Clifford Chance (CC) has selected five charities to which it will provide client-style pro bono support and financial assistance, in a new initiative to coincide with National Pro Bono Week 2012. 

The firm has identified five non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with which it will operate as if they were fee-paying clients, with each assigned at least one dedicated relationship partner.

Each will also receive pro bono support from CC lawyers and business support staff. regular review meetings and a memorandum of understanding setting out the relationship.

The five NGOs are refugee rights group Asylum Access, education non-profit Room to Read, human rights charities Fair Trials International and Human Rights Watch, and the Grameen Foundation USA, which helps the underprivileged gain access to financial services.

Asylum Access and Room to Read are the first to be granted funding from the Clifford Chance Foundation under the new scheme, with the former set to receive £100,000 this year as part of a three-year funding package amounting to £200,000. Meanwhile, Room to Read will receive just over £60,000 as part of a three-year funding package totalling £103,000.

CC pro bono partner Roger Leese commented: "Our aim is to take a similar approach to these partnerships as we do with our fee-paying clients, improving the quality and breadth of service they receive from CC. We are excited to see these relationships kick off with financial support for two of these important causes."

The NGOs have been chosen according to criteria including their appeal to CC's clients and their international presence.

CC's lawyers around the world invested 50,324 hours in pro bono and community work during 2011-12, with the time valued at an estimated £17m, according to the firm's annual corporate responsibility report.

Photo by Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter for Asylum Access.