Our strategy and governance structures
Taylor Wessing isn’t just a global law firm, but a community of independent thinkers, connected by our core values and our drive to challenge expectation. The following values shape what we do and how we do it.
Excellence
Excellence is everything; we never compromise on it or settle for less. We set high expectations of our people around commercial decision making and client service, which enables us to invest in their future. This makes us an exceptional firm to work for and with.
Creative
We challenge ourselves to find the best solutions to legal and business issues. We're self-starters, are always questioning, innovating and learning. Our curiosity, passion and insight drive us to find new ideas and inspires others to achieve them.
Responsible
We have a positive, uplifting impact on our clients, our sectors, our society and our environment. We think and act sustainably.
Team
We're not just colleagues, we're a community. We empower others and work together to achieve our shared goals for the long-term success of our business. We recognise each other's achievements. We support and motivate.
Integrity
We believe in doing the right thing and take pride in the work we produce. We are open and honest, building trusting relationships with clients and colleagues by doing what we say.
Respect
We embrace individuality; we understand it and appreciate it. We bring diverse teams together to create an impact in an inclusive and meaningful way.
Our Responsible Business strategy is embedded in our business strategy and means that we will endeavour to:
- protect our culture of inclusion
- actively invest in our community
- have a more positive impact on the environment
- identify growth and share insights with our clients and markets.
Our strategy aligns with several Sustainable Development Goals, that serve as a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and our planet.
To enable more accelerated action to implement this strategy, we have enhanced our governance structures to have more direct reporting to the senior leadership. We now have four Steering Groups (Inclusion, Community, Environment, and Clients and Markets). Each is led by partners from across the business and reports regularly to the Responsible Business Board, which reports to our Executive Board. In addition to this, Responsible Business will now be represented at the Executive Board level by Kirstie McGuigan, our new Responsible Business Partner. Kirstie will work closely with the Executive Board, Sian Skelton, our partner focused on our environmental performance, and our wider Responsible Business team to help lead and steer the delivery of our Responsible Business strategy both internally and externally.
One of the cornerstones of being a responsible law firm is that we maintain high levels of professional integrity, which builds trust with our clients, our business partners and our people.
As a regulated organisation it is essential that our teams abide by our risk processes to prevent any conflicts of interest and manage potential risks of bribery, corruption and money laundering. To this end we undertake rigorous checks on all employees prior to their starting work with us and ask for yearly confirmations regarding compliance with our policies from our lawyer community. We also ask all staff to complete an extensive suite of regulatory and ethical training when they start with us and throughout the year.
Personal data is a key asset for us, our clients and our people. It must always be treated with respect such that our clients and our staff are confident in trusting us with their personal data. We process any personal data under our control in compliance with all applicable data protection and cyber security law and practice.
Our data governance structures incorporate accountability (including with respect to third parties such as suppliers), individual rights, international transfer, data security and training, amongst other principles.
We are also committed to respecting the human rights of our employees and suppliers and upholding high working standards wherever we operate. More information can be found on our website.
Our values are what binds us together. They help frame our governance structures and make decisions about which suppliers we want to partner with.