The IBA has presented María Fernanda Mierez, partner at Argentine law firm Beccar Varela, with its 2023 pro bono award, recognising her long commitment to the development and provision of free legal aid.
Mierez received the award on 2 November, during the IBA Annual Conference in Paris.
The award honours Mierez’s dedication to pro bono over the past 20 years, which includes co-founding Beccar Varela’s pro bono programme and establishing several initiatives in Argentina.
“Pro bono work connects us with our career purpose; it is the responsibility of every lawyer to facilitate people’s access to their individual rights, especially the most vulnerable,” comments Mierez in a statement published by the IBA. “I am very grateful for this recognition,” she adds.
For the last four years, Mierez has presided over the pro bono committee of the Buenos Aires City Bar Association – the first female lawyer in that role. During that time, she has overseen several initiatives aimed at expanding pro bono services in Argentina. One of the projects – the Young Lawyers Pro Bono Network – intends to increase the involvement of the new generations of lawyers in pro bono legal work.
In another important project, Mierez had a key role in setting up a hotline during the covid-19 pandemic, where 200 legal practitioners across Argentina assisted people in need of free legal advice as national lockdowns prevented them from seeing lawyers in person.
“[Fernanda’s] commitment not only influences our organisation but also our younger lawyers, who inspired by her work decided to join our pro bono team to help those who most need free legal advice,” says Beccar Varela’s managing partner Horacio Beccar Varela in a statement.
Mierez joined Beccar Varela in 1996 and after becoming a partner, she co-launched the firm’s pro bono committee in 2001 together with Roberto Horacio Crouzel, partner and co-head of the firm’s corporate and M&A department. Mierez also co-leads the firm’s ESG and company law teams.
Latin Lawyer recognised Beccar Varela for its pro bono work in 2022, by presenting the firm with its Pro Bono Law Firms of the Year Award. Mierez accepted the award at Latin Lawyer’s annual awards ceremony in São Paulo that year.
The IBA’s pro bono award is presented by the IBA Pro Bono Committee, which each year honours a lawyer for their efforts and contribution to the development of pro bono legal work around the world.
Mierez is not the first Latin American lawyer to receive the award. Last year’s recipient was Mexican practitioner Elba Gutiérrez, the manager of Greenberg Traurig LLP’s global pro bono programme.
Previous winners are Marcos Fuchs, the head of Instituto Pro Bono in Brazil, and Flavia Regina de Souza Oliveira, partner at Brazilian firm Mattos Filho.
In previous coverage from the IBA’s Annual Conference in Paris, Latin Lawyer reported on a panel about how the political and regulatory landscape is impacting foreign investment in Latin America and a session in which speakers predicted investment arbitration to rise across the region in the future.
