The Social Enterprise Law Firm - Building in activism

There are social enterprises everywhere, they are health and social care companies, they are media and production companies, they are windfarms, they are premium international brands from chocolates to shoes.  What sets them apart from businesses is their purpose.  Where profit for shareholders and owners is the overriding purpose of traditional business, the main purpose of a social enterprise is to serve the community.  Social enterprises do this by diverting profits and time to supporting the community in which they work. 

So what does this look like? 

Social Enterpises can be everything from pie makers employing ex-offenders to housing associations that provide training for their young tenants. It is about focusing the time and profits from an organisation to the community.  The thing they all have in common is the desire to have a social, as well as commercial impact.   

This might seem pretty familiar to many lawyers in private practice, many of whom carry out pro bono work on an ad hoc basis, supporting the cases that they see as important, and lawyers feel that this is an important part of their practice.  Social Enterprise is the next logical step – building this pro bono work into their practice.  

Here at Teneu Legal we believe that we can utilise our skills and time working with partner organisations to deliver better outcomes for the community.  That means that over the coming months we will be working with law clinics in Universities as well as working with other charities and social enterprises to help them deliver for their constituents.  One area that we are most concerned with is the number of EU nationals who are at risk of being left behind during the settled status roll-out.  The Migration Observatory has already highlighted the different classes at risk and we are supporting organisations that work alongside vulnerable groups such as the Roma Community in Govanhill, Glasgow.  Supporting them in their outreach work will help identify EU nationals who have not yet engaged in the Settled Status scheme and get them registered before the deadline on the 30th June this year. 

So why do we not see more social enterprise models in Scotland?  

One of the most important aspects of social enterprises is not just what they do, but how they do it.  Good governance and transparency are important to help the consumer and the community.  Social Enterprises benefit from diverse boards of people with professional skills as well as lived experience of the challenges that the enterprise seeks to resolve.  The limits placed on an incorporated practice and ownership of law firms in Scotland does place an additional challenge to registering a company as a social enterprise.  This does not need to be a barrier and we hope to work with the Law Society of Scotland over the next year to find a way forward that works for both the profession and the community. 

Social enterprise is not an alternative to legal aid 

Legal Aid is a key public service and I agree with the International Bar Association and the World Bank when they say that it is as ‘important for economy as hospitals and schools’.  I for one am in favour of improving and expanding legal aid and for better public education to the merits of Legal Aid, but this can be left for another blog.  Social enterprise is not here to replace legal aid, but instead it can complement its work on improving access to justice, working with community organisations to help them guide their clients to skilled legal aid solicitors when their rights are not being respected. 

Measuring impact 

One of the key elements to social enterprise which is often missed in pro bono work is how organisations measure their impact.  Unfortunately, pro bono work is often carried out by solicitors or firms in silos, and the commitment provided by a solicitor can vary depending on the commercial demands of the day.  However, if you build in time and profit to social causes, you can then decide what kind of impact you hope to achieve and you can then set about to measure this.  You become more useful and your work becomes more beneficial, not because you are doing more of it, but because it is more focused. 

Social enterprises can form a vital third plank between firms providing legal aid and legal charities while providing an excellent legal service to its clients.  It frees up the time of lawyers to think more strategically, to talk to other organisations and to deliver a more comprehensive service to those who need it most.   It is time for more firms and solicitors to start speaking out about the good work that they do and to build this into their practice.  Business is not only about profits for shareholders and partners, it is about investing in our own communities for the long term.