Ashurst has drawn inspiration from its roots as a firm that campaigned against slavery in the 19th century to launch a Modern Slavery Action Plan.

The plan features a series of grants to help fund the global campaign against modern slavery as well as the creation of an anti-slavery network connecting staff, clients and other contacts. The launch follows Anti-Slavery Day on 18 October and forms part of the firm’s bicentenary celebrations: 2022 marks the firm’s 200th anniversary.

Its founder, William Henry Ashurst, attended the first World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 and is described by the firm as “a progressive advocate who was deeply committed to women's equality and the abolition of slavery”.

The four initiatives are named after Ashurst’s four daughters, who were campaigners for women’s equality, the abolition of slavery and other social justice causes, according to the firm.

The four projects are:

• the Matilda Ashurst Anti-Slavery Fellow grant will fund a role within the campaign group Anti Slavery International
• the Caroline Ashurst Anti-Slavery Awards will support a future joiner in London and one in Australia to support Anti Slavery International and Anti-Slavery Australia for the next three years
• the Emilie Ashurst Development Grant will support the development of women in the anti-slavery movement in Asia
• the Elizabeth Ashurst Anti-Slavery Network.

Global head of pro bono and social impact Sarah Morton-Ramwell said: "With more than 40 million people caught in forms of modern slavery today, we recognise that we all have a role to play in helping to eradicate slavery. The Action Plan provides a way for us to draw on our global reach and wider networks to achieve this, whilst also paying tribute to the efforts of Matilda, Caroline, Emilie and Elizabeth."

Global managing partner Paul Jenkins added: “As the father of a daughter, I think how frustrated William Ashurst must have been to witness his daughters' incredible efforts continually minimised because they were women.”

The Black Lives Matter movement has prompted a number of UK law firms, including the Queen’s advisers Farrer & Co, to express their regret for historic connections to the slave trade.

In June, a number of US law firms declared Juneteenth (Friday, 19 June) — which commemorates the ending of slavery in the US — a holiday after the police killing of George Floyd sparked a flood of initiatives by US law firms, representative bodies and legal campaign groups to combat racism.