Our communities

We have a responsibility to use our expertise to assist the most vulnerable in our global communities. Through our global Pro Bono practice, Charitable Foundation and volunteering schemes, we are committed to providing this support.

Pro Bono

We believe our lawyers have a responsibility to be involved in pro bono work at all stages of their careers. Pro Bono support is key in aiding access to justice and supporting our communities.

Our pro bono work is wide reaching and reflects our firm’s commitment to creating positive impact and outcomes for society and the planet.

In order to maximise our impact, we adopt an international pro bono strategy which aims to support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our people from across our offices donate their skills and expertise to advise local charities, international NGOs, civil society organisations and environmental enterprises to deliver positive and sustainable support.

We partner with our clients who share our passion to make a difference, collaborating with them on projects where we can.

Making a real difference to individuals in our communities

We have supported individuals in need for over 35 years through advice giving at clinics. Our lawyers regularly advise clients of South West London Law Centre, Bristol Law Centre and the DIFC Pro Bono clinic in Dubai.

We have 20+ volunteers who support Working Families, a UK charity which provides free legal advice to parents and carers on their rights at work. Working Families has been a real lifeline to many families during and following the COVID-19 crisis, and our lawyers are proud to support their mission to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace.

Access to Justice

Our Access to Justice programme, launched in 2015 as part of the UK Collaborative Plan’s response to legal aid cuts in social welfare law, is an initiative aimed at supporting those most in need. The programme is led and supervised by Diane Sechi, the firm’s senior pro bono lawyer and an experienced social welfare practitioner.

Through this programme, our lawyers, working alongside in-house legal teams from a variety of clients, provide free, end-to-end legal support to challenge disability benefit appeals. We are proud to report a 97% success rate in the last financial year. These successful appeals have resulted in over 320 individuals receiving backdated payments totalling £1 million, offering critical financial support to those who need it most.

Rooted in the community, the programme takes cases directly from South West London Law Centre and other frontline disability services. Its success highlights the transformative impact of pro bono work and demonstrates how the expertise of corporate lawyers can be effectively harnessed to address pressing social justice issues.

Protecting refugees

We continue to increase our support for refugees and displaced people globally.

We work closely with Safe Passage International, a not for profit which champions the rights of refugees and displaced people fleeing persecution. Over the last few years we supported their work with refugees fleeing Ukraine by sending volunteers to work with the team in Warsaw to help safely relocate vulnerable individuals to the UK. Our volunteers have provided face to face advice and practical casework support on the UK’s two entry clearance schemes. We are also working with Safe Passage International on responding to the crisis in Sudan, supporting families through a family reunification project.

We work with Refugee Legal Support on their ‘Family Reunion from Europe’ project. Our volunteers assist people who have been forcibly displaced across Europe to be reunited with their family members.

“I have assisted RLS with both exceptional case funding and family reunification applications. The work involved develops skills vital to a legal professional – legal research, drafting, interviewing, project management, and communicating directly with vulnerable clients – and provides excellent opportunities to learn about human rights and UK immigration law, collaborate with colleagues from different departments, and help those in genuine need to reunite with their loved ones. Working with RLS has been enjoyable and extremely rewarding, and I highly recommend getting involved.”

Yoram Goodman, Trainee Solicitor

A number of our lawyers from our Madrid office are volunteering on the "Safe Pathways to Spain" project in collaboration with ACCEM, a Spanish non-profit organisation specialising in the care of refugees, asylum seekers, and those in or at risk of social hardship. On this project pro bono volunteer lawyers draft family reunification applications or humanitarian visa applications primarily for Afghan individuals residing in Afghanistan or third countries who are at risk of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinions, membership in a particular social group, gender, sexual orientation, or sexual identity.

Providing advice to prisoners

Over 50 volunteers from across our international network volunteer with Amicus to assist individuals facing the death penalty in the United States. Our volunteers help with legal casework which directly assists the lawyers in America defending the case. Our lawyers also work with the Florida Centre for Capital Representation and Florida International University to conduct monthly reviews of all open death penalty cases in Florida. This enables the lawyers in the US to provide the necessary legal representation to those who most urgently require it.

In Autumn 2023, we were pleased to relaunch our partnership with the Prisoners’ Advice Service. Through this initiative, our volunteers offer free legal advice to adult prisoners in England and Wales on matters relating to prison rules and laws.

We are also proud to have launched a collaboration with Not Beyond Redemption in 2023. Through this partnership, our volunteers provide family law advice and representation to mothers in prison, helping them work towards re-establishing relationships with their children.

“The experience was thought-provoking, eye-opening and emotional. It is so easy to make sweeping judgments in the abstract, but things often seem different when sitting face to face with another human being. I was reminded that sadly a stable happy childhood is not a given for so many and I feel hugely motivated to do what I can in the weeks ahead to try to make a positive difference to the children involved in such a difficult set of circumstances.”

Sarah Hayes, Professional Support Lawyer (Employment)

Immigration advice

We work with Kids in Need of Defense in the UK and Ireland.

In the UK there are over 215,000 undocumented children. Our volunteers, in partnership with KiND, help undocumented children make applications to gain British citizenship. We work closely with the children and their families. This is impactful work as becoming documented can mean the end of the risk of being torn apart from their family and home or being deported to a country they do not know. It means they can access work, higher education and all of life’s opportunities freely as they become adults.

In Ireland, our volunteers help unaccompanied children who have been granted asylum to reunite with their families. We have assisted 12 families and are proud to continue our support.

"I have really enjoyed working with KIND this year and found the work very rewarding. I look forward to continuing working with KIND and volunteering on our global pro bono projects more broadly."

Cristine Quigley, Supervising Associate, Dublin.

Charitable Foundation

“The Charitable Foundation is an important part of the way that, as a firm, we can help those most in need across the world.”

Julian Taylor, Chair of the Charitable Foundation.

In 2009, we established the Simmons & Simmons Charitable Foundation, a registered charity (Charity Commission registration: 1129643), which seeks to provide support to charitable organisations which are local to the firm’s offices and contribute to humanitarian aid.

Each year in total the foundation donates £1m to charities mostly selected by our colleagues across our international network and also aligned to our chosen UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Foundation also reserves an amount from this fund to enable us to rapidly respond in the event of a crisis globally each year too. For example, in 2023/24 these funds were used to provide relief to the UNHCR to support those affected by the conflict in Sudan, and also to their emergency relief fund to distribute funds quickly and effectively to those most affected by natural disasters and conflict.

“I cannot begin to tell you the impact you have made. In the UK there will be families whose difficult times are made that much better, easier and happier because of you. We all owe you and your colleagues a debt of gratitude.”

Alzheimer’s Society.

Volunteering and Community Impact

The firm supports and rewards involvement in community engagement projects and charitable volunteering.

Over the last few years activities have included tree planting, beach clean-ups and local community volunteering.

In the UK, everyone can take one full day of paid Charity Leave per calendar year in order to participate in a charitable event or activity. This time off may be taken as one full day's leave or two half day's leave.