Social impact

Australia

Our employment team provides pro bono legal advice to individual clients at Kingsford Legal Centre, a community legal service run by the University of NSW Sydney Law & Justice Faculty. Kennedys is also a law firm partner of the Fair Work Commission Pro Bono Workplace Advice Service, advising and representing individuals and small businesses in various Fair Work matters.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, community champions are continuing to support their charity partner the Hong Chi Association (Oi Tung Hostel), by raising funds, donating essential items and joining forces with the residents to mark special occasions, like the Mid-Autumn Festival.  Hong Chi is a charity dedicated to serving over 7,000 people of all ages with developmental need by providing pre-school facilities, supported employment, adult education, family and community support, recreational and social programmes, as well as professional therapy.

India

Kennedys IQ supports the Youth Enrichment Programme in Kerala, delivered in partnership with the Women Empowerment and Human Resources Development Centre of India (WHI), an organisation in special consultative status with the UN Economic & Social Council since 2014. Working alongside NGOs and local Anganwadi centres and grassroots organsiations, the programme reached over 750 students from coastal communities in the Veli sector. Many of these young people have grown up without access to technology, structured educational support or the environment to build confidence through public speaking and teamwork. For most, this was their first time using a PC or being encouraged to share their ideas in English. 

The programme introduced practical skills like using MS Word and AI tools, but also focused on self-expression, leadership and understanding legal rights.  By supporting this initiative we’ve helped create new pathways for young people to learn new skills and explore careers – together with coming up with local problem-solving ideas – from cyber safety to climate action. Gaining not just knowledge, but self-belief and some hope for their futures.

Tony Joseph, CEO of Kennedys IQ commented:  ‘I am proud that the Youth Enrichment programme was supported by Kennedys and that we were able to impact 750+ lives through this initiative. It was also made stronger by our volunteers from the Kennedys IQ team who gave their time to support the sessions. A big thank you to Kennedys for investing in this important

Dubai

This year, our Dubai Thrive Action Group came together once again to support SmartLife, a long-standing charity partner dedicated to improving the lives of blue-collar workers in the region.  

Blue-collar workers are the backbone of Dubai's economy, taking on roles in construction, maintenance, transportation and other essential service industries. These workers often leave their families behind for long periods. While their work is critical to the city's growth and infrastructure, their daily lives can involve challenges, including limited access to resources and support systems.  

This year's initiative supported female workers and thanks to the generosity of our 28-strong team, £1,300 worth of essential items were distributed, benefiting to 200 workers.

SmartLife has been a trusted charity partner for several years, and we remain committed to supporting their vital work. 

Spain

Our team in Madrid has a long-running partnership with Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) through its Legal Clinic programme. ICADE Legal Clinic is a pro bono programme where students from the university volunteer on different projects with NGOs. Our lawyers meet with students to review the current status of their cases and have weekly follow-up calls.

Community champions sponsored a visit to Al Paso a horse therapy experience for twenty children with specific needs. The team worked alongside children and helped them take part in different workshops. Horse-riding activities were a big part of the day, and children were given an opportunity to ride a horse and play different psychomotricity, memory, attention and spatial orientation games. They also had the opportunity to learn about horse care, as well as learning about how to fit the saddle, bridle and foot protectors together with attended a feeding workshop to learn about what horses eat and what their health needs are.

Miguel-Angel Aviles, Associate commented:
"Many people from the office expressed the gratitude of being able to participate in an event like this, as we felt quite connected both with kids, nature, and helped understanding the problems that face these kids and also the importance of the work carried out by associations as AL PASO."

 

Copenhagen

For the last four years, our Copenhagen office has partnered with local charities to provide pro bono legal advice and support.

Medea Plesner, Legal Director in the Copenhagen office talks about the team’s work:

 “We mostly assist with administrative or legal tasks, such as employment contracts or a claim for infringement of intellectual property rights. We have also advised on how to set up a whistle blower system.

Through our pro bono work, we learn something new and get to work with different kinds of clients, that we don't see in our day to day practice. The work we do pro bono gives a sense of purpose and a chance to give back.”

The advice provided by the Kennedys’ team helps improve the resilience, capability and capacity of these organisations, enabling them to focus their resource on delivering their objectives and supporting their service users.

SIND Ungdom is a mental health charity for young people, aiming to break the silence around mental illness and vulnerability and create a space and community for young people with mental illness to thrive. Jimmi Elley Nielsen, Board member at SIND Ungdom explains the impact made by Kennedys’ support:

“From small things to help with employment contracts, reviewing contracts with foundations and authorities, to the very big help….where we as an organization have no knowledge or skills for the legal procedures in that process.  Without Kennedys, SIND Ungdom probably wouldn't be here today. We can focus on helping young adults with mental issues, because we know Kennedys has got our back.”

TECHO partner with corporates and volunteers to build homes for families who are living in shared and overcrowded accommodation.  The homes built by corporate volunteers, are designed to provide an extra 20 square meters to standard living conditions and running water providing families with the chance to experience a life defined by dignity and independence.

With extensive planning, collaboration and the incredible support of the local TECHO coordinators, we successfully mobilised 40 volunteers from four countries to build four homes for families in need - in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. 

The prefabricated homes were built by our volunteers, alongside members of the local community and families, giving them a sense of ownership and empowerment, while fostering teamwork and deepening our connection to each other and the cause.

Monica Tocarruncho, Partner Sponsor, LatAm:
"Supporting TECHO bought myself, colleagues and local communities together. We made a real difference with our resources and skills thanks to this project.  Along with colleagues in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, we're proud to be making an impact in the communities where we live and work."

In Spring 2025, over 200 Kennedys colleagues across 12 U.S. offices took part in the Insurance Industry Charitable Donation’s (IICF) annual Step UP Challenge - raising over $11,000 to support children and families facing food insecurity.

The challenged linked movement and wellbeing in support of local causes.  Participants could walk and hike, as well and recording their day to day steps using the Step Up app. 

Across 19 countries, thousands joined this iconic challenge.  As a firm, we partnered with our @WomenatKennedys network to promote the challenge and boost participation.  Friendly competition and weekly updates helped keep the momentum going, with progress shared in real-time.

"With 23 teams registered, Kennedys raised approximately $11,000 – an amazing show of support which will help provide approximately 44,000 meals to children and families facing food insecurity. The funds raised through the Step Up Challenge support IICF’s Children’s Relief Fund, which helps provide meals and resources to underserved children and families through nonprofit partners in communities where our industry lives and works."
Rachel Boulton, Associate Director, Northeast Division

Kennedys has served on IICF’s board since 2023 and support its work both financially and through employee volunteering.  The Step Up Challenge is one of many ways we connect our people to

In New York, the LGBT Bar Association of New York endeavours to provide meaningful legal services through various free drop-in legal clinics, which offer holistic consultations and referrals to members of the LGBTQ community. Attorney volunteers from Kennedys’ New York office support the clinic, which helps with any number of legal issues, including housing, immigration, family law matters, criminal issues, employment, discrimination, and more.

Our colleagues in the Basking Ridge office work with the Legal Services of North West Jersey to support the ‘Reboot and Rebound’ project.  This pro bono initiative seeks to dismantle the systemic barriers created by having a criminal record by supporting individuals to complete and file expungement applications.

Scotland

Our Scotland team regularly raises funds for Children 1^st through charity challenges and team events. Children 1^st is Scotland’s national children’s charity.  They help protect children from harm, support families under pressure and provide services for those affected by trauma and abuse. The team is currently undertaking a year-long running challenge to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK, Children 1^st and The Children’s Society – combining fitness with fundraising throughout 2025.

UK

We have appointed The Children’s Society (TCS) as our UK-wide charity partner. Our activities can be adapted to reach all of the communities where we have offices. Our community volunteers have been taking part in fundraising challenges and team volunteer days in a number of office locations and we also provide pro bono legal support. TCS offer multiple services to vulnerable young people across the UK, including making sure that children have enough to eat, a safe place to stay and access to counselling for victims of abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Our school's outreach programme continues with student mentoring, insight days, reading schemes and work experience programmes established in our London, Scotland, Taunton, Manchester and Birmingham offices. We have established long-term partnerships with education partners including, Chapter One, Bridging Barriers, Ablaze, Envision and Future Frontiers with the aim of helping young people reach their full potential through skills-based volunteering.

Following the theme of supporting students, we have established an ongoing partnership with Every Child Online (ECO). Since ECO was established in 2020 more than 12,000 devices have been recycled to date, including 570 PCs and 1,048 from Kennedys. We have also donated 23 large screen TVs and 650 telephone handsets which have been distributed to schools and community groups in Newham, London and Essex.

We are a founding Affiliate Board member of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a unique industry-led organisation that improves the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged people by bringing the insurance industry together through its annual grant giving programme. Our membership enables us to broaden our volunteer programme and increase the IICF's impact through industry and client engagement activities.

We are a member of LawWorks and support the LawWorks’ Not for Profit Programme, which brokers free legal advice to small not-for-profit organisations on a wide range of legal issues. Recently through the Programme, we have provided support to AdviceNow on the organisation’s personal injury online resources. We are also members of the UK Collaborative Plan.

We create pro bono partnerships that align to our priority UNSDGs and promote positive, sustainable change. Through our partnership with environmental consultancy Bright Tide we have provided pro bono advice to sustainable development and regenerative farming ventures to build and develop their impact organisations

Working in partnership with The Chancery Lane Project (TCLP), our pro bono team has developed two clauses which, for the first time, will allow insurers to offer their commercial clients liability cover for climate-related injury or property damage claims.

TCLP is a global network of over 3,000 legal and industry professionals working together to create free contractual clauses that make tackling the climate crisis part of the drafting process in all contractual documents. See press release here.

In 2025, a team of Kennedys’ lawyers also took part in a TCLP pilot climate law training programme, providing feedback that would shape the design of the programme ahead of national roll out. You can find out more about the training programme: ‘Climate Contracting in Action’ here.

In 2025, we became a law firm partner of the Schools Consent Project, enabling lawyer volunteers from across our UK offices to deliver public legal education workshops in schools which explore the legal definition of consent, the age of consent, key sexual offences, online offences & how to check for and communicate consent.

Our global engagement work is growing, as Thrive Together becomes embedded across regions. 

Our recent involvement in the Regenerative Farming and Sustain AI Accelerators – delivered in partnership with Bright Tide – supported global start-ups and SMEs tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. Through pro bono legal support and strategic input – we helped these purpose-led businesses overcome barriers and scale their impact.

We’ve already supported global campaigns through fundraising and awareness initiatives - including making regular donations to the WWF when running global climate awareness campaigns and taking part in sector-wide initiatives like the IICF’s Global Month of Giving.  Other activities such as International Women’s Day fundraisers are organised across multiple offices to hep raise funds for local and international charities. 

For regional and global reach that supports high impact NGOs and social enterprises, we are members of international pro bono clearing houses Trustlaw and PILnet. Pro bono requests we deal through our membership can range from: establishing new legal entities, drafting employment contracts, compliance and governance advice, real estate, structuring and corporate and commercial agreements.