Lewis Silkin’s rockhopper service wins Best Innovation Award

Launched four years ago, rockhopper is Lewis Silkin’s low cost, fixed fee HR support service. rockhopper services are provided by a team of qualified and experienced employment solicitors, who give practical and commercial advice. rockhopper provides an alternative way of working for lawyers as their personal and family circumstances change. The team of lawyers work from home on part time arrangements, giving them a level of control over how they work, the type of work they take on and where they live which is not normally possible in a traditional law firm. This innovative approach to legal services has already received praise, having been described as ‘stand out’ in the 2016 FT Innovative Lawyer Awards and Laura Farnsworth, Head of rockhopper, being named in the 2018 TimeWise Power 50 Awards.

On awarding Lewis Silkin, Sarah Jackson OBE and CEO of Working Families stated that by “incorporating home working and part time working into their business model [Lewis Silkin] are keeping women who would otherwise be stepping out of their careers” and that this “has resulted in a measurable increase in business revenue in the last year through producing a high quality service for clients and giving their employees much more control over work life balance”.

Working Families is the UK’s leading work-life balance organisation. The charity helps working parents and carers and their employers find a better balance between responsibilities at home and work. Established in 2010, the Working Families’ Best Practice Awards showcase and celebrate UK employers who are offering flexibility for all their people and going the extra mile in their support for parents and carers.

Laura Farnsworth, partner and head of rockhopper, commented:

“We are absolutely delighted that rockhopper has won this award and been recognised for its innovation in developing alternative roles for our staff which facilitate a better work life balance. We regularly receive great feedback from our clients about the exceptional quality service that our talented rockhopper lawyers provide and it is fantastic to receive external recognition of our efforts to challenge the traditional ways of working in a law firm.”

James Davies, Divisional Managing Partner commented:

“We are proud of our rockhopper service and delighted to have been recognised by Working Families for our commitment to providing our lawyers with a better work/ life balance.”