Community
At our core, we have a responsibility to prioritise making a positive difference in our communities.
We achieve this by volunteering, supporting community initiatives and leveraging our expertise to improve access to justice and the legal system. We contribute funding, knowledge, skills, and time to support local organisations that share our vision of creating a positive impact with a particular emphasis on advancing education.
Our Pillars of Support
CLIMATE: supporting environmental initiatives to reduce climate change
CULTURE: supporting diversity in law and creating a more equitable playing field for those who want a career in law
COMMUNITY: positively impact society and the community we operate in by offering free legal aid and supporting educational and community projects
Projects We Support
CLIMATE
Global Action Plan
In 2023 we partnered with Global Action Plan supporting individuals and communities with knowledge and skills to develop solutions to the environmental and climate crises. Our support will fund 25 workshops for inner-city DEIS schools (675 students) and supporting a wider educational outreach programme (2,775 students).
CULTURE
Dublin City University Access to the Workplace
Our support of DCU Access to the Workplace programme will provide 10 Access students with scholarship bursaries, in addition to a summer internship to a 2nd-year law student in the summer of 2024.
Trinity Access programme
We are committed supporters of the Trinity Access Programme (TAP), which works in partnership with communities and businesses to widen the access and participation of under-represented students at third level and TAP’s “Pathways to Law” programme, which supports Second Level students from disadvantaged backgrounds studying Law at Trinity College.
Trinity College for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID)
We currently run a placement programme for students in conjunction with TCPID and are proud to have hired colleagues through this partnership on a full-time basis.
Open Doors
We are a member of Open Doors pledging to be an inclusive employer and create pathways to employment for marginalised people.
disAbility Legal Network
We are a member of this network that promotes equal opportunities for people with disabilities within the legal sector.
COMMUNITY
The Shona Project
Our philanthropic support provides 1,000 students in five DEIS schools with a workshop themed on empowering and inspiring girls to become tomorrow’s strong, resilient and confident young women.
The Breakthrough Project Ringsend College
We support a scholarship programme in Ringsend College in Dublin which will benefit 5 students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to help them progress to third-level education.
basis.point
We are a supporting member of basis.point, which funds programmes to improve outcomes for children experiencing disadvantage by providing funding and volunteer support.
Early Learning Initiative (ELI)
ELI supports educational underachievement in marginalised communities and supports children and their families who live in the community where McCann FitzGerald operates. We have supported this project for over 10 years with both financial and volunteering support.
Dublin Docklands Forum
We are members of the Dublin Docklands Forum collaborating on initiatives that engage the local workforce within the area.
Pro Bono
The ability to provide free legal aid to those who are unable to access it or afford it is an integral part of our business.
McCann FitzGerald is a sustaining partner of the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA), which partners with not-for-profit organisations, community groups and independent law centres. It operates a Pro Bono Referral Scheme that matches the unmet legal needs of these organisations with lawyers and law firms willing to give their services for free.
We have taken on a large number of referrals through PILA’s Pro Bono Referral Scheme for NGO’s including Women’s Aid, Focus Ireland, Equality Right Alliance, Mercy Law Resource Centre, Action Aid, Cardiac Risk in the Young, the Dyslexia Association of Ireland, NASC Migrant and Refugee Rights, Fighting Blindness and many more.
We have also presented at a number of legal education sessions for PILA’s NGOs principally on the topics of employment, housing, equality and data protection.
In November 2020, McCann FitzGerald became a founding signatory to the Pro Bono Pledge Ireland. Signatories to the pledge commit to undertake pro bono work in the public interest and aspire to deliver 20 hours per lawyer per year. As part of pledge, we are required to report our pro bono hours annually in accordance with PILA’s Pro Bono Reporting Guidelines.
We take part in and support the organisation of Pro Bono Week Ireland and attend the PILnet Global Forum. PILnet’s Global Forum convenes around 400 lawyers and advocates from around the world to forge alliances and develop strategies for using the law to protect civil society and the communities they serve.
Over 80 of our associates and senior associates take part in Free Legal Aid Clinics (FLAC). These clinics are delivered online to citizens to give advice on general legal issues such as employment, accommodation and Immigration.
In 2023 we re-established our legal aid clinics with Women’s Aid. This clinic provides confidential free legal information and assistance to support women experiencing domestic violence who are representing themselves in family law proceedings. Previously we were awarded with Best National Firm for Pro Bono Work at Legal Media Group Europe Women Business Law Awards in 2019 for our pro bono clinics with Women’s Aid.
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