Media Release: Clayton Utz named Corporate Citizen Firm of the Year at 2021 Australasian Law Awards

23 June 2021: Leading Australian law firm Clayton Utz is proud to have been named Corporate Citizen Firm of the Year at the 2021 Australasian Law Awards, recognising our commitment to sustainability, community, diversity and inclusion and pro bono during 2020.

In what was a challenging year for many community organisations and some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, Clayton Utz continued to support a range of not-for-profits in carrying out their important work, through the Clayton Utz Foundation and Community Connect program. We also stepped up our efforts to help individuals experiencing disadvantage access the justice system through our Pro Bono practice, made meaningful progress with our Reconciliation Action Plan, and adopted more sustainable environmental practices across our offices.

Highlights of our commitment and support:

• Donating more than $938,000 to charities in need, comprising grants from the Clayton Utz Foundation to 48 charities and money donated through office fundraisers.
• In a year in which finding legal help was made more urgent for many more people, providing 55,000 hours of pro bono legal services, including to over 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and businesses.
• Offering additional grant support through the Clayton Utz Foundation to community partners such as Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Canberra Community Law and Save the Children for needs arising directly from the COVID-19 crisis, ensuring critical work could continue to support those most vulnerable in our community.
• Supporting First Australians' businesses with a $437,857 spend on procurement.
• Our people making the largest number of donations to the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood's Legal Services Blood Challenge - helping to save 285 lives, critical at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown when blood donations declined significantly.
• Maintaining our carbon neutral status.

National Managers - Community & Sustainability, Marcus Ross and Anna Pavincich, said the Clayton Utz team was proud to have contributed in ways that responded directly to the needs and challenges of individuals and organisations during 2020.

We've built long-term relationships with a range of not-for-profits with the aim of making a tangible impact. As a law firm, we know that we are not the experts in addressing disadvantage. What we do have, however, are skills and resources to support the charities who are, and that will continue to be our focus.

Two headline deals on which Clayton Utz teams had key roles were also recognised: the Moranbah North-Grosvenor mining complex transaction - awarded Infrastructure and Projects Deal of the Year - and Bain Capital's acquisition of Virgin Australia, which took out the Insolvency and Restructuring Deal of the Year category.

Held annually, the Australasian Law Awards celebrate excellence across the legal profession in Australia and New Zealand.