A6 : Corporate Social Responsibility: an oxymoron? Philanthropy versus commercial reality?

There has always been a strong pro bono ethic in common law systems, which has been taken advantage of by governments who fail properly to fund litigation. To what extent is the legal profession’s pro bono ethic and the current regimes of Corporate Social Responsibility altruistic? To what extent are they client driven? Can such regimes be client driven and unselfish? In the UK, the Investors in People (IIP) Standard is a recognised framework designed to help firms improve their performance and realise their objectives through effective management, support and development of their organisation and their people but it is voluntary. To what extent should this be enforced with regulatory authorities requiring law firms to have a CSR strategy. What impact does pro bono have on the not-for-profit sector, which is so often in the vanguard of law reform.