About James & Wells

Corporate Responsibility

James & Wells Intellectual Property is in the early stages of its journey towards becoming a sustainable business.  By sustainable, we mean achieving long-term profits while ensuring we impact only positively on our staff, our community and the environment.

Contributor to New Zealand's prosperity

Being able to demonstrate our commitment to the economic pillar of corporate responsibility is important to our firm. It is our intention to be seen by our community as a direct contributor to New Zealand's prosperity, and to have long-term economic sustainability.

A reduced environmental impact

It has been said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. James & Wells has formed a Sustainable Business Committee, which has guided the firm through several fair-sized leaps to start off in the environmental space:

• Applying for CEMARS ® organisation certification
• Entering the 2011 Sustainable Business Network's Get Sustainable Challenge
• Joining the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development
• Joining the Sustainable Business Network.

For more information on our environmental sustainability initiatives, please see 'Environmental Sustainability Journey'.

Social responsibility, to our staff and our communities

Charitable donations, sponsoring community events and various good causes, and carrying out pro bono work for organisations which would not otherwise be able to afford legal advice, have been part of the James & Wells story since the firm's inception. James & Wells has also established a website-based trade mark and design filing service, which makes filing affordable for organisations which would not otherwise get intellectual property protection.

For more information on this, please see 'In the Community - Donations and pro bono work'.

Employer of choice

Social responsibility also includes being an employer which values its staff. We want to be a great place to work, provide equity in the work place, and offer our team great opportunities to grow personally, and in their careers. James & Wells is a two-time winner of the Employer of Choice title at the NZ Law Awards. To see more information on James & Wells' employee benefits please go to 'Careers'.

From the 2011 Sustainable Business Network Awards judges:

"James & Wells have demonstrated great investment in staff and people. Their community interest and pro bono work is to be applauded, and the online support to improve accessibility of IP advice is very impressive. There is a great opportunity to translate the firm's intent into outcome through planned and sustained programme of internal change."