London law firm Womble Bond Dickinson retains EcoVadis Gold

Womble Bond Dickinson’s (WBD) sustainability programme has been recognised once again after the firm retained its gold certification from EcoVadis for a third consecutive year.

As the world’s largest and most-trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, EcoVadis assesses criteria across four themes: Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, Environment and Sustainable Procurement with many businesses across the world now taking into consideration the ratings of potential clients, suppliers, and partners.

This year, WBD improved its score in the Labour and Human Rights category and overall, placing the firm in the top three per cent of all companies reporting globally.

To achieve this, WBD has implemented several changes over the past 12 months. These include sharing our health and safety procedures for contracted workers, and further developing employee health and safety emergency action plans. In addition, we have worked to identify improvements to the ways in which our skills development programmes are tailored to specific employee needs and areas of interest.

WBD was a double winner at The Legal 500’s inaugural ESG Awards with partner Jon Bower picking up the Environmental/Sustainability: Private Practice Champion award, while Senior Responsible Business Manager Charlotte von Sicard was named ESG Rising Star of the Year. The firm also ranks in the top 100 employers in the Stonewall Employer Index, and additionally, became one of a select few law firms to achieve Disability Confident Leader certification.

Sally Dallow, partner lead for responsible business at Womble Bond Dickinson, said:

“We are thrilled and proud to have maintained our gold status and boost our score in the EcoVadis assessment, which reflects the hard work and dedication of our teams across the business.

As a responsible business, we are committed to delivering excellence for our people, clients and communities, as well as reducing our impact on the planet. EcoVadis helps us measure and improve our performance in these areas.”