At Michalsons we practice law to create a better society and protect people from harm. Part of that practice includes thoughtfully contributing to economic, social, and environmental issues while simultaneously managing our own impact on the world.

We believe in building authentic relationships based on mutual respect with our clients, our own team, and suppliers. We achieve this by listening to our clients and community, and by keeping abreast of economic, social, and environmental issues.

Our focus on sustainability has many lenses including corporate social investment, environmental sustainability, public interest work, and community service. See each lens below:

Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability is of the utmost importance to us at Michalsons. We are deeply concerned about the climate crisis. Our aim in this area is to take responsibility for the impact that we make on our environment.

Our efforts include having an active sustainability committee that researches and implements positive changes to our working environment. This means that while our efforts are continuously growing, we currently participate and practise the following:

  • Zoom – to avoid committing unnecessary carbon emissions our team have the option to work remotely. Meaning every meeting at Michalsons has a Zoom link to it as we encourage our team and clients to avoid unnecessary carbon emissions. To learn more read our We love online meetings post.
  • Google Suite – we use Google Suite to collaborate online as well as communicate with clients digitally. This not only streamlines our processes but reduces our paper usage and overall CO2 emissions.
  • Credible Carbon – when we do travel, we offset our CO2 emissions by purchasing carbon credits which contribute towards reducing climate change as well as alleviating poverty.
  • Xneelo – our daily practice is to reduce the amount of electricity we use. Part of this practice includes using Xneelo who keep their data centres cool, meaning less electricity use and therefore less environmental waste. In addition, we also use Credible Carbon to offset any electricity usage that we can’t eliminate.
  • Rainwater – to avoid wasting water we use rainwater in our toilet cisterns.
  • Greenpop and Wonder Plant – since the climate crisis is such a pressing issue we contribute towards planting trees with both Greenpop and Wonder Plant.
  • Sanccob adoption – rather than following the consumerist tradition of playing secret Santa, the Michalsons team joined together to adopt an African Penguin who we named Stanley! You can also contribute to the care of a seabird by visiting Sanccob to make a pledge.

Corporate Social Investment (CSI)

We believe we contribute most effectively when applying our legal expertise to organisations that work in the public interest. We’re particularly interested in organisations that work to strengthen constitutional awareness and human rights and those that support the development of a robust civil society. We currently support:

  • FunDza because the literacy levels in South Africa are very low and we believe that through reading people not only gain access to knowledge but also develop empathy and connection.
  • Wikipedia because it is essential that everyone can learn and has access information.
  • SAFLII because we believe that the law should be accessible. We also encourage other organisations to donate and support SAFLII.
  • Wordworks because supporting early language and literacy development in the first eight years of life is crucial.

Please contact us if you think your non-profit organisation would benefit from this type of support.

Public interest work

To represent the public interest, Michalsons has focussed on providing comments and attending Parliamentary briefings and subcommittee meetings regards Bills that align with our areas of expertise:

Community service and free legal services

We believe we can broaden access to justice through community service. Most people are able to pay others for what they need or us for the legal services that we provide. But there are some people who for various reasons genuinely can’t. We sometimes provide pro bono legal services to:

  • New entrepreneurs looking to start up a business by advising them and giving them tools, because they will create jobs and develop the economy.
  • Consumers who need protection (especially the poor and uneducated) by advising them of their rights.
  • Victims of Identity Theft by guiding them on how to protect themselves, because having your identity stolen is devastating.
  • Students by inviting them to attend our workshops, because they need to see the practical side of law and the law being applied in the real world.