Sustainability report

Human rights

When it comes to human rights, we are committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact: Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Our ambitions

As a social actor and as a provider of highly specialised legal advice on corporate compliance and sustainability, we have a responsibility to protect and promote basic human rights. We believe that all people should have equal opportunities to develop and to go to work in a safe and secure environment and in an inclusive and diverse workplace.

We contribute by making our knowledge available pro bono to relevant companies, NGOs and private individuals, who are working to ensure that human rights are not violated, and who would otherwise have difficulty accessing legal knowledge and advice. Our efforts are concentrated on two focus areas where we believe that our competences are best applied, namely the rule of law and the development and education of children and young people in Denmark and abroad. We also offer financial support to NGOs.

The importance of focusing on human rights

As a knowledge-based business, we see no significant human rights risks in relation to our activities or business relationships. We do, however, expect our clients, business partners and suppliers to comply with all applicable conventions in this area, and we are continually aware of our responsibility for strong ethical conduct when selecting business partners and suppliers and entering into client relationships.

As a workplace for more than 540 employees, we have an important responsibility to create an inclusive and diverse workplace where all employees are treated with respect and decency and have equal opportunities for development and recognition.

Objectives for 2022

Our objective was to continue concentrating on pro bono work within our two focus areas, viz. the rule of law and education and development of children and young people in Denmark and abroad.

Moreover, we also aimed to continue our work on strengthening diversity and inclusion, including specific actions to protect LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

Developments in 2022 and expected development

Throughout the year, we devoted our attention to pro bono work and projects within our two focus areas, namely the rule of law and education and development of children and young people in Denmark and abroad.

We continued to support the Danish think tank Justitia, and again in 2022 we seconded one of our employees for a few days a week to assist in the think tank’s work to protect the rule of law.

In August 2022, we once again hosted and co-financed the annual bootcamp in Copenhagen of the non-profit organisation Project Access. The purpose of the project is to help Danish students get into the university of their dreams.

For several years, we have supported the Human Practice Foundation, and we continued our support in 2022 by providing funding to the Inner Strength project that is dedicated to improving the well-being of school pupils.

In 2022, we also made a donation to the Red Cross’ relief work in Denmark and the world. Our employees contributed to the donation, when they had the opportunity to convert their company Christmas gift into a donation to the Red Cross.

The year 2022 also saw the setting-up of our new well-being committee that has as its aim to ensure the well-being, diversity and inclusion of all employees. The well-being committee also works on measures to protect LGBTQ+ rights and ensure inclusion.

Early on in 2022, we witnessed how a sudden war changes the lives and basic rights of millions of people. In this context, we provided pro bono assistance to Ukrainian refugees through a joint initiative of the Association of Danish Law Firms and the Danish Bar and Law Society offering assistance through the DRC Danish Refugee Council. We also contributed to a fund-raising event together with the Legal Debate Club to raise funds through coffee sales for the Red Cross’ relief work in Ukraine. Finally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought about a very high demand for legal advice on the sanctions against Russia. Alongside this work for our clients, we shared our knowledge in this field in newsletters and by hosting events.

Aims for 2023

As part of our strategic work to develop our business, we set a goal for 2023 to rethink our focus on and work with sustainability. Thus, we set up a steering group to come up with recommendations on how our ambitions, focus areas, objectives and governance can contribute to a sustainable society in the future – also in the context of our focus on the UN Global Compact’s human rights principles.

Labour

When it comes to labour, we are committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact:

Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Our ambitions

Our people comprise the best lawyers and specialists in the legal profession, and we are committed to being the preferred place to work in our line of business. Therefore, the well-being and development of our employees is a high priority in our daily work. Our commitment to creating a valued and sustainable workplace for our employees is based on a community where all people have equal opportunities to develop their skills, and where we do not discriminate on the basis of social background, culture, gender, ethnicity, age, skin colour or sexuality.

We believe that the well-being and development of our people are best ensured by promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment.

The importance of focus on labour

The commitment and dedication of our people are fundamental for our ability to provide outstanding legal advice to our clients. Thus, when it comes to our workforce and our employees that is where we see the most significant risks for our business.

Our main priority is therefore to ensure the well-being and development of our employees. To this end, we invite feedback from and listen to our employees. Moreover, we have continual focus on developing our workplace and management approach so as to meet the needs and aspirations of our employees.

Furthermore, we are well aware that we must constantly evolve in order to offer a modern, inclusive and diverse workplace that continues to support the well-being and development of our people. At the same time, the quest to attract talented lawyers and specialists continues to intensify, which also serves to emphasise the importance of our focus on being an attractive workplace that takes responsibility for our employees and is aware of their value.

Objectives for 2022

Our objective was a continuing focus on diversity and inclusion as well as measures to promote positive mental well-being. One of our objectives was also to continue and to extend our training in unconscious bias. In 2022, we continued to support the threeyear research project and Business PhD programme launched by the Association of Danish Law Firms that aims to explore the gender imbalance at top management levels in the legal profession.

Developments in 2022 and expected developments

In 2022, we continued on the path towards creating a more diverse and inclusive working environment for our people.

To that end we adopted in 2022 a company policy against workplace bullying and harassment. The main emphasis in this policy is to ensure that everyone feels comfortable, and that we must always work together in a professional and respectful manner.

During the year, all employees were offered to participate in unconscious bias training thereby enabling us to improve interaction with each other, clients and business partners without any bias influencing our conduct and decisions.

Our continued focus on positive mental well-being during the year has resulted in four annual well-being surveys, where previously we conducted the survey once a year in conjunction with our general employee engagement survey. In conjunction with our efforts to promote positive mental well-being in our firm, we have set up a well-being committee that addresses the insights gained from our quarterly surveys, among other things. One of the measures taken in 2022 was to develop a package of well-being tools and programs in cooperation with our health insurer PFA.

Over the year, we also continued our measures to increase gender equality and diversity. For instance, we introduced new parental leave rules that bring the genders on an equal footing allowing both men and women 24 weeks of parental leave. We have partnered with the Inspired Beyond Babies parental network, and our employees are invited to join the network. We have also joined the Danish Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity Pact complementing our continued involvement in the Diversity Council.

Finally, in 2022 we also invested in a new management training program in partnership with the AVT Business School. The program is offered to several of our experienced lawyers and specialists to help them become better leaders and mentors for their teams and younger colleagues. One of the purposes of the program is to offer leadership development to even more employees and thus broaden the leadership role to more people, thereby creating greater proximity and well-being among employees.

Aims for 2023

As part of the strategic development of our business, we set a goal for 2023 to rethink our focus on and work with sustainability. To this end, we have set up a steering group to come up with recommendations on how our firm’s ambitions, focus areas, objectives and governance can contribute to a sustainable society in the future – including our focus on the UN Global Compact’s principles on labour.

Environment

When it comes to the environment, we are committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact:

Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Our ambitions

The ever-increasing climate changes are a cause of concern. In 2022, we were again reminded of how the resources that we consider basic can suddenly become scarce when war breaks out. That is why we want to incorporate sustainability as well as care and concern for our environment wherever it is possible for us to make a difference.

We strive to minimise our carbon footprint by constantly optimising the operations and maintenance of our two office buildings. We also impose sustainability requirements on our business partners and suppliers. Through conferences, debates and engagement in organisations, as well as through pro bono work related to the environment and climate, we are looking to share our knowledge on environmental and climate legislation.

The importance of focusing on the environment

Being a legal adviser, our primary business activities have no direct environmental impact. Therefore, we see no significant environmental and climate risks in our activities or in our business relationships.

Yet, we are aware that everyone must contribute to a better climate for our planet through sustainable behaviour and the approach to all day-to-day activities. Therefore, we integrate climate considerations wherever we can, and we always look for climate-friendly solutions when we are in search of new suppliers and partners.

Objectives for 2022

Our objective for 2022 was to continue focusing on how we can replace existing solutions and products with new and more climate-friendly alternatives. Furthermore, we set an objective to continue in 2022 the measures and initiatives that were already underway.

Developments in 2022 and expected developments

In 2022, we continued our focus on sustainable business operations, for example by constant attention to organic products and sustainability and to minimising food waste in our kitchens. This year we retained the Organic Cuisine Silver Label for our canteen in the Axel Towers, where we also added further to the number of local suppliers.

In the course of 2022, we continued our focus on decreasing our print consumption and increasing the digitalization of our workflows. Also in this area, we are continuing to make progress.

In 2022, we joined as a partner in the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, an initiative aiming to make global shipping carbon-neutral by 2050. In this connection, we are combining our experience from the shipping industry with our legal expertise to address an important social challenge.

By the same token, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also had an impact on our focus on climate change since a looming energy crisis has prompted us to look carefully for opportunities and be creative in reducing our energy consumption. During the year, we launched a variety of energy-saving initiatives, some of which it may prove beneficial to keep in the future.

Aims for 2023

As part of the strategic development of our business, we set a goal for 2023 to rethink our focus on and work with sustainability. We have set up a steering group to provide recommendations on how our firm’s ambitions, focus areas, objectives and governance can contribute to a sustainable society in the future – including our focus on the UN Global Compact’s environment and climate principles.

AntiCorruption

When it comes to anticorruption, we are committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact:

Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Our ambitions

As a law firm, we have a special obligation to act with integrity and within the law. Our employees observe these principles every day under our anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies. It is also our clear position that we do not want to support clients who engage in unethical methods.

All new employees are briefed on our anti-corruption policy and introduced to our whistleblower scheme. With this approach, we give our employees the best possible chance to act should they become aware of any breach of the anti-corruption rules or other suspicious circumstances.

We continue to support AdvokatKODEKS (the Lawyer’s Code) under the auspices of the Association of Danish Law Firms, which we endorsed in 2016. Within this framework, we undertake to work on five guiding principles, including ethical dilemmas.

The importance of focusing on anti-corruption

We rely on our professionalism and high ethical standards, and our clients entrust their business in the confidence that we act within the law and with integrity as our compass. Consequently, we do not accept any behaviour or actions that could adversely affect the reputation of our business – this includes ourselves, our employees, but also the people, companies and organisations that we work with.

In the assessment of our business model, we have not found corruption to be a significant high-risk area for us, and we have not identified any material corruption risks in our activities or in our relationships with business partners that have not already been addressed by our compliance measures.

Objectives for 2022

Our objectives for 2022 were to continue rolling out and implementing the anti-corruption policy, including introducing further employee training.

Developments in 2022 and expected developments

In the course of the year, we raised awareness of our anti-corruption policy among all our employees, including all new employees, who, as part of their induction program, are presented with the firm’s anti-corruption position as part of the “Guidelines and Policies” review. With this training, we want to make all employees aware of our position on corruption, bribery, facilitation payments and gifts. Likewise, everyone is informed of our expectations and their options for reporting breaches of the rules or other suspicious circumstances.

Every year, our board of directors reviews the anti-corruption policy and assesses whether it is in need of updating in order to ensure that the policy is aligned with developments in this area. In 2022, the board of directors did not find reason to revise the policy.

During the year, we also continued to support the Lawyer’s Code of the Association of Danish Law Firms and contributed with input to their report also in 2022.

We will continue to address compliance, ethics and decency as an integral part of our everyday work, and as regards the anti-corruption policy, it remains our priority to raise awareness among our employees and to regularly revise the policy whenever needed.

Aims for 2023

As part of our strategic work to develop our business, we set a goal for 2023 to rethink our focus on and work with sustainability. We have set up a steering group to provide recommendations on how our ambitions, focus areas, objectives and governance can contribute to a sustainable society in the future – including our focus on the UN Global Compact’s anti-corruption principles.

Our clients needed assistance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

legal landscape is constantly changing”

We were barely two months into the year when Russia invaded Ukraine and brought back war on European soil for the first time since the 1990s. Many private individuals, organisations and businesses responded promptly to the urgent need for help. At Gorrissen Federspiel, we provided pro bono legal assistance through the Association of Danish Law Firms and made financial contributions to the Red Cross. But the war also sparked a need for advisory services and assistance to clients with activities in and around Russia.

At an early stage, Gorrissen Federspiel decided to discontinue all assistance to Russian clients. Conversely, we assisted many Danish clients on matters related to Russia and the war in Ukraine. “Danish companies were facing a number of complex challenges,” says Camilla C. Collet, head of Gorrissen Federspiel’s Compliance & Sustainability group.

“We assisted, for instance, Danish companies wishing to discontinue their Russian activities and in need of advice in connection with the sale of Russian subsidiaries. We also assisted clients who needed to be released from contracts involving obligations in relation to Russian customers. And generally, we assisted clients navigating through the sanction scenery targeting Russia. The legal landscape is constantly changing concurrently with the introduction of new sanctions,” says Camilla C. Collet.

Our clients’ need for legal assistance remained fairly stable throughout the year and was handled by a handful of dedicated lawyers, who spent a significant part of their time solving issues related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But quite a lot of the work in Camilla C. Collet’s group also involves knowledge sharing.

“We saw a high degree of demand for knowledge from our clients. We therefore put a lot of effort into writing and publishing newsletters and organising events to share our knowledge in this field. And we gave lectures on the legal challenges posed by the war to several student organisations,” says Camilla C. Collet.

In addition to our client-oriented activities, Gorrissen Federspiel was directly and indirectly involved in supporting Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in various ways:

Pro bono assistance

In collaboration with several other law firms, we joined an initiative launched by the Association of Danish Law Firms and the Danish Bar and Law Society to provide pro bono assistance through the DRC Danish Refugee Council. Moreover, we also provided – to a limited extent – advice to NGOs on statute and GDPR matters.

Topping up coffee sales

The Legal Debate Club is a law student association at the University of Copenhagen. The club challenged us to top up the amount they made on coffee sales to the benefit of the Red Cross’ relief work in Ukraine. We took up the challenge and ended up transferring an amount in the region of DKK 15,000.

The Red Cross’ Christmas Challenge and employee donations

In December, we supported the Red Cross’ Christmas Challenge with a donation of DKK 50,000. On top of that, several employees chose to make a donation to the Red Cross instead of receiving their company Christmas gift. We doubled our employees’ donations and were able to transfer an amount totalling DKK 161,000 to the Red Cross.

Employees donated company Christmas gift to the Red Cross

With the help of the contributions from employees, who instead of receiving this year’s company Christmas gift donated the allocated amount to the Red Cross, Gorrissen Federspiel donated a total of DKK 161,000 to the organisation’s relief work.

The consequences of the war in Ukraine drew ever closer in 2022. The neighbouring areas were in urgent need of external aid. And in Denmark, the financial situation of many families was stretched to the limit by the rising energy prices. The Red Cross helps vulnerable groups, both at home and abroad, with donations from individuals and businesses.

When this year’s company Christmas gift could be ordered, there was – in line with last year – an option to decline the gift and instead donate the amount to the Red Cross. 111 employees declined their Christmas gifts and became donors instead. Gorrissen Federspiel decided to double up their contribution, bringing the donation from skipped Christmas gifts to DKK 111,000.

The Red Cross Christmas Challenge

We were invited to the Red Cross Christmas Challenge. Together with Microsoft, Ørsted, Vestas and A.P. Moller - Maersk and others, we made a commitment to donate DKK 50,000. As the last participant in the challenge, Managing Partner Martin André Dittmer took over from the CEO of Arla Foods Peder Tuborgh.

In the video published in connection with the Christmas Challenge, our Managing Partner explained our contribution:

“Gorrissen Federspiel is one of Denmark’s largest law firms. This comes with a responsibility. With this year’s Christmas Challenge, we’re making a donation to the important work of the Danish Red Cross to reduce and relieve humanitarian crisis and suffering.”

The think tank Justitia

• Founded in 2014 by CEO and lawyer Jacob Mchangama.

• The purpose of the think tank Justitia is to protect and promote the rule of law, the freedom rights, the fundamental human rights and the basic rights that underpin liberal democracy.

• Since 2019, Gorrissen Federspiel has provided pro bono assistance to Justitia.