A programme that offers free legal advice to environmentally positive startups from Imperial’s Enterprise Lab and Undaunted’s Greenhouse accelerator has been named Most Effective Pro Bono Partnership in this year’s LawWorks awards. The Green Tech Legal Collaborative (GTLC) was singled out in a stiff competition that involved seven other partnerships active in the community and in business.
“Legal issues can be daunting for startup founders whose background is in research and technology, so it’s great that we can mobilise some of the best legal minds in the country to help them at this important stage in their development,” said Dr Simon Hepworth, Director of Imperial Enterprise. “This is just the kind of diverse expertise, and personal kindness, coming from inside and outside the College, that builds founder confidence and makes us want to work even harder to bring great ideas to life.”
He also thanked the GTLC participants for their commitment. “It’s amazing that busy people will give up their precious time to support others. We are very grateful to the lawyers and practices that make this project possible, and congratulate them on this well-deserved award.”
The awards are given by LawWorks, a charity that supports and promotes pro bono legal services. The aim is to recognise the commitment of its members, their charity and corporate partners, and the work of independent law clinics.
“We are delighted that LawWorks has recognised the important impact of the GTLC, which was started by a group of like-minded legal and compliance professionals who wanted to support climate action using our collective expertise and specialisms,” said Ruchit Patel, a partner Ropes & Gray, one of the programme’s founding firms.
“This award is welcome recognition from the legal profession of the great work the programme is doing, and is testament to the passion and dedication of all involved and the power of collaboration in the fight against climate change," said Mia Motiee of Bloomberg, who is a member of the GTLC steering committee.