At Pérez-Llorca we promote sustainability through the three pillars of ESG: environmental, social and governance. In doing so, we seek to generate a positive impact and serve the community in order to improve situations of social inequality, contributing to access to a fair and equitable legal system.
In 2022 we joined the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainable development and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the UN. The SDGs where we have the greatest impact are:
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The firm’s main areas of environmental action are energy efficiency, minimising our carbon footprint, promoting responsible energy use among our employees and waste management. At the firm’s offices in Madrid (Castellana 50 and Castellana 259), the electrical energy consumed is 100% renewable, and we have implemented a waste separation process in all of our offices worldwide to facilitate recycling, as well as carrying out awareness campaigns for all our staff.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Since its founding in 1983, Pérez-Llorca has always maintained its commitment to respect corporate governance and strictly complies with the regulations in force. From 2021 it has had a Code of Ethics that sets out the values, principles, rules and guidelines of conduct that should govern and inspire the actions of all members of the firm in their respective professional fields. In this sense, the fundamental pillars of the firm’s good governance are professional ethics and codes of practice, corruption prevention, regulatory compliance and risk prevention.
SOCIAL SECTOR
The social commitment of the legal profession has always been a common denominator of our actions beyond day-to-day commercial matters, advocating for access to justice for all groups and trying to promote equal opportunities in our country.
Our founding partner, José Pedro Pérez-Llorca, who was a great intellectual and lover of culture, left an important mark on the firm in this area, which we are honoured to continue to promote.
We put our corporate social responsibility policy into practice through pro bono work, financial contributions, involvement in projects and volunteer work in four main areas of activity:
Education: promoting quality education and excellence in the legal sector as a driver of social and economic change.
Culture: fostering improved quality of life, increased tolerance, intellectual and emotional skills and the promotion of collective identity.
Science: contributing to the advancement of scientific research, the basis for social and economic progress in modern societies.
Constitutionalism and Fundamental Rights: promoting the defence of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the basic rule of our legal system, as well as the rights recognised therein.
Some of our social initiatives include collaborating with the Princesa de Girona Foundation, through which partners of the firm provide professional guidance to young people; supporting the Teatro Real, through sponsorship and pro bono legal advice; the José Pedro Pérez-Llorca Conference, a fundamental activity which is part of the collaboration with the Museo Nacional del Prado; supporting labour market integration of people with disabilities through collaboration with the Aprocor Foundation, which employs four people, and with the Esfera and Prodis Foundations for internships; the project developed with the Gregorio Peces-Barba Foundation to teach classes on the Spanish Constitution in public and state-subsidised schools; and the grants awarded to universities to support the design of effective legal strategies for the protection of the rights of the most unprotected groups through the NGO Gentium.
UKRAINE
In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pérez-Llorca turned its attention to supporting the Ukrainian population. We have sent €100,000 for direct financial assistance to Ukraine through UNHCR, UNICEF and Médecins du Monde. We have also collaborated with the Asociación Con Ucrania on several initiatives focused on providing pro bono legal advice to displaced persons and Ukrainian entities in our country, and organised exhibitions of paintings by Ukrainian artists in our offices in Madrid and Barcelona.
PRO BONO
Pro bono activity, understood as free legal advice provided to non-profit organisations, aims to offer collaboration on projects of social interest using our professional services, and making our legal knowledge available to the most disadvantaged free of charge. In line with our values of equality and justice, we are committed to making pro bono activity a part of our lawyers’ DNA. Solidarity with those most in need is a defining characteristic of Pérez-Llorca’s professionals, aware as they should be of the needs of today’s society and the many challenges it presents.
The pro bono cases currently handled by the firm come directly from third-sector organisations with which we have collaboration agreements or through the Fundación Pro Bono España, a clearing house connecting third-sector organisations in need of legal assistance and law firms interested in carrying out Pro Bono activity.
In 2022 we provided advice to more than 30 third-sector entities, and we continue to promote our social action through new collaboration agreements with NGOs, foundations and associations.
We collaborate with legal clinics, such as those belonging to Universidad Pontificia de Comillas – ICADE, IE Law School, Universidad Villanueva and Universidad San Pablo CEU, as they provide another source for pro bono matters led by students of these institutions and supervised by our lawyers, resulting in an exciting opportunity for synergies and learning for all parties.
