Beccar Varela receives the Latin Lawyer “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year” Award.
The renowned publication Latin Lawyer awarded Beccar Varela the Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year award on May 5th, at the Latin Lawyer Awards 2022 ceremony, held at the Hotel Unique, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Latin Lawyer’s Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year award recognizes the region’s law firms strongly committed to building an institutional pro bono practice, implementing internal structures to ensure pro bono work is continuously carried out, making a significant contribution that allows access to justice for vulnerable people and communities. Among other aspects, Latin Lawyer highlighted that in 2021 Beccar Varela team carried out over 4000 hours of pro bono work, with an average of 42 hours per lawyer, “more than double the yearly target of 20 pro bono hours per lawyer set out by the pro bono institute the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.” The 95-lawyer pro bono team provided advice to 118 non-profit organizations and participated in 21 initiatives.
Horacio E. Beccar Varela, the firm’s managing partner, thanked Latin Lawyer for the award, underlining the decisive role played by law firms in the development and expansion of programs for their members to get engaged in pro bono work: “As lawyers, we work for justice, and we have to try to ensure many more people in society have access to it. In this way, together with the entire legal community, we will be able to generate a meaningful change in Argentina and our Latin American communities.” With great emotion, Fernanda Mierez, the partner in charge of the firm’s pro bono program and President of the Pro Bono Commission of the Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, thanked Latin Lawyer “for this incredible award and for giving visibility to the pro bono projects in which many lawyers of the region are participating, motivating new generations to get involved in the various projects that aim to solve social problems that not only require legal advice but also, above all, passion for helping others.”
Beccar Varela’s Pro Bono Program began in 2000, as a founding member of the Pro Bono Commission of the Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. In 2016, Beccar Varela joined the United Nations Global Compact, the first and only full-service firm in Argentina to do so, with its pro bono work cementing its commitment to the UN SDGs.
