Herbert Smith Freehills launches student awards in India

Herbert Smith Freehills has launched its first ever Community Engagement Awards, designed to showcase the best social projects led by students in India. The firm is calling for entries from individuals or teams who are involved with projects or initiatives that intend to create a positive and sustainable impact on their communities.

There are two categories - the first is 'Community Investment through Legal Work', with examples given such as NGO internships, legal drafting and pro bono partnerships. The second, 'Community Contribution through Volunteering', focuses on non-legal examples such as working in partnership with a local charity or NGO, or tackling issues affecting a community.

Candidates must submit a short film (between two and five minutes), plus a 700-word description of the project and how it could benefit from the £2,000 prize money. The deadline for submission is 15 July 2016. The firm assumes that most entries will be from students in India, but it also welcomes any entries from UK students that are active in India on social responsibility projects.

Chris Parsons, chairman of the firm’s India Practice, said: "Law students have an abundance of skills and tools at their disposal to make a huge difference to their communities and I am looking forward to highlighting some of those initiatives through our Community Engagement Awards. We believe that volunteering helps to develop well-rounded individuals and helps law students develop the ability to communicate and work with a diverse range of people. This benefits the students' communities and also helps us identify the types of high-calibre candidate we aim to recruit."