CSR and Diversity & Inclusion

To achieve a better world by 2030, world leaders have agreed 17 goals covering a wide range  of issues from ending poverty to promoting gender equality and ensuring justice.

Through our CSR activities around the world,  we are contributing towards these  sustainable development goals. By leveraging  our talent, resources  and geographic reach,  we aim to make  a positive impact  on the world  by supporting those  who are working  on solving social and economic challenges.

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all  at all ages 

Fondation contre le cancer is one of the biggest organisations fighting cancer in Belgium. It finances researchers and psychosocial projects and provides information about  the disease and its treatments. CMS Belgium supports the organisation through donations and free legal support.

CMS Monaco supports Children & Future, an organisation that promotes and defends children’s rights worldwide by implementing or supporting projects that improve their living conditions in terms of health, education, hygiene and nutrition.

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access  to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Pro Bono Connect links civil society to lawyers from top law firms to give them free legal advice or assistance in legal proceedings. NGOs can contact Pro Bono Connect with legal questions concerning the aims of their organisations or questions that are of strategic importance for their work. The initiative is supported by CMS Netherlands.

We provide pro bono legal advice directly to a large number of charities and individuals. CMS in Chile, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK are particularly active  in this area.

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Défi Jeunesse Hauts de Seine is an initiative supported by CMS France where lawyers and staff meet pupils from socially deprived areas.

PRIME is an alliance of law firms dedicated to widening access to the legal industry. CMS UK provides one-week long work experience placements  to students from disadvantaged backgrounds in many of its UK offices.

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture 

Serve the City is an international community of volunteer networks without religious or political affiliations. The organisation mobilises volunteers to help  the most vulnerable in society.  CMS Portugal has been supporting the network financially and each year volunteers from the firm organise a community dinner  for disadvantaged citizens and neighbourhoods.

CMS Spain is supporting Fundación Pan y Peces, an annual charitable initiative that collects food for families in need.

Diversity & Inclusion at CMS UK

As a global, future-facing law firm diversity & inclusion are not just aspirations for us, they are an imperative. Aligned with the wider business strategy Future Facing Inclusion is our vision for the firm and brings together everyone at CMS and across our clients and communities to deliver our vision in collaboration with all our stakeholders.

Central to our culture we ensure that diversity & inclusion are at the forefront. We use the employee life cycle as a framework to embed D & I  in all areas of the business, from recruitment to career progression and  talent retention. Our aim is to fully embed best practice across the board,  as well as empowering colleagues and develop a sense of individual accountability to creating the right culture at CMS.

We share our expertise in this field and have advised a number of clients on their Diversity & Inclusion strategies including how to drive Gender and LGBT+ equality, how to shape their approach to ethnicity and race and how to set up employee led-networks.

CMS continues to be recognised externally for its commitment to diversity and inclusion. We were again listed in The Times’ Top 50 Employers  for Women and were commended for ‘Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion’  by The Lawyer Awards in the UK.

CMS was named by General Counsels from major businesses including  FTSE 100 companies among the UK’s best law firms for diversity & inclusion. In its report, The Legal Week stated that CMS ‘walks the walk on diversity  & inclusion’; a great testimony to our dedication to create the right culture for our people and more broadly to improve diversity & inclusion in the  legal sector and the marketplace.

Quality Education For All 

Room to Read is a global organisation dedicated to promoting and enabling education through programmes focused on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded in 2000, it works in collaboration with local communities, partner organisations and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children. In addition, Room to Read motivates and supports girls to complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. It has benefitted 16.6 million children across more than 30,000 communities in 16 countries. CMS has supported Room to Read through staff fundraising initiatives across numerous jurisdictions since 2016.