Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG)

At New Square Chambers we consider social responsibility an integral part of how we operate.

As a Chambers we take responsibility for our profession (and the people interested in joining it), those engaged with the law, our community and the wider world in which we work.

We do this by taking action in a number of areas, including:

Equality, diversion and inclusion;
Access to justice and pro bono work;
Fundraising and community engagement;
Environmental and sustainability matters.

New Square Chambers has received a number of nominations for awards, recognising our work in this area. These include the LexisNexis Legal Awards, the WIPL (Women, Influence and Power in Law) Awards, the UK Diversity Legal Awards, the TRI (Turnaround, Restructuring and Insolvency) Awards and The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards.

Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion

New Square Chambers has an active equality, diversity and inclusion committee, responsible for setting our broad programme of EDI activities.

A cross-section of members of Chambers and staff are involved, playing an active role in this, supporting the Chambers-wide encouragement, recruitment and retention of barristers and staff from diverse backgrounds.

See Equality, Diversity and Inclusion to learn more about our commitment to EDI and our broad programme of EDI activities.

Access to justice & pro bono work

At New Square Chambers we’re committed to enabling access to justice for those who cannot afford it.

Across Chambers our barristers and clerks work together to ensure that time and resources are made available to promote this culture of access to justice and pro bono work. Examples of this in practise include:

Support for, and involvement with, Advocate

Many members have a longstanding relationship with Advocate, the Bar’s pro bono charity. Mark Hubbard, Simon Adamyk and Gerard van Tonder are panel members of Advocate. Across all areas work, and at all levels of experience, our barristers undertake work for Advocate. A particular recent pro bono highlight is an instruction, via Advocate and Pro Bono Connect, to act for the Claimant in major proceedings in the Commercial Court.

Engagement with CLIPS

Members of Chambers also take part in the Chancery Bar Litigants in Person Support Scheme (“CLIPS”). Aidan Briggs and Mark Hubbard are recipients of the CLIPS Pro Bono Champion Award.

Legal education

Members recognise the importance of producing legal high-quality commentary so that it can be publicly available, free of charge. Articles, lectures, seminars are accessible on our website. Events are publicised on the website and via social media. Brief Tapes, Chambers’ podcast, is a lively and informative introduction to topical areas, once again, accessible via our website.

Community engagement

Across New Square Chambers barristers and staff are actively involved in engagement with their local communities. This includes volunteering and acting as trustees of charities.

To support this, all members of staff are afforded one day out of Chambers per year, during which they can undertake volunteering activities.

In addition, New Square Chambers is committed to taking part in and fundraising for a number of charitable initiatives, every year. These include: The London Legal Walk, Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day and Steptopber (property professionals in support of LandAid, a youth homelessness charity). In addition, barristers and staff individually fundraise, with recent activities including running the London Marathon (for Great Ormond Street Hospital) and London Landmarks Half Marathon (for Cancer Research).

In addition, barristers and staff individually fundraise, with recent activities including running the London Marathon (for Great Ormond Street Hospital) and London Landmarks Half Marathon (for Cancer Research).