UK corporate law firm Aria Grace Law has pledged to donate all its profits to charity every year as part of its new ethical commitment to share its wealth.

Aria Grace founder Lindsay Healy says if the firm hits its financial target this year it will be able to distribute at least £150,000 to charitable causes.

Healy said: “Our model, when you boil it right down, is to spread wealth, with clients, lawyers and society as one ecosystem. We want to get away from the typical law firm triangle where the people at the top make the money and the people at the bottom do the work.”

He added: “We believe there is a better way, and through working together and sharing more, we are creating more. I am not surprised to find that plenty of top-quality lawyers agree, particularly at a time where businesses need to prove their principles with deeds rather than words.”

Aria Grace Law was set up in June 2018 as a dispersed firm, and now has 30 lawyers—all of whom are partners and come from top firms such as Allen & Overy and Baker McKenzie. Healy himself previously worked at Norton Rose Fulbright in London. Its lawyers typically retain 90% of their fees, compared to around 70% at other dispersed firms. The main charity it currently donates to is Great Ormand Street Hospital.

Healy said: “It is integral to the ethos of Aria Grace Law that we play our part. Our clients enable us, and we thank them by providing top-notch services at great value. Everyone wins: clients and lawyers, and because of our model, society and the next generations.”

Other examples of the firm’s ethical commitments include planting a tree for every deal it works on, resulting in around 300 new trees planted this year alone. 

It was also the first law firm in the world to go through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics assessment, which helps companies measure their contribution to the circular economy, receiving an ‘A’ grade.

In addition the firm provides pro-bono legal advice as part of its commitment to equality and sustainability, such as helping sub-postmasters appeal their criminal convictions in the Post Office’s Horizon IT system scandal.

Healy said: “These are innocent people who have been dealt with very badly by the justice system and we are committed to helping them clear their names. We are doing it pro bono because these people have been through hell, lost literally everything at the hands of the Post Office, and it is the right thing to do.”