Anti-slavery and human trafficking statement
- Opening Statement from Senior Management
Corporate responsibility is a core value of Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP (“the Firm”)[1]. Modern slavery is a despicable and often concealed crime. It includes slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour, and human trafficking, the impact of which can be devastating for the victims.
We are committed to preventing all acts of modern slavery from occurring within our business and supply chain and we expect the same high standards of our suppliers.
This statement is made on behalf of the London office of Paul Hastings pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015[2] (“the Act”), and constitutes the Firm's modern slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 January 2024.
- Structure of the Organisation
The Firm provides legal services across a wide range of disciplines and sectors, servicing clients' global needs from 21 offices around the world including in North and South America, Europe and Asia and is one of the world's most innovative global law firms. To find out more about the nature of our business, please visit our website: http://www.paulhastings.com.
We operate as a limited liability partnership in England and Wales with branch offices in London, Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris under registered number OC306535. The Firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”) (SRA ID 398385). The members of the Firm are solicitors or registered foreign lawyers authorised to practice in England & Wales. There are approximately 300 lawyers and support staff in the London Office.
In accordance with the SRA’s standards and regulations, we have appointed a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice ("COLP"). The COLP is responsible for ensuring that the Firm has policies and procedures in place that are designed to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including the Act.
- Policy
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery in any part of our business and supply chain. Our commitment reflects our desire to be a responsible business which operates ethically and with integrity. Our approach is to ensure that our suppliers are aware of our policies and adhere to the same high standards as the Firm.
We have an established Whistleblowing Policy which underpins our commitment to reporting any concerns about modern slavery. The aim of that policy is to ensure that everyone is confident they can raise a concern without fear of reprisal or detrimental treatment.
- Risk Assessment and Due Diligence
We seek to work with suppliers that share our values. We expect our suppliers to operate fair and ethical workplaces and do not tolerate any form of modern slavery within our supply chains.
Supply Chains
The Firm engages suppliers for the provision of a range of goods and services in the areas of talent management, technology, office cleaning and facilities services, and other professional services (from barristers to other advisers). These are obtained to enable our lawyers to service our clients, and to support the efficient running of our Firm.
Due Diligence
As part of our efforts to monitor and reduce the risk of modern slavery occurring within our supply chains, we have adopted a Vendor and Supplier Code of Conduct, containing standards and values which suppliers are expected to disseminate throughout their own supplier network.
The Firm evaluates the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of modern slavery occurring in its supply chain by reviewing and evaluating suppliers. As a professional services organisation that does not operate in high risk sectors or locations, we consider the risk of modern slavery existing within our business to be low, although we are conscious that in limited parts of our supply chain e.g. cleaning services, that suppliers in such areas may rely on low paid and low skilled workers.
Our procedures are designed to:
- establish and assess areas of potential risk in our business and supply chains;
- reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains; and
- provide adequate protection for whistleblowers
- Training
We invest in educating our staff to recognise the risks of modern slavery in our business and supply chains. Our policies and procedures are made available to all staff via the Firm's portal, and the Employee Handbook includes our Code of Conduct, which sets out the ethical standards we expect everyone working for the firm to meet.
Specific training and guidance will be provided to employees in the London Office, to assess the human rights and labour performance of suppliers.
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Steps Going Forward
Going forward the Firm will undertake an annual review of the effectiveness of our procedures to ensure that slavery, forced labour or human trafficking are not taking place by:
- seeking a compliance statement from all current suppliers, especially from those where we have identified a potential risk that we have mitigated by reminding them of our values and ethical standards and reiterating the expectations we have of them when working with us;
- ensuring all new suppliers commit to preventing acts of modern slavery from occurring within their businesses; and
- introducing new colleagues to this modern slavery statement as part of their induction.
Arun Srivastava
Partner and Designated Member
July 2024
1. Any references to "we", "us", "our", "Paul Hastings" or “the Firm” relate to Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP