Clifford Chance (CC) has reported a 9% drop in the number of pro bono hours carried out by its lawyers during 2011-12, with the firm placing a value of £17m on the time invested over the financial year.

According to the firm's annual corporate responsibility report, CC's lawyers around the world invested 50,324 hours in pro bono and community work during 2011-12, down 8.5% on the 2010-11 figure of 55,021.

The firm's London lawyers recorded a full-time equivalent average of 32.7 pro bono hours, down from 34.7 in 2010-11 – a higher figure than the firmwide fee-earner average of 16.7, which was down 11% from the equivalent figure of 18.8 last year.