For Werksmans Attorneys, corporate citizenship provides us with an opportunity to meet our social, cultural and environmental responsibilities – and to explore what possibilities exist for us to make a difference that reaches far beyond regulatory expectation.
The communities we operate in need more than our expert legal minds to assist them. They need to know that the generations to come will enjoy a better life, with better amenities and better opportunities.
Similarly, our economic and financial responsibilities to our shareholders are responsibilities we meet not only to affirm our identity as a firm committed to an unquestionable work ethic, but also to build on our 100-year old moral code that subscribes us to honesty, integrity and the highest of business principles.
Our good corporate citizenship has always reached into our deep pool of talent, harnessing the best of our people’s skills and passions. It also attracts the right kind of talent to our firm; people who read in us a passion to serve society with a greater purpose and a greater outcome in mind.
Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. The National Department of Social Development together with The National CSI Registrar recognised Werksmans for its contributions and efforts towards the social upliftment and enrichment of South African society, with the National CSI Registrar formally accrediting Werksmans for its achievements as a platinum community contributor for the period 2010 – 2011.
We have since continued to pursue an increasing number of initiatives that leave communities strengthened and well-supported, with a future ahead of them alive with hope and opportunity. The work we do helps redress imbalances and tackle areas of need, all of which assures us and those we interact with that years hence, ours will still be the firm that did it from the heart, from the start.
▶︎ Download Werksmans 2024-2025 B-BBEE Certificate here.
Beyond the need to merely operate as a top-ranked highly successful corporate and commercial law firm, is the need to make a difference in all we do. We carry out pro bono services not only ‘for the public good’ but also to satisfy our own desire to reach those who cannot afford the kind of legal advice they need.
The Werksmans culture champions integrity and commitment – and we apply these in equal measure to the large multinational with a billion-dollar turnover, and the emerging entrepreneur with limited means. By helping greater numbers of people in legal matters that are of public significance, we help promote the constitutional imperative of access to justice for all.
We make a difference in Johannesburg through the work we do with ProBono.org, a public interest law clearing house, the Wits Law Clinic, and the Legal Resources Centre.
Worthy causes we have assisted include organisations championing the healthcare rights of cancer patients, communities living in informal settlements, and emerging entrepreneurs. Without pro bono assistance, vast numbers of people run the risk of being unfairly assessed or handed incorrect judgments; some of these judgments being prejudicial enough to severely affect their ability to support themselves and their families.
The right pro bono legal assistance can turn a client’s otherwise dire situation into a new chapter. It is this desire to create new chapters for disadvantaged people that drives us to provide pro bono legal services not out of obligation, but out of integrity.
▶︎ Standing Ovation – TEAM PRO BONO
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