Introduction

Hill Dickinson LLP is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within its business and supply chain, and imposes the same high standards on its suppliers, contractors and other business partners. Hill Dickinson LLP takes its responsibilities seriously and this statement constitutes its compliance pursuant to section 54 (1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act).

Structure of the organisation

Hill Dickinson LLP is a global law firm, established and operating as a limited liability partnership under English law. The Hill Dickinson group comprises of a number of subsidiaries (where Hill Dickinson LLP is the parent company) and a number of separately constituted and regulated legal entities providing legal services in different jurisdictions. To find out more about the nature of our business, please go to www.hilldickinson.com.

In order to deliver its legal services, the firm works with a range of suppliers, the majority of whom are considered to be based in low-risk jurisdictions.

Scope of the Modern Slavery Act 2015

The Act defines modern slavery as “slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour” and “human trafficking” (Modern Slavery). The Act requires commercial organisations operating in the UK (i.e. that supply goods or services from or to the UK) and have a global turnover above £36 million, to publish a statement each financial year, which sets out the steps they have taken to ensure there is no Modern Slavery in their business or supply chains.

Policies

As part of our commitment to combating Modern Slavery, our Modern Slavery statement and code of conduct sets out our zero-tolerance approach to Modern Slavery in our organisation and supply chain. We expect all our partners and suppliers to embrace our core principles and match the high standards that we set ourselves. All new suppliers sign up to our code of conduct and existing suppliers are reminded of our code of conduct when renewed.

Our due diligence processes and supply chain

As a professional services organisation, we consider the risk of Modern Slavery existing within our business to be low. However, due diligence and monitoring is completed on our supply chain based on our zero-tolerance approach to Modern Slavery in our organisation.

We endeavour to do business with suppliers that adopt the same strict standards that we ourselves adhere to. In turn, we expect our suppliers to operate fairly and ethically, where workers are treated with respect and dignity, and the highest standards of human rights are maintained.

Hill Dickinson LLP has developed a risk based approach to assess the possibility of Modern Slavery within our supply chain. The factors considered for this approach include; the country of origin and the nature of, and location from which, services are provided. 

Suppliers are onboarded and managed through a Supplier Information Pack and when responses are received, they are reviewed and the risk assessment of the supplier is updated accordingly. Where we have identified a potential risk, it is investigated and mitigated through activities such as enhanced due diligence. Our Supplier Information Pack is issued to new suppliers and monitored based on renewal. 

The contractual terms and conditions that we put in place with our suppliers are being updated to include clauses that forbid the use of slavery and human trafficking.

We enforce a strict code of compliance and do not tolerate Modern Slavery within our supply chains. In the rare event that we become aware of a case of Modern Slavery; we will work with the supplier to implement remedial action. We expect our suppliers to engage with us constructively and responsibly, and to demonstrate their willingness to remedy issues in a timely manner.  If we find evidence of a failure to comply with our policies, we will immediately seek to terminate our relationship with the relevant supplier.

Training

General awareness training is to be provided to those staff members who are involved in managing recruitment and our supply chains.

Approvals

This statement is made in accordance with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Hill Dickinson’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year commencing 1st May 2022 and ending 30th April 2023. This statement has been signed off by the firms Risk and Compliance Manager, Head of Risk and Compliance and Chair.

Jonathan Brown
Chair
Hill Dickinson LLP

April 2023