Who we are

More than law

It’s important that we as a firm, and as individuals, give back to the communities in which we work and advise those who can’t access legal advice. It’s not only good for the world – it’s a great way for us to develop our skills and make our own practice the best it can be.

We’re proud of our 178 year history, a leading global law firm with a reputation for consistent excellence. Our people go further to support our clients, with market-leading legal insight and innovation. And we go further for each other, too. We’re people you want to work with, generous with our time and ready to help. So no matter what the future holds, with us you’ll be one step ahead.

Our strategy

We're empowering our teams

We develop exceptional talent as they work on high profile projects on a global scale. We welcome diversity and individuality. Along with highly competitive rewards, we'll provide the very best training and the flexibility you need to steer your own career.

We’re investing in our clients

We are business partners as well as legal advisors. Guided by experts from the world of law and beyond, we are our clients' guide to global trends, and their commercial implications.

We’re changing our mindset

Open, approachable people make for great teams. Teams that are more united, even when separated by hundreds of miles. So we invite everyone who works here to shape our ideas. We experiment. We embrace innovative ideas, tools and technology. And we help each other to do the right thing for our clients, communities, and the environment.

Our future

Our strengths and vision set out our roadmap to an even more successful future. Achieving it though, starts at home. It calls for everyone who works under the Linklaters name to work to a shared sense of purpose, and common values.  It's what we call ‘Our Team Linklaters Way’.

 

Our Team Linklaters Way

Our five values guide what we do, so that every action we take makes us stronger and brings us closer to realising our goals. Day in, day out, they shape what we expect of ourselves and each other.

 

 

1. We strive for excellence

We deliver fantastic client service. We seek and act on feedback, so that we continuously improve.

2. We respect each other

We support our people and embrace diversity. We are accountable, and we lead by example.

3. We are leaders

We are empowered, entrepreneurial and inspire. We take the initiative, encourage innovation and embrace new ideas.

4. We act with integrity

We don’t just do things right, we do the right thing. We are admired as a responsible business.

5. We are one team

We are united, inclusive and collaborative. We deliver the whole firm to our client

Our impact

This is a time of unprecedented challenge for our clients. At Linklaters, we’re ready. Empowered, united, performing: we give our clients the clarity they need to navigate instability, building confidence in our communities.

And together, we deliver legal certainty in a changing world.

 

A global outlook

Inspiring confidence is central to everything at Linklaters. It makes us unique – for our clients, for our colleagues and for the communities in which we work. If we can continue to earn the trust of our clients we will lead the way around the world.

Fortunately, while we're proud of our past, we also know where we're going. Our global capability grants us access to the most interesting work. And we're in business to meet the complex needs of the world’s leading organisations.

Everyone who works with us needs to identify with that vision. We're looking for the new breed of commercial lawyer, who can work seamlessly across geographical boundaries. It calls for a global outlook: cultural sensitivity, empathy and a good deal of flexibility, but achieve that balance successfully, and the rewards are substantial.

If you're a globally-minded individual who's passionate about problem-solving, then Linklaters is the right choice for you.

A collective responsibility

We’re dedicated to responsible business, whether advising clients on issues such as sustainability or fair practice, or taking direct action to support communities. Launched in 2013, our collective responsibility strategy is award-winning, and wide-ranging, too. It includes commitments not just to the community and environment, but to protecting human rights and combatting slavery. We’ve also joined the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative, building a fairer, healthier, more prosperous society, through the power of partnership.

Protecting the right to justice

Every year we draw on our global networks to provide more than 30,000 hours of pro bono legal support to around 200 not-for-profit organisations, and many more vulnerable individuals. For example, we recently contributed to a successful appeal at the US Supreme Court for Bobby Moore, a death row inmate with intellectual disabilities. This case has major implications for death penalty cases across the United States. And our work on social finance for not-for-profit organisations is setting the bar for the sector.

“The support we've received from Linklaters has been outstanding. No question has been too much hassle.” Geoff Burnard, CEO, Investing for Good
“Linklaters has done a great job on the Bobby Moore case and many others. Not all cases end up in the Supreme Court, but they really do make a difference.” Margot Ravenscroft, Director, Amicus 

 

Investing in the community

With our Realising Aspirations programme, and law scholarships, we’re removing barriers to success for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We’re helping not-for-profit organisations to grow their capabilities. And through matched giving and paid time off to volunteer, we’re inspiring our colleagues to improve lives on their doorsteps.

Pro bono work

We firmly believe that providing pro bono legal advice and representation is the professional responsibility of all our lawyers. Join us, and you’ll also join in this valuable contribution. We’re committed to the recommendations and guidelines of the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the District of Columbia Resolutions on Pro Bono Services, as well as the Pro Bono Institute and its Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge ®.

Our New York office leads the way in harnessing the skills and strengths of our attorneys and colleagues to bring about positive change for those who are mistreated and in need. Our office is understandably proud – not only of its tradition of public service, but also of its position as a leader in the firm’s diverse pro bono practice around the world. For you, this makes Linklaters New York the ideal place to grow and make a positive impact on society.

Join our lawyers who are working on a variety of pro bono matters with many leading organizations, including:

  • City Bar Justice Center
  • Immigration Equality
  • Lawyers Alliance for New York
  • New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
  • New York Office of the Appellate Defender
  • Sanctuary for Families
  • Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
  • Vance Center for International Justice

We’re honored to represent victims of persecution from countries around the world in their requests for asylum. We assist women who are victims of domestic violence with their residency applications, and we advise immigration detainees. We also provide support to nonprofit organizations seeking to improve economic development and quality of life in New York City’s disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Protecting the right to justice

Every year we draw on our global networks to provide more than 30,000 hours of pro bono legal support to around 200 not-for-profit organisations, and many more vulnerable individuals. For example, we recently contributed to a successful appeal at the US Supreme Court for Bobby Moore, a death row inmate with intellectual disabilities. This case has major implications for death penalty cases across the United States. And our work on social finance for not-for-profit organisations is setting the bar for the sector.

“The support we've received from Linklaters has been outstanding. No question has been too much hassle.” Geoff Burnard, CEO, Investing for Good
“Linklaters has done a great job on the Bobby Moore case and many others. Not all cases end up in the Supreme Court, but they really do make a difference.” Margot Ravenscroft, Director, Amicus 

Community Investment

Our community support programs are focused on two global themes:

  • Growing the capabilities of nonprofits
  • Growing the aspirations and skills of young people

Our work also focuses on matters that promote access to justice. Our reach extends across borders, allowing us to represent social entrepreneurs and advise on rule of law initiatives.

Recent representative projects include:

 

B the Change

Social entrepreneurship and impact investing are fast becoming very important movements as engines for social change. But how does commercial world make its mark? Global legal frameworks underpinning business entities and director duties were not originally designed to promote the operations of a for-profit company, even if social benefits were integral to its purpose.

Enter B Lab. This U.S. not-for-profit represents and promotes the global movement of entrepreneurs using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Lab certifies companies as being a “B Corp” in the United States, or an “Empresa B” in Latin America, if the company can demonstrate it has a positive impact on its stakeholders. 

B Lab needed us to help create the multi-jurisdictional legal framework that would help business achieve positive social change. We pursued an innovative multi-prong approach. First, we evaluated existing corporate laws. Then, we recommended what kind of language should be included in constitutional documentation of entities under existing laws, to best achieve B Lab’s goals within the existing legal framework. Finally, we recommended changes to applicable laws to improve the legal framework. The innovation we brought to this project included the novelty and breadth of our legal advice, the global reach of our analysis to support B Lab’s global expansion, and the impact of our work in communities globally. In fact, our work with B Lab was shortlisted for the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards for North America 2014: Innovation in a Social Responsibility Project.

Fostering the rule of Law in Liberia

The Liberian legal system is rooted in common law. It is precedent-driven, requiring judges to consider previous judicial decisions on the same or similar topics when giving a ruling in a case. But the lack of a comprehensive index to case law, compounded by lack of access to previous court decisions in remote areas, posed a significant challenge to the system.

Over a period of five years, our cross-disciplinary team of over 200 lawyers and trainees across eight Linklaters offices completed the ambitious task of producing an indexed digest of the jurisprudence of Liberia, from the 1860s onwards. It was a multi-party effort, with Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB), Thomson Reuters, the World Bank and a number of others. As a result, judges and lawyers are now able to access, consider and build upon Liberian case precedent. To address a particular issue in this region, we also worked with LWOB to create a series of comic books designed to educate lawyers and the public in Liberia on their rights around human trafficking.

This all marked the beginning of a new era in Liberian law. The project is a testament to what’s possible with the right commitment by the right parties. What’s more, it serves as a replicable model of sustainability and best practice. We’re proud the project won Global Pro Bono Project of the Year, Africa, in 2014 by The American Lawyer.

Diversity & inclusion

Being a global organization means much more than having offices around the world.

We’re striving to be the leading global law firm. This means our team must reflect the cultures and values of the communities and arenas in which we work. It means we must make diversity and inclusion integral to what we do, from the way we recruit our people, to the training and support we offer them, and our growing investment in local communities and projects.

We value difference, and we want to attract talented people from a wide range of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences. We’re committed to creating an inclusive working environment where everyone can reach their potential and excel. Our local diversity committees are a platform for our people to share their views, foster their ideas and implement change.

Learn more about diversity and inclusion at Linklaters.

Diversity

Our ambition to be a diverse organization is closely aligned to our initiatives across recruitment, knowledge and learning, business and client development, and community investment, which include:

  • Annual participation in several U.S. job fairs and programs geared toward fostering diversity in the legal profession, including Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.
  • Flexible working, allowing approximately 15% of our employees worldwide to work more flexibly.
  • Special events for women attorneys and clients across the firm.
  • The launch of the Women’s Leadership Program in 2012 – a 9-month program of events, structured learning and coaching to develop and retain highly-talented women across our global network.
  • Sponsorship of affinity networks across the firm.

Pro bono

Our pro bono work supports the diversity of our communities. Our work includes:

  • Representing LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants in their applications for asylum through Immigration Equality.
  • Partnering with the Minkwon Center for Community Action to deliver a citizenship clinic on matters relating to wage discrimination and housing.
  • Contributing to Sanctuary for Families’ Immigration Intervention Project, to provide immigrant domestic violence victims with legal services that allow them to obtain permanent resident status or citizenship.
  • Partnering with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund to help secure legal name changes and advocate for transgender clients in matters workplace discrimination.

Aspirations

We support the career aspirations of diverse populations in our communities and markets through a number of activities, including:

  • Sponsorship and participation in several New York City-based youth programs, designed to encourage young women and ethnic minority students to excel in school and enter the legal profession. These programs include the Inner City Scholarship Fund and Legal Outreach.
  • Sponsorship and participation in the UK-based Amos Bursary, which provides internships and mentoring support in London and New York for young men of African and Caribbean descent.
  • Co-sponsorship, in cooperation with Goldman Sachs, of the August 2014 launch of LIFT (Language, Inspiration, Focus and Training). This is a scholarship and mentoring program that supports students from severely underprivileged communities who attend Zumbi dos Palmares University in Sao Paulo.
  • Active membership in the 30% Club, an organization of Chairs and CEOs aimed at increasing women’s representation on FTSE-100 boards to 30%. This is currently around 23%, and we’re also working towards improving gender balance at all levels of organizations in the UK, U.S., and other regions.