Responsible Business
B Corp – a commitment to being a force for positive change
Bellevue Law is proud to be certified as a B Corp. This certification demonstrates our deep commitment to meeting the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and to ensuring that business ethics, people and sustainability are a part of everything we do as a firm.
At Bellevue Law, we have always sought to provide an alternative to the legal profession’s traditional focus on long hours and billing. In a sector that faces complex challenges in terms of workplace culture, wellbeing and professional ethics, we care deeply about serving as a force for good – for our clients, our team members, our community and in our environmental and social impact.
A journey of continuous improvement
B Corps are businesses that are certified as demonstrating the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Becoming a certified B Corporation is considered to be “one of the most rigorous, comprehensive and rewarding business processes”.
At the time of our accreditation in March 2024, Bellevue Law was only the 15th law firm in the UK to become B Corp certified. We achieved a verified B Impact score of 88.6 points on certification, with 80 points required to certify.
The process of gaining certification has proved hugely worthwhile to us as a firm and a team, and – just as importantly – to our clients. We are extremely proud to join a community of businesses committed to being a force for positive change.
Importantly, our B Corp certification not only commits us to publishing an Impact Report every year, but will establish a benchmark against which to measure our impact – we share the B Corp philosophy that being accountable is an important part of being a responsible business.
We are firmly committed to continuously improving our ESG impact on the path to recertifying as a B Corp in 2027, and will be monitoring our progress and reporting on it in each of our annual Impact Reports.
B Corp – a reflection of who we are as a firm
Our B Corp accreditation reflects our enduring commitment to responsible business practices, which is at the core of everything that we do.
Our purpose and values
Bellevue Law exists to provide a genuine alternative to traditional law firms, creating positive impact for our team, our clients and wider society and the environment.
Our values of quality, ethics, culture, commercial pragmatism and growth and reward are integrated into every aspect of our operations. We’re dedicated to ensuring we have a strong culture of inclusivity, diversity, and ethical practice in everything we do, aiming to reduce our environmental impact and support social causes as well as provide the very best legal service to our clients.
Our people commitment
We work hard to attract, retain and empower excellent lawyers who share our values. We do this by providing them with high-quality work, flexibility and a healthy work-life balance, a supportive and friendly culture and the opportunity to make a good living. In turn, our team provides an exceptional, personalised service to our clients while also achieving rewarding careers.
Our community commitment
Bellevue Law is also dedicated to being a responsible business within the many communities in which we work.
This includes our longstanding commitment to pro bono work – providing free legal advice “for the public good” – as well as helping to lead the way on questions of business and workplace purpose, ethics and culture.
We also commit to contributing 2% of pre-tax profit to good causes, with a focus on initiatives which champion the rights of women and girls, especially those vulnerable to discrimination or harassment. For many years, we have supported the Wandsworth Home-Start Christmas Carol Service and made a donation to Trinity Hospice for each client who completes our annual survey.
Our client commitment
Our clients are a natural and important part of the communities we support. We don’t simply view them as businesses and individuals to whom we deliver services, but as partners in creating a positive impact in a wide range of ways.
Our holistic approach means that we offer clients not only technically excellent legal advice, but also pragmatic and human support, and fees that represent good value.
We credit this approach with leading to exceedingly high levels of client satisfaction: every year since our first annual client survey in 2018, our clients have rated us over 9/10, on average, when asked how likely they are to recommend us to a friend or colleague. In 2024, clients gave us an average rating of 9.4/10 and our Net Promoter Score (a well-recognised measure of client satisfaction) was +94/100.
In 2024 we were also pleased to be recognised by the Legal 500 directory as a Leading Firm for Client Satisfaction, placing us among the top 10 per cent of all UK law firms surveyed for client service.
Law Firm Maturity Index
In 2023, we took part in a trial of The Law Firm Maturity Index (LFMI), powered by OMINDEX®, a unique diagnostic tool that assesses a law firm’s “organisational maturity”.
The index evaluates how well a firm reconciles corporate responsibility with financial performance and maximises value from its people, based on “Organisation Health Indicators” such as purpose, human value, values and principles, learning agility, and trust and collaboration.
Bellevue Law’s LFMI ranking was ‘Band ‘A’, indicating that we are an extremely mature and responsible business. We were recognised for our exemplary management standards, with financial performance not compromising people or the environment, and key strengths including culture, values and principles, trust and our approach to gender equality and diversity. And our team’s wellbeing and engagement were found to be strong and central to our success.
The Good Business Charter
In 2020, Bellevue Law became the first law firm to be accredited by the Good Business Charter, an inclusive accreditation recognising responsible business practices and open to UK organisations of all sizes. Other members include Richer Sounds, Deloitte, London City Airport, Capita and Brompton Bicycles.
To be accredited, firms must be compliant in ten key areas, including fair pay and working conditions, responsible relationships with clients and suppliers, fair and transparent tax practices, environmental sustainability and ethical sourcing.
Our Impact Report
Our Impact Report provides more details on our journey to date, as well as our targets and plans moving forward.
Emissions Summary
We work with independent consultancy Zevero to measure and reduce our environmental impact.
Our latest greenhouse gas emissions summary details our emissions for FY 2023-24 and future reduction targets.
