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Supporting and connecting with our clients

Plant farm

Clients want to understand how we can support them and by integrating additional ESG concerns into our client due diligence and reframing the way we market our ESG expertise to future-proof their businesses, we will retain the ability to both retain and grow the number of clients we work with.

Our approach

The scope of client activity will extend across policy and sector strategy, governance, guidance and tools to promote a circular economy and identify the risks and controls including an ESG escalation process, reporting and ESG monitoring of our client portfolio.

Our commitments

Risk Based Approach

Our experience, judgement and sector knowledge inform the following risk evaluation criteria when considering who are clients are and what services we provide. This ESG risk evaluation is also being applied to existing clients, to anticipate emerging concerns or as part of the client annual review process.

Client Due Diligence

As part of our ESG client due diligence and Client ESG Policy, we assess:

ESG Advice 

Our integrated legal management (ILM) means that we have a broad offering to support our clients in the sustainability and ESG sphere. Aside from our ESG legal advice which predominately sits across four key themes; Environment, Climate Change and Energy Transition, Community Development & Investment, Business & Human Rights and Responsible Business & Governance. We also support clients with their own ESG strategies and implementation, share best practices and provide bespoke educational programmes to senior leadership teams.

Thought Leadership & Insights

We regularly produce content exploring various aspects of ESG which we share with our clients, our flagship report in 2021 was a global research report looking at ESG and Sustainability across various sectors and locations, exploring the challenges and opportunities companies face now and what they anticipate for the future. Here you will find our full list of content. We also collaborate with clients on roundtables, events and seminars on ESG themed discussions.

Digital Transformation

Managing our business through a global pandemic has shone a spotlight on the art of the possible, using technology and tools to help us work in new and different ways to meet client needs, reduce costs, increase productivity and improve the sustainability of our business. Our lab in Pune, India has a special focus on building and testing emerging technology.

Innovation in Products & Services 

Since 2021, impact analysis has formed part of our innovation process, it is used to conceptualise new ideas and pitch for investment. The environmental impacts of a new product or service are evaluated alongside the potential economic returns. The analysis considers business purpose and a commitment to reduce negative impacts.

Our targets and priorities

  • Targets
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    Our client targets

    • Understand the ESG/Sustainability strategy for all Key Accounts and assess support DWF can provide or steps DWF should take to ensure teams deliver and relationship consistent with any commitments clients make and our own, values and commitments to ESG.
    • Improve our NPS score for our key account programme by at least 5% and maintain current market leading score.
    • 100% of new clients to be taken through ESG Client Policy, due diligence and on boarding process.
  • Priorities
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    Our client priorities

    • We use our Net Promotor Score (NPS) to determine our customer loyalty and satisfaction. 
    • We run a global annual Client Census programme which gives our clients a forum to be able to provide more specific and detailed feedback which we benchmark year on year.
    • Real Time Feedback has been implemented for many clients so that we received "on the job" feedback and can act quickly to improve our level of service and delivery.
    • Giving our clients the opportunity to raise a formal complaint should they be dissatisfied with the service they have received. 
    • Our various Client Programmes (in particular, our Key Account Programme) allow us to ensure we have an in-depth understanding of our clients and their needs and therefore is how we grow with our clients. Each account has their own Client Partner, Strategic Partner and Executive Board Sponsor. 
    • Our Risks & Sanctions Committee review evolving trends to understand how our portfolio of clients is split across high risk sectors and locations and take appropriate action where necessary.
    • We are have started to identify the amount of green work we do with our clients, throughout 2022/23 we will be developing this further across the business globally.