S ocial Responsibility

We recognize that in México, it is important to promote social responsibility within our sector, to act in defense of the Rule of Law and promote human rights and democratic values that in turn allow better access to justice.

We understand that our Sustainability Model and the policies we have adopted in our comprehensive strategy in order to become socially responsible are in constant evolution.

Our Sustainability Model is based on relevant business issues (including our staff´s interests), in the fulfillment of our goals, in taking advantage of opportunities and in the effective handling of the inherent risks that come with economic, social and environmental development, and lastly, in our budget and size. However, we address four fundamental principles; business ethics, the environment, employee quality of life and community engagement. This way, it is clear that Pro Bono work is not the only action that a firm must develop in order to become socially responsible.

A socially responsible business is that which takes community in to account in order to meet its intended purposes, basing its vision and social commitment on actions and principles that benefit its business and impacts society in a positive way.

This is why, our Sustainability Model encompasses three different aspects: economic, social and environmental.

 

The economic:

Two fundamental aspects of social responsibility which allows us to advance in economic development and in our firms overall standing are: the correct implementation of our corporate ethics culture and the professional development of our most valued assets: our talent. Taking all of the above into account, the economic sphere of our Sustainability Model encompasses two major principles:

• Establish a culture of legality with our clients: “Zero tolerance towards corruption”. The above, among other concrete actions, we achieve by means of continually communicating and promoting our ethics code, our internal anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies and of our formal anonymous complaint channel.
• Maintain employee professional development through courses and constant evaluation. To achieve this, we have an annual Professional Development Program through “CREEL Academy”. Likewise, we strive to not only offer above-market compensation and benefits, but also programs that seek to secure Gender Equality, Labor Equality and Non-Discrimination.

 

Social:

In our internal social dimension, we work towards strengthening a sense of shared responsibility which we communicate to investors, directors and employees in order to promote quality of life in work and in the all-around development of people. In our external social dimension, we focus on individual actions and contributions in order to participate with time and resources in the creation of a more just and equitable society. Taking all of the above in to consideration, our social sphere is based on three principles:

• Employment of programs in favor of quality of life and employee and family well-being. To date, we have successfully implemented several actions and programs focused on meeting our objectives with respect with this principle, including a Corporate Health Program with a cross-cutting perspective of our Non-Discrimination and Inclusion Policies, alongside a training program focused on the development of our entire staff regarding Human Rights.
• Offer people legal counsel regarding social and environmental issues in order to achieve better Rule of Law and access to justice. To achieve this, we have implemented a Pro Bono program which seeks to fulfill our commitment with the “Vance Center´s Pro-Bono Declaration of the Americas”. Regarding the latter, our firm maintains strong ties with leading organizations dedicated to Pro Bono work in the region, such as the Mexican Bar Associations Foundation, the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice at the New York Bar Association and Appleseed México A.C.
• Permeate a sense of solidarity through volunteer action. Alongside our Pro Bono clients and other clients, we have started operating our Volunteer Program.

 

Environmental:

The commitment our firm has acquired implies we hold sole responsibility over the environmental impact our operations have and the implementing of specific and detailed actions to contribute to the preservation and prosperity of the common ecological heritage for the good of humanity, which is based on the following principles:

• Resource and office supply optimization. We achieve this by means of programs focused on the promotion of campaigns which seek to foster environmental consciousness at the firm.
• Promote the creation of public policies in favor of sustainable development. Thanks to the trust of several clients who are part of our Pro Bono Program, including World Wildlife Fund and Blacksmith Institute, we have had the fortune of supporting these organizations in environmental awareness programs offering legal counsel and participating in volunteer activities.
• Promote an environmental consciousness with clients and employees. Among others, we have implemented the “Paperless” program and the correct disposal of waste and the evaluation and actions for the mitigation of our environmental foot print.