According to figures released by the firm, the US partners clocked up 17,368 hours of pro bono work, which is equivalent to just under $6m (£4.22m) worth of chargeable time.
The figure amounts to around two and a half per cent of Clifford Chance's average revenue per partner of around $2m (£1.4m). Profits per partner are a little more than $1m (£703,000), making the pro bono spend per US partner 5 per cent of the average global profits per partner.
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“Our pro bono growth from 2000 to 2001 far exceeds the population growth of the firm in that year” Shankari Chandran, A&O |
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Allen & Overy (A&O) had an international pro bono spend of £6.5m last year. This works out as £23,000 per international partner, making it appear to be lagging behind Clifford Chance. However, the firm released combined figures for all of its 23 international offices, which will bring in a lower figure than the New York operation where billing rates are higher.
A&Os international pro bono spend has nearly tripled since 2000, when the firm spent around £2.5m on pro bono.
A&O pro bono coordinator Shankari Chandran said: “We do not measure our pro bono contribution in terms of contributions per partner, we measure it by looking at the relative growth in pro bono work over the year against the growth of the firm. Our pro bono growth from 2000 to 2001 far exceeds the population growth of the firm in that year.”
A&O's pro bono work covers legal and non-legal work. The work ranges from coin collections for charities to saving Jamaican murder convict Andrew Perkins from death row.
