Bates Wells - 2024 impact report review
I’ve been looking forward to reviewing Bates Wells’ impact report again. They’re a professional services business that I often use as a case study because they are integrating impact into what they do and how they do it.
👍🏻 Three things I like:
1. SUSTAINABILITY & REPONSIBILITY PLEDGE
In 2023, they launched the Bates Wells Sustainability & Responsibility Pledge, committing that they will help their clients consider the ESG implications of any work Bates Wells does for them.
They also provide training to help their lawyers provide net-zero aligned legal advice.
2. USE LEGAL EXPERTISE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Doing good is very much part of Bates Wells’s legal work - i.e. what they do. Throughout the report, they give lots of specific examples of projects they’ve worked on and advice they’ve given – this brings to life what they mean when they talk about using law as a force for good.
3. INFLUENCING WIDER SYSTEM CHANGE
Beyond specific client projects, there are lots of examples of where they’re involved in or leading wider system change – again, using their legal expertise to do this.
For example, the Equalising Deal Terms Project, membership of the Law Society Climate Change Working Group, and as a member of the UN Race to Zero Serviced Emissions Working Group.
❓ Three questions it raises:
1. WHAT WERE AND ARE THEIR OBJECTIVES?
At the beginning of the report they refer to specific objectives – but they don’t share these or report on the extent to which they’ve achieved them or made progress against them.
What are their objectives for the next year(s)? Ideally SMART objectives they could then measure and report progress against in the next report.
2. HOW DO THEIR INTERNAL GOVERNANCE AND PROCESSES SUPPORT DELIVERY OF THEIR MISSION?
Bates Wells are one of the most progressive partnerships when it comes to being impact-led.
How does their governance support this?
Have they managed to integrate ESG effectively into partner share – and, if so, how?
Having worked with lots of partnerships, I imagine there’s lots that others could learn from Bates Wells.
3. HOW DO THEY MEASURE THEIR IMPACT?
How do they measure the progress they’re making in delivering on their mission? How do they know they’re making progress?
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You can read the report for yourself here and let me know what you think.
If you’re preparing to write your own impact report, you might find my FREE Impact Reporting Roadmap helpful: