George, Davina Given, Abbie Grace, Tom Herbert, Jonathan Hitchin, Tim Johnson, Sarah Juniper, Christabel Kensit, Ali Key, Carl Jenkins, Jenny Ljunghammar, Mahmood Lone, Eleanor Mann, Akhil Markanday, Oliver McClintock, Eibhlin Murray, James Partridge, Andrew Pullen, Mark Ridgeway, Jane Samuelson, Sophie Schultz, James Sealey, Prashanthy Shankar, Richard Smith, Rafiel Sunmonu, Melissa Sweeting, Frances Van Eupen, Mona Vaswani, Jocelyn Virtue, Louise Williams, Russell Williams, Lai Lai Wong and Joanna Wood.

John Francis and Richard Manley (both members of the Litigation department) are members of a panel of costs draughtsman from legal practices that participate in the Bureau service, assisting the Bureau with clients who have costs problems.

James Bank, director RCJ Bureau, says, “Taken individually, having a partner on our Trustee Board, sending solicitors to give pro bono advice, donating grants and resources, and committing the expertise of design professionals, all make a great difference to the RCJ Advice Bureau and the people we help. When taken together, the impact is immense. Allen & Overyʼs approach of focussing combined resources at priority needs makes a very real difference to the lives of the vulnerable people from across England and Wales seeking access to justice through the Bureau.”

CHANCERY LANE LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC

Chancery Lane Legal Advice Clinic (CLLAC) is a partnership between the Royal Courts of Justice, LawWorks, Allen & Overy, the Law Society and the Royal Association for the Deaf (RAD). This clinic provides pro bono help to profoundly deaf and hard-of-hearing people who are unable to get appropriate advice through legal advice centres, as a result of the communication barrier.

Allen & Overy administers the clinic and the rota is managed by Alison Lawrence (EB Senior Legal PA) who co-ordinates bookings between the clients, interpreters and the advising solicitors, as well as booking facilities at the Law Society. Allen & Overy created the publicity materials, and provides laptops, stationery and filing cabinets for the clinic.

In October 2007, the RCJ Advice Bureau took over as head agency for CLLAC so that they are able to see some of the clients with social welfare law problems in their LawWorks clinic at the Royal Courts of Justice and at the Principle Registry of the Family Division.

Volunteer advisors include: David Bridge, Kirsten Bryans, Lydia Chesshyre, Andy Cork, Jane Higgins and Katie White.

Emma Shaw (Pro Bono & Community Affairs Officer) oversees the organisation of the scheme.

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION

The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) is a national UK charity that helps people to use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life. Through its network of specialist lawyers and consultants across the UK, ELF provides free guidance and continuing support to those in need of assistance. The London office is a member of ELFʼs panel of solicitors who take on cases on a pro bono basis. The London office has been working with ELF for over 10 years. Owen Lomas (partner, Corporate – Environment) is a trustee of ELF and the London office provides strategic input to ELF's Board of Trustees to assist in ELF's development. The London office also provides meeting room facilities to the Board.

WE ARE WHAT WE DO

A team of corporate lawyers from A&O recently helped We Are What We Do (WAWWD) convert from a plc to a Community Interest Company (CIC). WAWWD began life as a Community Links project with the aim of encouraging people to think practically about how their everyday actions can change the world. It is the producer of several well-known books such as Change The World for a Fiver; the Anya Hindmarch “Iʼm Not A Plastic Bag” bags, and more recently the “Plastic Ainʼt My Bag” bags. WAWWD is funded by the proceeds from the sale of such products.

A&O helped it separate from Community Links and convert to a CIC – a commercial company with a social aim, whose activities must be carried out for the benefit of the community. The work was done pro bono to provide valuable support to an organisation with a strong social and community ethos. In order to convert WAWWD into a CIC, A&O lawyers helped amend the memorandum and articles of association. Natalie Behrman and Richard Browne handled the case, and their work involved drafting a new memorandum and articles of association for WAWWD to comply with the CIC regulations. Colin Pearson and Sarah Marquis also provided essential IP advice to WAWWD.

Natalie Behrman commented, “It was a pleasure working with We Are What We Do, and rewarding to assist an organisation with an important social message. The conversion into a CIC should enable them to continue the great work that they do.”

HUMAN RIGHTS WORK

ADVOCATES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Advocates for International Development (A4ID) is an independent organisation born out of the Oxfam 1,000 City Lawyers Initiative after the Asian tsunami, which aims to engage practically with and to champion the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Working with NGO partners such as Action Aid, Oxfam, Tearfund and WaterAid, A4IDʼs projects currently range from work on the terms of coffee agreements to improve producer sustainability to advising on amendments to the rural code in Niger to improve the land rights of the Tuareg and other pastoralists. A4IDʼs work has a broad base. The organisation works within all areas of legal practice to partner lawyersʼ skills with the priorities of the developing world. Key areas in which A4ID works are international trade, debt management, development support and capacity-building both within government and civil society. A4ID projects include:

n Providing corporate advice on current or proposed legislation;

n Building the capacity of national trade negotiation teams to assist their participation in WTO;

n Bilateral and multilateral talks;

n Assisting tribal peoples in the determination of their land rights; and

n Providing technical advice on the terms and structures of debt and trade agreements.

We work with A4ID in two ways:

Working on specific pro bono projects. We have already undertaken large, multi-jurisdictional research projects for organisations such as Tearfund and Plan International, through A4ID;

Assisting through A4IDʼs Working Groups. These have been set up to help the organisation establish relationships with development organisations and develop advocacy opportunities and pro bono projects within the following specific areas of law:

n Trade and investment working group. This group works to promote and sustain development-friendly competition, investment and international trade regimes.

n Debt and finance working group. This group focuses upon assisting the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) in resolving existing debt disputes and advising how to better protect their rights and interests when entering into financial agreements.

n Governance working group. The governance group works to promote the rule of law, working with developing countries to build strong, independent and efficient legal and regulatory systems.

n Development rights working group. Lawyers in the development rights group will focus upon a variety of cultural and social rights that are fundamental to sustainable development.

Lawyers involved with A4ID include: Andrew Denny, Rainer Evers, Claire Hargreaves, Alyson Lockett, Melissa Manzo, Ian Mathers, Faraaz Samadi, Pallavi Sehkri and Kate Skinner. Ian Mathers (Corporate) sits on the advisory board of A4ID, providing strategic advice and support.

Examples of our work with A4ID:

AFFORD – Remit Aid and Microfinance Work

The African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) is a London-based registered charity that mobilises the African diaspora to contribute to development in Africa. Its primary focus is on harnessing the African diaspora’s resources to support small-scale entrepreneurs to create and sustain jobs in Africa.

Remit Aid was a programme started by AFFORD, advocating remittance tax relief (RTF) for international development. Its aim is to build a fund to support development in Africa. Last year, Faraaz Samaadi and Colin Pearson advised on protecting the Remit Aid brand and, in particular, registering its name as a trademark. As Remit Aid will operate internationally, we advised on the appropriate mechanisms for trademark protection on a global basis.

As part of the support it gives to small-scale entrepreneurs, AFFORD wishes to work with the banking sector so that entrepreneurs can receive accessible and affordable business support. One of AFFORD’s initiatives in this area is entitled ‘Access to Finance’ and involves commercial banks providing business advisory services to entrepreneurs. AFFORD’s role is to bring entrepreneurs and banks together, bringing in much-needed funds from banks to the small-scale entrepreneur market and, through its knowledge and experience of the sector, give comfort to the banks involved. AFFORD’s ultimate aim is to ensure that through banks increasing their access to the growing micro market, more entrepreneurs are able to build and expand their businesses – thereby producing a sustainable programme of economic and social development throughout Africa.

Lawyers in the English Banking Group in our Amsterdam office will assist AFFORD in the negotiation and drafting of a partnership agreement for its proposed relationship with the pan-African financial institution. Those working on the project include: Ben Fox, Freddy Jacobse, Maryn Spruyt, Andrew Thomas and David Wilcox.

nef, the new economics foundation

nef is an independent think tank founded in 1986 by the leaders of the Other Economic Summit. In the international sphere, its aim is to “expose the problems with the international finance and economic systems and create appropriate remedies”. As part of this, it researches and advocates for changes to global governance to tackle international issues like climate change and international debt.

Andrew Denny (partner, Litigation) and a partner at Herbert Smith provided the head of nef’s New Global Economy Programme with research examining governance and human rights issues in relation to international institutions and governments. Andrew Denny also sits on A4IDʼs Governance Working Group.

Valid Nutrition

Lawyers from our Paris and London offices worked with Valid Nutrition, a humanitarian charity, in its negotiations relating to the production of Ready to use Foods (RUFs) for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition. Further information about this project can be found in the Global Summary at the beginning of this report.

Those involved were: Bianca Achilles, Ahmad Baladi (PA), Emmanuelle Bartoli (PA), Peter Harper, Kunthea Ker and Jennifer Lovell.

Economic Partnership Agreement Ratification Research

A team of lawyers from A&O and other A4ID member firms assisted a coalition of NGOs led by Tearfund by researching the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) ratification process in each of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The EPA ratification process project formed part of A4IDʼs wider EPA monitoring and assistance project and was one of the requests that stemmed from an EPA roundtable held between NGO trade policy advisors and members of A4ID, during which the status and content of EPA negotiations were reviewed and examined. The participating NGOs, which included ActionAid, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Traidcraft and Tearfund, asked A4ID if it could produce a review of the constitutional and administrative processes that each ACP country would have to follow in order to ratify the entry into any bilateral trade agreement or regional trade agreement. The review was used as a basis for further discussion with ACP trade negotiators liaising with NGOs to help formulate EPA negotiation strategies.

Those who worked on this project included: Abisade Adenubi, James Burton, Kerry-Anne-Callaghan, Christina Cheng, Laila De Melo, Narda Graham, Alistair Hill, Melanie Holden, Laura Ings, Tinashe Makoni, Melissa Manzo, Eliza Meehan, Samir Mehta, Peter Mendham, Jemma Olsen, Sophie Orr, Anne Pages, Shatyn Permalloo, Dave Turley, Nilopar Uddin, Melanie Vilarasau Slade and Lauren Willis.

“At a Glance” Guides

A team of A&O lawyers contributed to researching and drafting a series of know-how guides on key legal issues, challenges and institutions relating to the field of human rights and international development work. The purpose of creating the online guides was to create an easy to access resource for the international development community and to raise awareness of how lawyers can assist development work.

The following volunteers produced these “At a Glance” Guides for A4ID:

n OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and OECD Guidelines and Principles in respect of Export Credit Agencies – Tess Kelly

n An Introduction to the UN Declaration on Human Rights – Zara Spencer and Ian Mathers

n Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements – Liz Brownsell, Karan Chandhiok, Virginia Tan and Matthew Gearing

n Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) – Chris Peters and Colin Pearson

n Guide to Transparency International Corruption Perception Index – Emily Love and Franz Ranero

IT Support

Mark Heathcote (technical specialist, IT) provided A4ID with an initial consultation session to discuss A4IDʼs information management requirements and the most appropriate and cost-effective solutions to meet their needs. Steve Roberts (executive director, IT) and Jason Haines (global director of IT) also gave their support to the consultation process. This follows on from IT support provided by Gillian Hoxley and Bina Shah, formerly from A&O, who assisted A4ID to develop their formal training courses on development issues and use technology more efficiently for the knowledge management aspect of A4ID's work.

Newly Qualified Lawyers Programme (NQLP)

A&O is supporting A4ID in a new partnership with Challenges Worldwide (CWW), an international NGO which facilitates opportunities for volunteering professionals to share their skills with those working in developing countries. CWW and A4ID have identified a need for lawyers to become involved and share their expertise through a range

of short-term in-country opportunities. They have designed a number of four- to six-week in-country opportunities in which junior lawyers can participate during their qualification leave. Opportunities include: legal advisor to the Women's Department: Protection Against Domestic Violence in Belize; legal advisor to support HIV/AIDS project and training programmes in India; and legal advisor to CHRI, Ghana: Transparency in 2008 Elections. Siobhan Lambert, Lydia Chesshyre and Helen Rogers are involved with this project and can be contacted for further information.

International Investment Agreements Training for Latin American Government Officials, Santiago

Partner Matthew Gearing (HK), and associates Nicole Duclos (NY) and Anthony Sinclair trained government representatives and lawyers from a wide range of Latin American countries on investment treaty arbitration, covering subjects such as transparency in investment treaty arbitration and best practices in drafting arbitration pleadings. The seminar was jointly organised by A4ID, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the British Institute for International and Comparative Law.

A4ID Law and International Development Training Course

The second year of A4IDʼs bespoke law and international development annual training programme commenced on 12th October 2007 and was attended this year by A&O associates Alyson Lockett and Melissa Manzo. The course is run in conjunction with legal and development experts from the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, The University of Manchester's School of Law, the Institute for Development, Policy and Management and the Brooks World Poverty Institute. The purpose of the course is to provide participants with an overview of the core legal, social and economic issues underpinning A4IDʼs four practice areas: trade and investment, debt and finance, governance, and development rights.

DEATH ROW WORK

A&O belongs to the London Panel for Capital Cases, comprising legal practices which represent, on a pro bono basis, prisoners on death row in Jamaica, Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago who are able to appeal to the Privy Council. The litigation department currently represents two prisoners in Jamaica and four in Trinidad and Tobago.

Mark Levy (Litigation) is the partner with overall responsibility for the London officeʼs death row work. Christabel Kensit and Joanna Grant provide general guidance to other lawyers acting for prisoners in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago including: John OʼConor, Matthew Bower, James Freeman, Christabel Kensit, Alexandra Key, Kate MacGregor, Emma Teale, Andrew Waters and Angeline Welsh.

Assisting Jamaican counsel

Joanna Grant, Matthew Bower and Emma Teale have been particularly active in assisting Jamaican counsel on behalf of certain appellants in Titus Henry, Morris Boreland, Donovan Mullings, Junior Wright and Clifton Shaw v The Queen; a case in which the Privy Council ordered that the Jamaican Court of Appeal should hear fresh evidence.

INTERIGHTS

INTERIGHTS is the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights. It celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Since its establishment in 1982, INTERIGHTS has provided judges, lawyers, non-governmental organisations and victims with help on the practical application of international and comparative human rights law in national, regional and international courts and tribunals. INTERIGHTS works globally on many levels to achieve its aim of improving international human rights. Employing the expertise of lawyers in numerous jurisdictions, INTERIGHTS submits amicus curiae briefs before domestic and international courts, in cases raising important issues in the interpretation of fundamental rights.

Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest

Lawyers from several A&O offices each summarise important cases each year for INTERIGHTSʼ Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest. The Digest, which presents summaries of significant domestic human rights decisions from across the Commonwealth, covering over 50 different subject areas, provides a valuable resource for jurists and human rights activists. It is used to develop human rights jurisprudence and international standards in many jurisdictions, and also to promote and support the work of human rights defenders.

This year, volunteers also summarised cases for a special issue of the Digest (SEROL), focussing on cases dealing with matters of security and rule of law.

Those who volunteered to prepare case summaries for the Digest including the SEROL issue were: Abisade Adenubi, Steffan Adfeldt, Aemelia Allen, Roz Allsopp, Hannah Ambrose, Anita Anand, Gareth Banfield, Colin Bole, Joan Boyle, James Bruce, Chris Burkett, Lee Carroll, Christina Cheng, Jennifer Choi, Rebecca Clayton, Talia Comez, Sapfo Constantatos, Andy Cork, Helen Cowley, Ben Crawford, Jonathan Crompton, Ian Curry, Kate Dickinson, Layla Dowle, Georgina Éclair-Heath, Portia Edmiston, Andrew Edwards, Katherine Elkington, Alice Englehart, Loretta Fisher, Claire Fowler, Po-Siann Goh, Alexandra Green, Niti Gupta, Grace Hakim, Clare Hargreaves, Alex Hiendl, Jane Higgins, Alistair Hill, Katie Hoare, Mona Jain, Edward Jones, Tamsin Jones, Harpreet Kaur, Pearlie Kee, Tess Kelly, Sahar Kianfar, Jocelyn Land, Hugh Lauritsen, Esther Lemmon, Robert Lister, Christine Liu, Guy Livingstone, Jonathan Lloyd, Emily Love, Mirea Lynton-Grotz, Anna Macleod-Smith, Camilla Macpherson, Laveena Mahtani, Tinashe Makoni, Leigh-Anne Males, Jennifer Manning, Julia Marriott, Mark Martin, Jennifer Maskell, Brin Mazen, Catherine McDougall, Tamsyn McLean, Piyush Mishra, Jeremy Moncrieff, Deirdre Moynihan, Ed Murray, Catherine O'Luanaigh, Oliver Oakley-White, Gabor Papp, Patrizia Pasqualini, Chris Peters, Joanna Powell, Amelia Pumphrey, Grant Quixley, Kamran Rabbani, Tara Rajah, Daniel Rawsterne, Tim Regis, Emily Roach, Tom Roberts, Alistair Robertson, Sebastian Rudkin, Akash Sachdeva, Kate Saville, Pallavi Sekhri, Reena Sheth, Veronique Simon, Kate Skinner, Jennifer Stamberger, Charlotte Stetzel, Tim Stewart, Luke Streatfeild, Marvelle Sullivan, Emma Teale, Olivier Too, Janie Tremblay, Nilopar Uddin, Addie Ugbenne, Maria Vassalos, Ruth Wang, Catherine Weller, Angeline Welsh, Richard Whitaker, Jennifer White, Anna Whitney, Louise Williams, Hannah Willoughby and Sarah Wilson.

Thank you also to Gareth Cox and all the Document Checkers who proofread the Digest for INTERIGHTS for the first time this year.

Research Projects

Our lawyers also undertook discrete research projects for INTERIGHTS throughout the year on behalf of overseas lawyers needing material to support their cases.

In July 2007, INTERIGHTS asked if we could help with urgent case research for inclusion in a report to be presented at an inter-governmental ASEM seminar in Cambodia at the end of September. The report considered Freedom of Expression in Europe and Asia, including the international framework for freedom of expression and acceptable and unacceptable limitations to it. ASEM, the “Asia-Europe Meeting”, is a working group of the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). ASEM is a forum that promotes co-operation between Asian and European countries. It represents a process based on dialogue with the objective of strengthening interaction and mutual understanding between the two regions and promoting co-operation that aims at sustainable economic and social development. After each conference, the outcomes of the discussions are gathered in a publication that may be used by governments and civil society as a reference on the state of play of the debate on Human Rights in ASEM countries. Antonia Eliason, Dev Gandhi, Mona Jain, Tess Kelly, Daniel Rawsterne, Adrienne Schwisow, Sheri Wanamaker and Peggy Wun provided short summaries of illustrative cases from each of the Asia ASEM member countries on key freedom of expression issues such as incitement to hatred or racism, blasphemy, protection of private life, criminal defamation and obscenity, for inclusion in the ASEM Report.

In October 2007, Lucinda Capel, Katie Joyce, Tess Kelly and Tim Watson assisted lawyers working on the important Ocalan v Turkey case before the European Court of Human Rights who were seeking to argue that life sentences without the possibility of parole constitute inhuman or degrading treatment and are therefore a breach of fundamental human rights.

In April 2008, INTERIGHTS was given leave to intervene in a case before the European Court of Human Rights regarding certain abuses committed by the Russian government during the Moscow Theatre siege in October 2002, where over a hundred people died. INTERIGHTS was given only a week to assemble its case and called on A&Oʼs help to look at the jurisprudence of a number of international bodies, domestic courts and international standards regulating the use of force during counter-terrorist operations. The following people researched and collated useful information within a short timescale: Julianna Bendek, Marco Bonioli, Joydeep Choudhuri, Zina Elimelakh,

Marton Eorsi, Barbara Forman, Sarah Macrory, Bilal Mahmood, Florian Quintard, Zalina Sanova, James Sinclair, Joan Tan, Virginia Tan, Sergio Ung, Dominic Von Wulffen, Lauren Warner, Tim Watson and Stephanie Wilson.

Most recently, James Haggie, Christina Topsoe and Stephanie Wilson undertook international and comparative law research on discriminatory statements in a tenancy agreement on behalf of one of INTERIGHTSʼ contacts in the Pacific. The tenancy agreement stated “No Muslims/Chinese/Rotuman tenants” and “Beef and Pork not allowed in the premises”.

LIBERTY

Liberty is the UKʼs oldest and leading civil liberties and human rights campaigning group. It is a small non-governmental organisation whose human rights litigation unit takes on test cases in support of its campaigning strategy.

The London office has fostered a close relationship with Liberty. A trainee secondment programme is in its sixth year and, for the last four years, associates from the London office have volunteered to man Libertyʼs public advice line on the first Monday of each month. Associates and trainees have also taken part in a scheme which involves drafting letters to members of the public who contact Liberty for advice. This scheme is now in its third year.

Trainee Secondment

Trainees from several firms are seconded to the Human Rights Litigation Unit for three months, almost doubling the volume of work Liberty can take on. The unit consists of three full-time lawyers and four trainees, so the nature of the supervision and responsibility given to trainees is very different to that at the London office. This allows trainees to manage the day-to-day conduct of matters and also to have a significant input into the strategic planning of litigation. Additionally, trainees liaise directly with Counsel and clients and, from very early on, become the public face of Liberty with respect to the matters with which they are dealing. Secondees may also have the opportunity to go to the European Court of Human Rights, liaise with government bodies and network with a large variety of organisations. In 2007/2008, the following trainees were seconded to Liberty: Kamran Rabbani, Laura Spearing, Charlotte Stetzel, Alistair Robertson and Matthew Hodgson

Liberty advice line and letters scheme

London office volunteers assist Liberty with their public advice line and also respond to letters providing preliminary advice on possible human rights infringements. During 2007/2008, Allen & Overy volunteers responded to 226 queries. The Liberty Letters Project has recently been short listed for the LawWorks Pro Bono Award 2008 for “Best Contribution for a Partnership”.

Both of these schemes are co-ordinated by Terri Wipperman and supervised by Angeline Welsh. The London office volunteers are:

n Advice Line: Arnondo Chakrabarti, Andrew Denny, Davina Given, Shin Ji Kim, Mahmood Lone, tamsyn McLean, Catherine O'Luanaigh, Andrew Pullen, Alistair Robertson, Akash Sachdeva, Pallavi Sekhri, Katie Spooner, Angeline Welsh and Russell Williams.

n Letters Clinic: Roz Allsopp, Laura Baird, Kathryn Carlile, Jennifer Choi, Michelle Chowdhury, Rebecca Clayton, Spencer Collins, Viv Cotes, Tammy Dickenson, Kate Dickinson, Natasha Doulia, Alexander Dresch, Hugh Drummond, Suanne Duhig, Melissa Dunn, Alice Falconer, Barbara Forman, Po-Siann Goh, Toby Hewitt, Katie Hoare, Katie Joyce, Afsha Karim, Harpreet Kaur, Tess Kelly, Hannah Lacey, Jocelyn Land, Jake Lee, Jonathan Lloyd, Mirea Lynton-Grotz, Sarah Macrory, Bilal Mahmood, Eliza Meehan, Sophie Minoprio, Leigh Missig, Catherine O'Luanaigh, Sophie Orr,

Kamran Rabbani, Alistair Robertson, Tobi Rufus, Akash Sachdeva, Pallavi Sekhri, Aline Shuttleworth, nicola Simson, James Sinclair, Annette So, Laura Spearing, Zara Spencer, Jennifer Stamberger, Charlotte Stetzel, Katy Stokes, Emma Teale, Alexander Thavenot, Sara Vandore, Anthony Ward, nick Watmough, Laura Willett, Louise Williams, Rebecca Windle and Diane Wood.

Human Rights Awards 2007

In December 2007, Allen & Overy sponsored the Human Rights Awards which is a joint venture between Liberty and JUSTICE. The Awards are held every year to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

JUSTICE

JUSTICE is an all-party law reform and human rights organisation, working to improve the legal system and the quality of justice, in particular by promoting human rights; improving the legal system and access to justice; improving criminal justice; and raising standards of EU justice and home affairs.

Strategic Litigation Project

Associates and trainees in the Litigation department have been working with JUSTICE to produce a study on the use of strategic litigation. Strategic litigation is where the instigator seeks a political or legal outcome which benefits a wider class than just the parties involved in the case.

Working with Roger Smith, the director of JUSTICE, and as part of their training programme during their seat in Litigation, the trainees have been researching topics including:

n The use of strategic litigation by commercial organisations and the identification of an illustrative example;

n The use of strategic High Court litigation by pressure groups, both to change the law and to further a political campaign;

n Evidence of the strategic use of the Human Rights Act;

n The development and state of play of third party interventions;

n Analysis of recent third party interventions by JUSTICE.

The work of the trainees has been supervised and managed by associates in the department, who are also assisting in identifying relevant commercial cases. The team included: Patrick Arnold, Andrew Battison, Keily Beirne, David Bridge, Spencer Collins, Suanna Duhig, Alice Falconer, Rosemary Ioannou, Scott Lovell, Mirea Lynton-Grotz, Reena Sheth, Emily Tew, Richard Whitaker and Trevor Withane. The report produced by our volunteers will be published later in 2008 by JUSTICE in a special edition of its annual review.

SAVE THE CHILDREN UK

Michael Brown has been working on a pro bono basis with Save the Children UK since August 2007 for one day per week on a corporate governance project, “Office in a Box”. The project involved a complete review and re-write, in easy access and user-friendly fashion, of Save the Children's non-financial operating procedures. Its focus is on ensuring that Save the Children has clear, effective, intelligible and accessible systems throughout the organisation which tell accountable individuals at head office and field level how they should operate in a risk-aware manner, so as to minimise the risk of serious reputational or financial damage to this important international charity. The project, once approved by the trustees, will be rolled out internationally within the organisation, and will involve a step change in Save the Childrenʼs corporate governance regime.

A&O were approached about this project by the then finance director of Save the Children, who had previously been a senior banker at corporate clients Citigroup.

Michael Brown notes, “For me, personally, it has been an eye-opening and very rewarding chance to work with such a terrifically important and professional charity”.

OXFAM INTERNATIONAL

Lawyers in our offices in Japan, Spain, France, the US and Belgium assisted Oxfam International with a review of the employment contracts used in their international offices in these countries to ensure that they comply with local laws and practices. This exercise was part of an overall review of Oxfam Internationalʼs pay and benefits practice. As well as reviewing their standard employment contract and terms and conditions document, our lawyers also completed a questionnaire which included questions on notice periods, disciplinary processes and benefits. The lawyers who undertook this work were: Christian Bayart, Marina Casani, Karen Etienne-Sloan, Séverine Fratta, Moira Guitart, Osamu Ito, Carmen Martinez, Henry Morgenbesser, Taro Nakashima, Gregory Olczak-Godefert, Asako Ogura, Chiyokazu Shindo and Kazumasa Tateno.

We have also provided pro bono advice and support on a number of other matters for Oxfam this year, and those lawyers who have assisted on these include: Catherine Antcliffe, Justin Grove, Colleen Keck, Jonathan Kirsop, Mark Mansell and Colin Pearson.

INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS FOR AFRICA

International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) was launched in March 2006 to give lawyers from Africa a grounding in specialist skills for international lawyers. International law is at the heart of issues which directly affect African nations ranging from debt relief to human rights, fair trade, the elimination of corruption and the protection of the environment. It aims to equip developing nations with the most skilled representatives to work for them in the dialogue with the G8 group of countries and international institutions.

ILFA organises placements of three months for high-calibre African lawyers with top law firms in the UK. The placements are combined with high-level training in international law and key legal practice skills delivered by sponsoring law firms, as well as talks and lectures from international lawyers from leading universities and relevant international institutions.

Nine African countries participated in the first ILFA programme, which ran from September 2007 to November 2007. A&O sponsored the ILFA 2007 programme and hosted Lumka Khaile, a qualified lawyer from South Africa. Lumka is a legal advisor at Standard Bank, South Africa, and specialises in corporate and investment banking. Lumka provides legal advice to the bank on issues affecting the Africa network. Lumka has an LL.B from the University of Kwazulu Natal and a postgraduate diploma in Contract Law from University of Johannesburg.

During Lumkaʼs placement at A&O, she sat with our Projects and Global Loans team in Banking. In addition, Lumka was also introduced to A&O's African Desk. Lumka attended a variety of training sessions organised by A&O and other firms participating in the programme, including sessions on international capital markets, banking law, international law and skills sessions on advocacy, mediation, negotiation, presentations and project management.

Nomita Nair, James Taylor and Graham Vinter all worked with Lumka during her time at A&O, offering her support and working with her on a number of matters. Paul Crook and Siobhan Lambert co-ordinated and managed Lumkaʼs placement with A&O and were central to the success of her time with the firm.

A&O continues to sponsor the ILFA programme and will be hosting a further African lawyer from September 2008.

INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS PROJECT

ILP is currently working on an exciting initiative with the Attorney Generalʼs Pro Bono Committee to develop training modules on a number of issues and areas of law to be delivered to the legal professions of countries in the developing world. The aim of the initiative is to build the capacity of these professions and help develop the rule of law in their nations. Sara George and Ian Thomas developed a training module on money laundering to be delivered to Tanzanian judges as part of the pilot project.

A&O lawyers also assisted the former chair of the A&O pro bono committee, HH Judge David Mackie, CBE QC, with research and preparations for his recent visit to Rwanda on behalf of ILP. David Mackie visited Rwanda to conduct a needs assessment on the Rwandan commercial law and legal training infrastructure to understand more clearly how UK lawyers could help. A team of lawyers from the London office researched background material and produced an outline report in advance of his visit to enable him to get the most out of his limited time in Rwanda. The lawyers involved were: Pallavi Sekhri, Portia Edmiston, James Sinclair, Tobias Crump, Spencer Collins, Georgina Éclair-Heath, Daniel Roberts and Natasha Doulia.

ACTIONAID INTERNATIONAL

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency whose aim is to fight poverty worldwide. Jennifer White worked on an ongoing basis with ActionAid International (AAI) on various matters relating to their contracts with partner organisations in Europe and Africa, and on other related projects.

WATERAID

Jennifer White also continues to provide strategic advice to WaterAid, with whom A&O have a long-standing relationship. WaterAid is an international charity whose mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the worldʼs poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.

CITIZENSHIP FOUNDATION

The Citizenship Foundation is an educational charity that aims to help people become more effective citizens through a better understanding of law and society. The charity produces a booklet called a “Young Citizenʼs Passport”. This is a short pocket book about the kinds of issues that affect young people today. It outlines briefly some of the relevant laws as well as our obligations and rights in particular areas.

The passport is aimed at young people in disadvantaged areas who often donʼt have easy access to information or an awareness of their rights. We were asked to review various chapters of the book to make sure that the law mentioned is up to date. This was done by Katie Joyce, Lauren Wills, Sarah Wilson and Sarah Juniper.

LAWWORKS

LawWorks is the operating name of the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, an independent charity with a mission to support, promote and encourage a commitment to pro bono across the legal profession. LawWorks aims to increase the delivery of free legal advice to individuals and communities in need. It is a membership-based organisation whose members are law firms, in-house legal departments and other organisations interested in contributing to the provision of legal pro bono work in England and Wales. LawWorks provides practical support, advice and information through a range of projects.

A&Oʼs London office is a project founder of LawWorks and closely supports one of its projects, LawWorks for Community Groups. The London office works on this initiative alongside other legal practices and companies such as BAE Systems, Cable & Wireless and ASDA to form a pro bono referral panel which provides free business law advice to community groups and small not-for-profit organisations.

This year, we have worked closely with staff at LawWorks to help launch a new law clinic with Crisis, the charity for homeless people. Please refer to the section on Crisis for further details.

We also continue to support LawWorks in its role as the voice of legal pro bono professionals across the UK, in particular, as speakers at the Annual National Pro Bono Conference and as members of LawWorksʼ working groups considering ways to encourage greater participation in pro bono work and ways to manage the ‘ranking’ by external commentators of UK firms who undertake pro bono.

PRIVATE CLIENT DEPARTMENT

Ceris Gardner, Robert Bulling and Emma-Jane Weider have advised the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust on its establishment as a registered charity. Other parts of the firm are also advising, including Naomi Leach (Corporate) on a sponsorship agreement with BT and Oliver Jones (E&B) on an employment contract for the Trustʼs chief executive.

Sophie Mazzier, Ceris Gardner and Emma-Jane Weider have been involved with the Corporate Department in advising the Community Links Foundation on the establishment of a community interest company and an associated charitable foundation.

Ceris Gardner and Lydia Kinley continue to advise the Against Malaria Foundation which raises funds for the prevention of malaria.

Jennifer Chambers has provided advice to Cricket without Borders, Roadpeace and Heritage Links.

Lydia Kinley continues to assist Ceris Gardner on advising St Katharine and Shadwell Trust. Louise Zekaria is an ‘e-mentor’ for two individuals participating in the Trustʼs Capacity Builders pilot programme.

Lucinda Pfaff and Ceris Gardner have advised Switchback on its establishment as a registered charitable trust, and on its subsequent conversion to a corporate charity. Switchback works locally with young adult and juvenile offenders, providing skills training and support up to and following their release, having its base at the Skylight Café, Spitalfields.

Jennifer Chambers, Lydia Kinley and Robert Bulling continue to advise the trustees of the Stuart Menzies Memorial Trust on charity law issues relating to investment of funds and grant making. The trust, set up in 1989 in memory of the late Stuart Menzies (who was a Corporate partner), provides bursaries to deserving students at the College of Law.

Clare Maurice continues to chair the Barts and the London Charity (formerly St Bartholomewʼs and the Royal London Charitable Foundation).

Richard Turnor is vice-chairman of the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign and sits on Royal Marsden Hospital charities grants sub-committee. Richard is a member of the committees to which the Stuart Menzies Memorial Trust and the Allen & Overy Foundation have delegated their powers.

Ceris Gardner is a trustee of the IBA Charitable Trust and the European Association for Planned Giving.

Arabella Saker continues to be a trustee of the Friends United Network and of the Capital Cases Charitable Trust.

Rachel Khiara is an advisor to the trustees of the Arts and Crafts museum and master-craftsmen’s workshops, offering apprenticeships to talented school leavers. The museum and workshops are to be established in Lambeth in 2010 and it is hoped that this will help to regenerate the area.

THE US LAW GROUP

The US Law Group in London continued to demonstrate its commitment to pro bono and community service by participating in a variety of activities, including the following:

The US Law Group in London was also active in a number of American Bar Association Section of International Law activities, spearheaded by Jeff Golden, the chair of the ABA Section of International Law. In addition to that role, he has also served on the boards of the ABAʼs Rule of Law Initiative and the World Justice Project and established a new task force called FEED, which stands for “Financial Engineering for Economic Development” and provides pro bono assistance to facilitate use of the most sophisticated financial products by the least developed countries to manage their risk. Other members of the firm, both inside and outside the US Law Group, including Pamela Chepiga, Stephen Denyer, Adam Farlow, Judith Gill, Jim Grandolfo, David Jabbari, Carolyn Jackson, Thomas Jones, Hartmut Krause and Clare Maurice, were involved including taking a leadership role on a number of important committees, participating in the Rule of Law and Economic Development Working Group, chairing the ABA International Fall Meeting and related programming, and organising “Live from the SEC”.

FC Harlem Academy

Over the past year, A&O has seen its pro bono client FC Harlem Academy (FCHA) grow significantly and gain some great publicity. FCHA is a recreational league and mentorship programme designed to create a safe opportunity for fair and enjoyable football (“soccer” in the US) for inner city Harlem youth. FCHA has been thrown into the spotlight of the US Soccer community and New York City local politics – due particularly to their advocacy for more green space in the city and a practice session with soccer star David Beckham – and have had several articles in New York Times following their progress. Lucas Hartley, Corey Ellen Fulton (both in the New York office) and Dimitrios Efstathiou have been assisting FCHA in drafting and amending their corporate documents, providing advice in creating a long-term business plan, and co-operating with professional US soccer organisations and various New York City government agencies to create urban “futsal” fields. This collaboration culminated in a “Streets to Fields” Gala Banquet for FCHA held at the Gotham Hall in New York City, with over 700 people in attendance from the sports and entertainment industry and New York local politics. The gala banquet included appearances by David Beckham and Pele, and raised over US$500,000 for the construction of a full-size soccer pitch in Harlem.

Limehouse Project

Stefka Kavaldjieva serves as a charity trustee and a member of the management committee of the Limehouse Project, a community, voluntary sector organisation delivering an extensive range of services in Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived boroughs in Britain, in a number of languages, including Somali, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali and Arabic. Last year alone, the Limehouse Project provided advice and information services on welfare benefits, housing, finance and debt, immigration and domestic violence to over 5,500 local disadvantaged people and offered training, education and job search support to over 100 students and trainees. The ethos of the Limehouse Project is to provide a holistic approach to supporting and empowering families out of poverty.

In addition, Stefka also serves as a vice-chair on the Young Lawyers Interest Network committee (YIN) of ABA International. YIN provides networking opportunities for young practitioners living inside and outside the US and promotes stronger relationships among young lawyer organisations worldwide. In her leadership role last year, Stefka represented YIN at the European Young Bar Association conference in London, as well as organising several programmes and events for young lawyers at the Fall and Spring meetings of the International Section of the ABA, taking place in London and New York, respectively.

Erin Stieber has been participating in the numeracy programme at the Bethnal Green School and has also done training courses in anticipation of participating in the pilot legal intake programme at CRISIS.

Joel Tashjian serves as a director for a small up-start opera company called Opera Co-operative. The mission of Opera Co-operative is to bring to bring opera performance to underserved communities in London and to use opera as a tool for community building. A&O has supported Opera Co-operative since its inception, providing both financial and in-kind support to the company.

Brian Smith continued his involvement with the London Network of Human Rights Watch during the past year. Human Rights Watch is an organisation dedicated to defending and protecting the human rights of people around the world, conducting on-site investigations of human rights abuses in more than 70 countries worldwide and publishing its findings in reports used in high-level policy discussions and media to shape the public agenda and press for change. The London Network is a group of volunteers dedicated to promoting the protection of human rights to friends and colleagues by supporting the work of Human Rights Watch through briefings, fundraising activities and events. In September 2007, Brian served on the organising committee for “Children in the Ranks”, a fundraiser benefiting the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, in particular its work to bring to light human rights abuses against child soldiers, and Allen & Overy LLP provided sponsorship support for the event.

PRO BONO WORK IN THE EAST END OF LONDON

CRISIS

Crisis is a national charity dedicated to the relief of poverty and distress amongst homeless people, helping over 20,000 homeless or vulnerably housed people a year. Crisisʼ headquarters are in Spitalfields, in East London.

Since 2001, the London office has been providing pro bono advice to Crisis on issues including intellectual property, data protection, contract review and negotiation, litigation, fundraising, insurance, licensing and lease review, website protection, tax, employment and franchising. Each year the London office donates £20,000 to Crisis, rather than spending this money on Christmas cards for clients. The office also collects items for its Christmas shelters, and has held clothing collections as part of Crisisʼ Christmas appeal.

A team of lawyers, headed by corporate partner Keith McGuire, provides ad hoc advice to Crisis. Sophie Thomashausen and Dominic Morris are our Crisis client relationship managers. The team includes: Aemelia Allen, Adrian Brown, Craig Harris, Sarah Henchoz, Carol Hopper, Colleen Keck, Mark Levy, Kelly Luker, Luke Nicholls, Colin Pearson, Sara Pickersgill, Kiralee Saunders, Kate Saville, Kate Skinner, Catriona Smith, Tamsin Sparrow, Sebastian Steinfeld, Pam Taak, Edward Timmins, David Williams and Hannah Willoughby.

Crisis Consequences

At the end of last year, Crisis asked for our help with a unique pro bono matter which is estimated to raise £250,000 to support Crisisʼ work. Here is how the matter was described in the January 2008 edition of Articles & Opinions, Allen & Overy’s monthly in-house magazine:

Facing the consequences

When A&O lawyers Jim Ford and Katie Spooner were asked to work on a high-profile project to help the homeless involving rock stars Paul Weller, Beth Ditto and Supergrass, they jumped at the chance.

Jim, partner, and Katie, associate, both work in the Corporate practice. They can usually be found working on intellectual property, patent licensing and outsourcing agreements. So when asked if they would like to take some time to work on a major event in rock history, go to a star-studded concert, and help a worthy cause, the answer was a resounding yes.

So they got to work setting up contracts to enable a bevy of big rock stars to record a single for UK homeless charity Crisis, which has a long-standing relationship with A&O.

The work, which has all been done on a pro bono basis, has helped Crisis to get a number of artists from different recording labels together to record the song, which will be released early next year. Jim, Katie and others are also working on the contracts for a follow up music festival happening in London next March.

A&O’s involvement began just three weeks before the recording when the Pro Bono and Community Affairs team approached Jim asking if he could work on the project.

Jim says: “In terms of the law involved, it hasn’t been too different from what we normally do, but the subject matter has made it very interesting. We work across A&O’s corporate and finance client base, and so this presented us with a very different world that was both challenging and fun.”

Katie adds: “Our main focus has been negotiating waivers to allow each artist to record the song, as their record companies usually insist they exclusively work for them. It’s hard work because we are dealing with six different record companies and there wasn’t much time to get everything in place. But it’s worth it. The people at Crisis are understandably really excited about this project, and that has been infectious.”

The single – called Consequences – was recorded throughout one week in November by acts including The Enemy, New Young Pony Club, and Drew McConnell from Babyshambles.

It followed the pattern of the children’s game consequences, in which a story is written one sentence at a time by people who do not see what has been written before. For the single, different instrumental parts were recorded one day at a time, with each set of performers not hearing the other sections.

Andy Page, director of fundraising at Crisis, said: “The work Allen & Overy did on this project turned what we thought was going to be a complete nightmare into something very simple. There were a lot of legal complexities involved in getting the contracts negotiated for so many big-name stars, and we were in awe of what needed to be done, but the guys at Allen & Overy took it in their stride and really delivered for us.”

As a thank you for all their hard work, Jim and Katie are invited to the concert in March, which is particularly fitting, as they both love live music.

“I really like a lot of the acts taking part in this project and Katie and I are really looking forward to the concert,” says Jim, who has been with the firm for 11 years. “Pro bono work is an important aspect of life at A&O and it’s great to have the opportunity to work on something like this for such an important charity.”

The lawyers who worked on this matter were: Ben Crawford, Jim Ford, Hannah Lacey, Naomi Leach, Adam Leadercramer, Peter Mendham and Katie Spooner.

Crisis Skylight Law Clinic

In February 2008, we launched a pilot project with Crisis and LawWorks to provide a much-needed service to Crisisʼ homeless clients. Based at the Crisis Skylight centre on Commercial Street, associates from the London office will provide pro bono legal advice on areas such as housing and social welfare every Wednesday evening between 6.00 pm and

8.00 pm. The Crisis Skylight Law Clinic will run in addition to our long-standing pro bono clinic at Battersea Law Centre. The clinic will open its doors this summer following a series of in-depth training sessions.

Volunteers will include: Andrew Battison, Stephen Beattie, Rhiannon Blackmore, Jennifer Choi, Andy Cork, Jonathan Crompton, David Cummings, James Druce, Elvan Hussein, Rosemary Ioannou, Carl Jenkins, Emily Love, Leigh-Anne Males, Ed Murray, Anne Powell, Alistair Robertson, Shanda Sibley, Zara Spencer, Erin Stieber, Joanne Strain, Luke Streatfeild, Pam Taak and Addie Ugbenne.

TOYNBEE HALL

Toynbee Hall is a charity in Tower Hamlets that has been responding to the needs of the community on its doorstep since 1884 and helps over 6,000 local people every year. Its activities include workshops for under-16s who are at risk from exclusion from school, supporting vulnerable women and providing housing and social support for older people who find themselves isolated. Toynbee Hall is also home to the oldest free legal advice clinic in England and provides advice on a range of issues from employment to housing.

Debt Advice Clinic with Toynbee Hall and ABN Amro

In January 2007, we launched a collaborative project with client, ABN Amro, and Toynbee Hall to help address the escalating problems of debt and financial exclusion in Tower Hamlets. Trained volunteers from the London office and from ABN Amro work with the Toynbee Hall Capitalise team every Tuesday evening to provide advice on debt resolution and financial literacy, helping clients to reduce repayments to their creditors and to save for emergencies. The aim is to help clients take control of their finances and give them the confidence to make informed financial choices in the future. On average, personal debt seen by debt counsellors in Tower Hamlets is around £16,000 and four-fifths of clients in debt are in receipt of benefits. One person receiving debt counselling from Toynbee Hall owes more than £90,000. Approximately 90 clients have been seen since the clinic launched in 2007.

The project has gone from strength to strength this year. The following people have volunteered at Toynbee Hall in the last 12 months: Tricia Beckford, Pamela Chambers, Cerry Darbon, Justine Deighan, Richard Griffiths, Lyn Hanson, Sarah Juniper, Sairah Khan, Seema Kukreja, Jennifer Maskell, John Morris, Abdul Muith, Kevin O'Sullivan, Julie Patel, John Pavey, Caroline Pellow, Paul Phelps, Charles Phillip, Paul Regan, Neil Spellings, Liz Tippins, Stella Torgbor and Paula Wilson.

The following people are currently receiving debt advice training to become advisors: Matthew Billing, Nesa Ghadiri-Zare, Natalie Gillam, Dylan Matthews, Thomas Mosher, Sandra Nsia-Boachie, Sheila Quansah-Solomon, Timothy Senior and Victoria Sharpe.

EAST LONDON BUSINESS ALLIANCE (ELBA)

The London officeʼs work in the East End includes the provision of pro bono legal advice for organisations such as the East London Business Alliance (ELBA). ELBA brings time, skills, influence and resources from the private sector to help build the capacity of local organisations and regeneration programmes in East London, primarily in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and the Thames Gateway. ELBA works in partnership with key stakeholders in each borough to identify needs and issues and to determine the most useful ways in which the private sector can help. The needs of small businesses in the area are many, and include accounting, finance, IT, strategy, management and legal advice, all of which are available on the doorstep of the City of London.

Many London lawyers and support staff have advised on projects referred to the London office by ELBA. They include: Gergana Avramova, Wingmen Chung, Spencer Collins, Angelene Galway, Sarah Henchoz, Jonathan Kirsop, Adam Leadercramer, Mark Mansell, Anne Pages, Alan Paul, Colin Pearson, Mark Ridgway, Lucy Twomey and Louise Williams.

Greg Brown (partner, Banking) sits on the Tower Hamlets Board of ELBA.

Legal Seminar programme

Building on the success of the one-off seminars for community clients undertaken in previous years by lawyers in our IP, Employment & Benefits and Tax teams, this year we set up a rolling seminar programme with ELBA to present a range of pro bono seminars to small charities and community organisations referred to us by ELBA. Working closely

with David Jabbari (associate director, Global Know How), Rachel Kull and her colleagues in Central Education & Training, lawyers from our Employment & Benefits, IP, Private Client, Real Estate and Tax teams took part in the seminar programme which ran from November 2007 to April 2008.

The seminars offered introductions to areas of law commonly encountered by small organisations, such as employment rights, IP rights, commercial leases and charity law questions. The aim was to share essential legal knowledge with a number of community clients at once to help prevent costly legal crises occurring for them in the future.

The seminars were a fantastic opportunity for our lawyers to plan presentations and practise presenting in an informal environment to small audiences. Feedback from both the clients and lawyers who took part was excellent and the seminars appear to have been an enjoyable and informative experience for everyone involved. Next yearʼs seminar programme is already in the design stages.

The lawyers who gave their time and expertise to the seminars were: Catherine Antcliffe, Victoria Broadbent, Robert Bulling, James Burton, Kathryn Carlile, Wingmen Chung, Sarah Henchoz, Oliver Jones, Lydia Kinley, Naomi Leach, Jennifer Lovell, Peter Mendham, Catriona Smith, Emma Trinick, David Williams and Jonathan Wolinsky.

IP Email Advice Line

The London office helps ELBA to run an Intellectual Property Helpline for voluntary and community organisations. Many of these organisations have creative and innovative business ideas but no knowledge of how to protect them and no money to pay for specialist legal advice. The advice line is a way to address that as and when queries arise.

All associates in IP Litigation and CO2 are on the email advice line rota. Terri Wipperman manages the scheme at A&O.

Some examples of matters referred to us via the Advice Line include:

n Adam Leadercramer drafted a confidentiality agreement for the Shoreditch Trust, a charitable regeneration agency;

n Gergana Avramova and Louise Williams advised the South Kingsland Youth Partnership, a small charity working with young people in Hackney, on how to protect their IP and develop their trademark;

n Wingmen Chung advised an educational charity called cSPACE, based at the University of East London which works with young people in Newham. cSPACE uses the visual arts, media and cyberspace to support local communities, children and young people in the expression of their visions, dreams and aspirations around issues of regeneration. The charity had IP queries affecting two of their main projects – The Young Person’s Guide to East London and an educational resource called VOLCO for use in primary and secondary schools. They needed advice around how to protect and share their IP.

Business on Board

Business on Board is a scheme run by ELBA. There is a real need from community organisations for highly skilled volunteers to join their management committees. There are numerous roles a volunteer can take up, for example, chair, vice-chair, treasurer, sub-committee member (usually personnel and finance) or a general committee member. The frequency of meetings varies from monthly to a quarterly basis. This is a hugely rewarding experience for the volunteer as they can help focus the strategic direction of an organisation and have a huge impact on the efficiency and work of the charity.

The following people volunteer through Business on Board: Dominique Ashby, Yasmine Bassili, Caroline Brown, Greg Brown, Liz Brownsell, David Campbell, Mark Carter, Bethan Chatters, Andrew Clark, Brian Dunlop, Ian Elder, Richard Evans, Sheila Fahy, Richard Farnhill, Andrew Frasier, Ceris Gardner, Joanna Goodsir, Catherine Grum, Andy Jackson, Stefka Kavaldjieva, Colleen Keck, Matthew Keegan, Stephen Knight, Alyson Lockett, Kelly Luker, Ian Mathers, Clare Maurice, James McRobbie, Alan Meneghetti, Jonathan Millard, Andria Monin, Victoria Oates, Daniel Oh, Maureen O'Neill, Sara Pickersgill, Arabella Saker, Holly Sheffield, Graham Smith, Joel Tashjian, John Templeman, Simon Toms, Richard Turnor, Frances Van Eupen, Mona Vaswani and Nicholas Williams.

Launch of Partnership Project in Spitalfields

In an exciting new initiative launched this year, A&O, together with Deutsche Bank and Hammerson, will be working in partnership with ELBA for the next three years to establish a long-term relationship with the community of Spitalfields. As project partners, we will learn from, and share, skills, knowledge and experience with businesses and community organisations in the local area to assist in the process of regeneration in East London.

The purpose of the project is to create sustainable links and partnerships between key stakeholders in the Spitalfields area, including local businesses and community organisations, the police, the health authority and the council, and the three project partners. We will then go on to develop projects using our business resources, time, skills and expertise. Activities will be designed to build the capacity of voluntary organisations and services in the Spitalfields area through strategic pro bono advice, employee volunteering and also to strengthen small businesses through mentoring, training and other support. We hope to enhance the employability of local people through direct support (such as interview practice and CV advice) and by supporting local employment initiatives, and by continuing to work closely with local Education Business Partnerships to bring added value to local schools through mentoring and careers support.

For more information on this initiative, please contact Helen Rogers, Emma Shaw or Kara Fisher.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MENTORING NETWORK

WaterAid

Allen & Overy has a long-standing relationship with WaterAid, an international charity aiming to overcome poverty by enabling the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. As a result of Sharon Burrell’s mentoring relationship with the charity’s business development manager, a further ‘Working the Room’ workshop has been organised for the corporate fundraising team. Lee Katipunan, Jeremy Metson and Claire Savill supported Sharon in delivering this training session to enable the fundraisers to develop their networking skills and to maximise the opportunities generated by their events. A&O has now trained one quarter of WaterAidʼs fundraising team.

Spitalfields City Farm

Spitalfields City Farm is located in Tower Hamlets and is managed by volunteers. Over 18,000 visitors a year are encouraged to handle the animals and learn about animal welfare. Jessica Hamilton, Mia Moore and Gemma Prescott have been providing support by developing templates for publications and internal reports.

ENGAGE Branding Support

ENGAGE is an international network of businesses and community organisations which collaborate to bring together employees and their communities around the globe. Sarah Fitzpatrick has been helping their senior programme manager, Maria-Jose Subiela, to develop ENGAGEʼs positioning and brand development. With the help of Allen & Overy's Creative Services team, Sarah and Maria-Jose have also aimed to enhance the group's marketing materials.

A&O has also provided Maria-Jose with support in her personal development, including providing coaching support for her from Louise Hamilton, which was organised by Lucy Coyle.

Design and Printing Support

The Creative Services and Print Room teams have given support to a wide number of small charities and organisations over the past year, helping to design and print a variety of materials, allowing these organisations to focus their resources on their every day work to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Particular thanks goes to Michael Hosannah, Chris Dighton and John Kiggins.

The Front of House and Mail and Logistics teams have also provided invaluable assistance to the community organisations, charities and schools we have worked with over the past year.

APPENDIX 1

PRO BONO AND COMMUNITY WORK POLICY

Allen & Overy LLP recognises that as a professional institution, we have a duty to help those in need. We have developed a strong and diverse pro bono and community affairs programme, Values into Community Action (the "Programme"), which reflects our commitment to this duty.

Each office in our global network is encouraged to develop projects that respond to the interests, aspirations and skills of its staff – and match these with the social needs of the local communities in which we operate. We aim to use our time, skills and resources to make a positive impact in these communities.

This policy sets out the principles which govern pro bono and community work at Allen & Overy. The principles have been agreed by Central Management and are in accordance with LawWorks' Joint Protocol for Pro Bono Legal Work of which Allen & Overy is a signatory. It is important that staff understand and carry out pro bono and community affairs work to the highest standards and according to the principles set out in this policy.

Pro bono (legal) and community (non legal) work is that which is done, without charge, for individuals, charities and non-profit organisations that cannot afford to pay.

The Programme is designed with internationally agreed themes – access to justice and broadening access to education and employment – to draw our offices together as participants in one Programme, and one practice.

Allen & Overy believes that it has a responsibility to encourage all members of staff to find some time to participate in pro bono and community work and we are committed to ensuring that everyone at Allen & Overy who wants to participate in the Programme has the opportunity to do so, although we recognise that some staff prefer to engage in this work privately, rather than through the Programme.

We recognise that pro bono and community work:

n is important to the recruitment, motivation and retention of the best people;

n helps the professional development of staff;

n helps attract new business and strengthen relationships with clients; and

n enhances our reputation.

How do we take matters on?

All potential new matters are reviewed by the pro bono contact/committee and must be approved by the pro bono partner/director in the appropriate office, to ensure that it is consistent with the aims of our Programme. Consideration is given to the expertise, resources and capacity of staff.

In some of our larger offices we provide pro bono assistance to a range of not-for-profit organisations and charities (and in some cases to individuals) that have been referred to us by charity brokers with whom we have established partnerships. These organisations work with local communities to identify pro bono/community clients that would be appropriate for individual offices and for Allen & Overy.

All pro bono work undertaken should comply with the following guidelines:

n work should assist in protecting or establishing some legal or moral right, correct a manifest injustice or be in the public or community interest;

n the individual/group must be unable to afford legal representation;

n work should match the skills and interest of the lawyers engaged to undertake it;

n there should be sufficient resource to undertake and complete the work as if it were work for any other client;

n work must not be so dedicated to a religious, political or sectarian point of view that it runs the risk of offending significant numbers of people in Allen & Overy; and

n work must not create a conflict of interest with existing clients or be contrary to Allen & Overyʼs business planning.

Standard of Care

Allen & Overy is a signatory to the LawWorksʼ Joint Protocol for Pro Bono Legal Work, which states that we will treat our pro bono clients with the same due care and diligent service as fee-paying clients. Pro bono work is given the same amount of time as an equivalent chargeable matter and the work is prioritised on the basis of urgency. Pro bono work taken on by a fee-earner must be supervised in the same way as chargeable work.

Time Policy

Pro bono and community work should not be undertaken without the prior authorisation of the appropriate pro bono partner or partner/manager for whom you work.

Pro bono and community work is entirely voluntary, and there is no obligation that fee-earners must do this kind of work. Partners and managers are expected to create an environment where pro bono and community involvement is promoted, credited and rewarded.

Partners and managers will give credit for any involvement in the Programme. During the performance review process up to 25 hours of pro bono and community work will be credited towards fee-earners' billable targets and treated as chargeable work in this context.

In addition to ongoing or ad hoc participation in the Programme, everyone is entitled to one day's paid leave per financial year to participate in pro bono or community work for charities approved by Allen & Overy. This is subject to partner/ manager approval and the appropriate pro bono contact/committee should also be consulted before any such leave is taken.

Occasionally, more than one day's paid leave may be permitted, for example when you are working with your office's charity of the year or another of Allen & Overy's supported charities. This will be subject to approval by the partner or manager for whom you work and the pro bono contact/committee, in conjunction with your HR manager.

Performance review

The Programme is reviewed through Allen & Overy's YouCount staff survey to ensure that it reflects the aspirations of staff, the needs of the community and provides a quality assurance review.

The performance review forms emphasise the importance of pro bono and community work. Pro bono and community work is not compulsory but it is one of several aspects of life at A&O which reflect an individual's true contribution – the purpose of its inclusion in the performance review is to encourage, recognise and reward participation.

Involvement will also be considered when assessing an individual's performance against the competency framework and his/her value to the business. It is a Key Success Indicator and will be considered when determining an individual's bonus entitlement.

Participation as a development tool

The Programme is an important opportunity for our volunteers to gain experience outside of the office environment and develop their skills. Appraisers are encouraged to use and suggest volunteering as a tool to:

n develop client relationship management skills, particularly for junior staff;

n broaden the knowledge base of staff and develop their technical and communication skills; and

n develop valuable inter-personal skills such as coaching and mentoring.

Programme Management

Each office has its own pro bono and community affairs contact and partner who is responsible for the running of that office's programme. In some of our larger offices the programmes are run by a committee, comprising both fee-earners and non fee-earners.

Compliance

All new pro bono and community projects must be consistent with the aims of the Programme. For example, Allen & Overy will not get involved in pro bono work for political organisations, and our rules for checking conflicts, money laundering and all local bar association/law society regulations and compliance apply. As with fee-earning work, a letter of engagement is sent to pro bono clients defining the scope of our obligations. In some jurisdictions, the availability of appropriate publicly funded legal advice or representation is considered before we undertake a pro bono matter.

Matter Inception and Time Recording

All fee-earner time spent on the Programme is recorded on Carpe Diem and reviewed regularly. Matter inception forms should use the non-billable code 9999 and sub-code 66, to reflect that a file is pro bono/community work. File numbers for regular pro bono and community clients can be found on the Programme intranet site.

Charitable Giving

Each office fundraises for local charities chosen by staff. Further information about the charitable giving policy of the London office can be found on the intranet.

Further information

Further information about the Programme is available on the Pro Bono page on the Intranet and in a variety of publications including the Pro Bono & Community Affairs Annual Report and our brochure, A Sense of Responsibility, which can be downloaded from the Allen & Overy internet site or sent to you on request from the Pro Bono & Community Affairs team.

Allen & Overy is committed to developing and expanding the Programme to ensure that it helps those in need, and remains challenging, interesting and satisfying for all volunteers across Allen & Overy. If you have any ideas or suggestions about the Programme, please share them with the Pro Bono & Community Affairs team.

APPENDIX 2

PRO BONO STATISTICS

SUMMARY OF GLOBAL AND UNITED KINGDOM PRO BONO WORK 2006/2007

Global London Pro Bono Hours recorded 55,564 28,175 Value of Hours £16,592,702 £9,021,855 Percentage of Fee Earners 56% of 2,439 Fee-Earners 73% of 1,094 Fee-Earners recording pro bono time

SUMMARY OF GLOBAL PRO BONO WORK

Worked Hours % Increase Value of Worked 2006/2007 2007/2008 Hrs 2007/2008 Belgium 5,326 5,622 6% £1,579,314 Czech Republic 135 62 -54% £13,379 China 241 757 214% £232,743 France 256 789 208% £322,918 Germany 596 959 61% £325,293 Hong Kong 959 1,057 10% £336,632 Hungary 265 391 47% £100,639 Italy 343 658 92% £144,239 Japan 24 769 3131% £208,349 Luxembourg 2,581 2,885 12% £631,976 Netherlands 3,533 2,870 -19% £881,802 Poland 335 530 58% £161,863 Russian Federation 134 156 17% £40,973 Singapore 65 145 122% £44,703 Slovak Republic 205 115 -44% £21,901 Spain 264 246 -7% £76,176 Thailand 184 278 51% £74,064 United Arab 151 21 -86% £7,281 Emirates United Kingdom 26,640 28,175 6% £9,021,855 United States 3,619 9,080 151% £2,366,602 Total 45,856 55,564 21% £16,592,702

SUMMARY OF LONDON PRO BONO WORK

Worked Hours % Increase Value of Worked 2006/2007 2007/2008 Hrs 2007/2008 Banking 3,040 3,402 12% £964,602 Corporate 4,125 4,123 0% £1,415,376 Employment 1,396 882 -37% £300,624 ICM 3,711 5,301 43% £2,101,302 Litigation 7,172 3,917 -45% £1,320,627 Private Client 709 721 2% £305,450 Real Estate 658 863 31% £256,819 Tax 347 495 43% £174,742 Other 5,482 8,471 55% £2,182,312 Total 26,640 28,175 6% £9,021,854

AVERAGE PRO BONO HOURS PER FEE-EARNERS – LONDON DEPARTMENTS

Average Pro Bono Hours Per Fee Earner - United Kingdom Departments

Tax

Real Estate

Private Client

Litigation

ICM

Employment

Corporate

Banking

0.05.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0

Pro Bono Hours Per Year

APPENDIX 3 – AWARDS

2001:

n The Business in the Community Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence.

n The Lawyer Award for Best Pro Bono Activity.

n The Lord Mayorʼs Dragon Award.

n Shortlisted for the Whitbread Award for Community Involvement.

2002:

n The Business in the Community Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence.

n Second place in The Lawyer Award for Best Pro Bono Activity.

2003:

n The Business in the Community Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence.

n Short-listed for The Lawyer Award for Best Pro Bono Activity.

n The Lord Mayor's Dragon Award – Local Regeneration.

n London Business Awards – Commitment to the Community (jointly with School Governor's One-Stop Shop).

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office).

2004:

n The Business in the Community – Collaborative Action Big Tick endorsement with ProHelp.

n The Lord Mayor's Dragon Award – Local Partnership, Highly Commended.

n The Asian Pro Bono Legal Award (Hong Kong office).

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office).

2005:

n The Lord Mayor's Dragon Award – Social Inclusion.

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office).

2006:

n The Financial Times Innovation Award for our Pro Bono Programme.

n The Managing Partners Forum Awards for Exceptional Contribution to the Community.

n The “Concours des Caïus” from Prométhea for contribution to cultural heritage (Belgium offices).

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office).

n The Business in the Community ("BITC") Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence (London office).

n Short-listed for the BITC/Merrill Lynch Raising Achievement of Young People.

n The City of London Employer of the Year Award for our young people's placement programme.

n Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership Award for our work with schools in London.

n The BITC, London & South East Cares Awards, Team of the Year, Highly Commended for our homeless people's placement programme.

2007:

n The Business in the Community Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence (London office).

n The IFLR European Award for Best Pro Bono Deal for the BlueOrchard microfinance securitisation.

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office).

n The Business in the Community Silver Jubilee Big Tick.

n The Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2007 – Commended in the Pro Bono/CSR category for our introduction of 25 hours billable credit for pro bono work.

2008:

n The IFLR Asian Award for Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.

n The IFLR European Pro Bono Award for DB Microfinance.

n The Business in the Community Impact Endorsement Mark – Award for Excellence (London office).

n The Caring Company Award (Hong Kong office)

n The FT Sustainable Banking Deal of the Year Award for BlueOrchard microfinance securitisation.

APPENDIX 4

GLOBAL PRO BONO AND COMMUNITY CONTACTS

COUNTRY CONTACTS PARTNER Belgium Beatrice Vos Helga Van Peer China SH: Louise Ridgwick Richard Kim, Peter Thorp, Simon Black, Julia Zhang Thomas E Jones

BJ: Jocelyn Wang, Hua Wei Sun, Chenghong Wang, Yanan Zhou

Czech Republic Marcela Hogenova, Denisa Mannova Jane Townsend France Anne-Laurence Faroux Jean Claude Rivalland Germany Alexander Wuepper, Alexandra Faus Johannes Bruski Hong Kong Eric Tse Catherine Husted Hungary Balazs Sahin-Toth, Erika Fuszinger Jane Townsend Italy Antonella Jannelli Roberto Donnini (Rome), Giovanni Gazzaniga (Milan) Japan Kaori Nasu, Kyoko Shimoyamada Aled Davies Luxembourg Cédric Delahaye Fabian Beullekens Netherlands Ryan Kersten Mieke De Vos Poland Joanna Sobka Arkadiusz Pedzich Russian Federation Ekaterina Gorchakova, Tony Humphrey Natasha Gagarina Singapore Sharon Su-Ling How Kayal Sachi, John Richards, Ken Aboud Slovak Republic Eva Sednickova Jane Townsend, Hugh Owen Spain Julio Alonso, Maribel Gonzalez Eduardo Sebastian De Erice, Antonio Vazquez-Guillen Thailand Nattaporn Jitwuttikrai Simon Makinson United Arab Emirates Rachel Storr Simon Roderick United Kingdom Shankari Chandran (maternity cover: Colin Pearson Louise Zekaria), Helen Rogers (maternity cover: Lydia Chesshyre), Emma Shaw, Sue Wisbey, Michelle Blythe, Rachel Nicholson, Terri Wipperman United States Emily Campbell, Pat Bencivenga Ken Rivlin

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