Marval O’Farrell Mairal
Argentina
Diversity
Our D+I Commitment
Introduction:
Diversity is at the top of our Firm’s agenda and our history proves it since decades ago: in 1987 we were the 1st big Argentinian firm to ever select a female partner.
During the last 100 years, Marval stood out for attracting diverse talent based on merits, and for giving equal opportunities for the professional development of women's careers. Marval was a pioneer in appointing female partners, back when this was exceptional among leading corporate law firms.
From 2016 to the present, the firm doubled the number of female partners (4 back in 2015, 9 today). Currently, many of our female partners hold leadership positions in the Executive Board, the Management Committee, and other committees and task forces.
Several actions were directed specifically to support and promote women's careers in various stages of their professional lives, favoring a culture of equality. These actions included mentoring and coaching, as well as leadership workshops. The Firm also carried out a program to collaborate with the soft landing of women after and near the end of their maternity leave to help them finding a balance between personal and professional life. These actions included extended paternity leave and networking opportunities.
21st century has seen Marval set another milestone with the Diversity Committee., which was created in 2016 and includes 8 partners members. The Diversity Committee first focused on the development of women's careers, to later cover other areas of diversity, such as LGBTT+; disability; and social, cultural, and age matters. The Diversity Committee and the Career Committee work together to design and implement initiatives to make Marval the most suitable place for career development in a work-life balance environment.
In the last 7 years, Marval has worked actively on Diversity & Inclusion, boosting the involvement of all its members (partners, lawyers, staff members, and students) through internal working groups (Gender, LGBT+, Disability ) that promote actions to reaffirm the firm’s commitment in providing employees with a diverse and inclusive workplace.
The committee works in coordination with the Career Committee, to design and apply initiatives to make the Firm the best place to work where members can advance their careers, within a framework of work-life balance.
Between June 2022 and July 2023 Marval carried out more than 20 specific D+I activities. Moreover, this year we also joined R.E.D. Di Tella, a university D&I network that develops activities and investigations on this topic. 65 companies are members of this network.
We have witnessed and confirmed that embracing diverse perspectives contributes to the success of our members and proves very valuable to our clients.
This is a summary of the path walked, our values, and policy,: values and agenda
Some of the most relevant actions implemented by our firm in connection with Diversity and Inclusion:
Organization of Local Women Lawyers’ Network and Discussion Forums
Marval O’Farrell Mairal is behind a number of initiatives focused on the mentoring of female lawyers and their general advancement in the legal profession.
- Vance Center and the New York City Bar’s Committee on Women in the Profession
In particular, Marval O’Farrell Mairal has collaborated since 2007 with the joint project of the Vance Center and the New York City Bar's Committee on Women in the Profession on issues facing women in the legal profession in Latin America. This joint project developed a report on "Best Practices for the Hiring, Training, Retention, and Advancement of Women Attorneys" issued in February 2006, which provided practical suggestions for law firms, corporations, and other organizations employing lawyers to improve women's advancement in the legal profession and addressed areas such as senior management commitment, organization accountability, representative leadership, mentoring, and workplace flexibility.
Since 2007, Marval has worked on adapting these Best Practices to the local environment, launching the project in Argentina, hosting the meetings to discuss the project with partners and senior associates of other local firms and in-house lawyers. The firm has since collaborated actively with the project in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru.
Marval has paved the way for the advancement of women in the legal profession in Argentina and Latin America as a whole. The firm has played a trailblazing role at a regional level, most prominently as a key participant in the project that issued a report on "Best Practices for the Hiring, Training, Retention and Advancement of Women Attorneys" in 2006. Ever since, Marval has continued to lead the way.
Our partner Cecilia Mairal is a regular lecturer in the meetings organized by the Vance Center.
- Women Lawyers Meeting (Encuentro de Mujeres Abogadas - EMA)
Marval has been instrumental in putting the project into practice beyond the Firm, taking the lead by organizing Women Lawyers Networking and Mentoring events.
All of Marval’s women partners participate actively in this project in Argentina, coordinated by Cecilia Mairal.
These Women Lawyer Meetings (identified as EMA Encuentros de Mujeres Abogadas) have been organized by Marval since 2007 with the aid of several other leading law firms in Buenos Aires which together with several leading companies take turns in hosting the meetings, now a major networking event where around 50 women lawyers both in-house and outside counsels are brought together periodically (two or three times per year).
At these inspirational speakers are invited to the meetings, where relevant issues are discussed, and women lawyers from neighboring countries such as Brazil and Uruguay, often attend. Also, younger lawyers can interact with more senior colleagues, sharing concerns and experiences. Senior associates of the Firm are encouraged to participate.
On October 20, 2022, the Firm hosted the 28th EMA meeting, in which our guests Julieta Arribas Medrano (HSBC Deputy General Counsel) and Lorena Blanco (HSBC Head de Talent Development for Latam) shared their D+I comprehensive approach and presented different initiatives, such as the Guidelines on Economic Violence, prepared by HSBC Argentina.
Around 100 guest members joined this event.
- Lunch for Senior Women Lawyers
In 2008, Marval launched a lunch for Senior Women Lawyers at the time of the IBA Annual Conference in Buenos Aires, which has since been jointly sponsored by Marval and Freshfields in Madrid (2009), Dubai (2011), Tokyo (2014), and Vienna (2015); Marval and Blake’s in Vancouver (2010); and jointly with Arthur Cox, in Dublin (2012), in Boston (2013); jointly with BDO in Tokyo (2014), in Vienna (2015), in Washington (2016), in Sydney (2017), in Rome (2018), in Seoul (2019); virtually because of the Covid-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021), and in Miami (2022). The event, which the female community enthusiastically received, has become a tradition and has forged lasting bonds and interesting exchanges among participants.
Few, if any, other leading Latin American law firms can claim to have had such an impact on the advancement of women in the legal profession in Latin America during recent years.
- Antitrust Women Network
Since 2015, Marval has been hosting an annual event for women who work in antitrust. This event started with very few participants but, over the years, it has become a stellar event (and the only one exclusively for women) with more than 60 participants. Here, women of different sectors of the antitrust field can interact.
The motto is "An event for women, by women, and where only women can speak" and the goal is to have a casual event where women can meet and discuss what is happening in antitrust: the new trends, case law, legislation, etc. The usual participants include the professionals (lawyers and economists) members of the Antitrust Commission, female lawyers and economists from all the firms working in this field, as well as foreign professionals who visit Buenos Aires for the event. This on-going project has been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions, but it will be resumed on May, 2023.
This event provides an excellent networking opportunity for female lawyers to interact with peers and key officials of the Antitrust Commission.
- Women in Compliance Network
Since 2017, Marval has been participating in this network for women who work in compliance matters. The network has around 150 participants and usually holds one event per month.
This program provides an excellent networking opportunity, although it has been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions.
- Economic Violence Against Women
In 2018 Marval, together with other leading law firms in Buenos Aires and with in-house counsels, started working on a very special project with the Vance Center and the Ministry of Production of Argentina, regarding Economic Violence Against Women. The project aimed at understanding how gender economic violence is addressed in different jurisdictions, to prevent and help women fight against it. Extensive work was carried out during all of 2019.
Three working groups were set: (i) one conducted surveys in 34 different jurisdictions around to world to understand how economic violence is addressed by local laws and courts and if there are any best practices that companies are implementing to help their employees in this situation; (ii) a second one analyzed the Argentinian legal framework and court precedents; (iii) the third one reviewed all the different initiatives of the public sector and NGO’s in connection with this subject and is developing a toolkit to be distributed by different means and in different jurisdictions in Argentina, to help women understand their rights and the resources they have to fight against economic violence.
Preliminary results of this project were presented at the EMA event held at our law firm on December 3, 2019. Over 50 female lawyers participated, as well as partners of the leading firms in Buenos Aires and GCs of leading companies.
This project addresses one of the forms of violence against women that is only now starting to be known and analyzed and that is the cause of the lack of independence and empowerment of many women around the world. As women lawyers advising corporations and banks, we can advise and cooperate in the initiatives stemming from the interaction of the public and private sectors, that are little by little starting to be launched on this subject. The aim is to increase awareness, to provide information and tools to help women in this situation, and to help prevent these problematic behaviors that refrain women from being independent, by assisting companies in the set-up of best practices addressing this issue and providing women with information on the available legal resources in Argentina. The comparative study of the 34 jurisdictions has also given us invaluable information on what is working and what is not. This was analyzed in detail during 2020.
In 2021, we worked with the local authorities and relevant NGOs on raising awareness. It is important to note that we continued working on this project from the recently created Diversity Committee of the Buenos Aires Bar Association, thanks to the efforts of the Bar members, including our partner Cecilia Mairal, who is currently Vice-President of such association. The goal is to put together policy and legislative recommendations, as well as a best practices reports.
Our Programs to Benefit our Associates’ Careers
- Annual Mentoring Program “Empoderar”
Marval implemented its first Annual Mentoring Program “Empoderar” (which in Spanish means to empower) back in 2017. The program was targeted at all of our female lawyers and professionals, regardless of their category. The main goal of the program was to guide and empower our female lawyers in the development of their professional careers.
Prior to launching the Mentoring Program, the firm put special emphasis on its importance and encouraged all partners to actively invite their female lawyers to participate and to organize the work in a way that would not affect their attendance to the workshops and program activities.
The Mentoring Program was divided into four main modules:
- Acknowledgment and enhancement of the main characteristics of women at work.
- Strategic Career Planning.
- Positioning and Personal Brand.
- Leadership.
The program took place between March and December of 2017, and 76 female lawyers were part of it.
The Mentoring Program involved, among other activities, 27 workshops conducted by outside consultants, to discuss the above topics. The workshops were tailored to assist female lawyers in the development of key aspects of their careers such as business development, and to provide them with tools to plan their careers with a work-life balance approach.
The workshops were organized in small groups to encourage the active participation of female lawyers in the discussions and in the activities conducted by the consultants. All female partners participated.
The workshops represented 64 hours of training.
The Mentoring Program was very well received internally, and we are convinced that it also had a positive impact on the local legal market in general.
In 2018, we invited all the female senior associates of the firm to share a space for discussion and debate with our female partners.
During the sessions, female associates had the opportunity to exchange opinions, give feedback on mentoring programs and workshops, and share their concerns and career expectations. The female partners in important places within the organization today, who at the same time have a leading role in their families, provided constructive feedback and advice and shared their vision on female leadership. All female partners and approximately 45 female associates participated in these round tables.
Our firm has been working towards achieving greater diversity in the workplace for several years. This was channeled through different projects, including the creation of a Diversity Committee, the organization of workshops to share a space for discussion and debate with our female partners, including events that urged us to think about diversity and our attitudes towards it. In addition, our firm is fully committed to raising awareness on the importance of diversity in the legal profession, so our partners actively participate in seminars and other activities related to this topic.
Further, and with the main goal of working on efficiency and proper planning to provide our associates with the opportunity to substantially improve work-life balance without having a negative impact on our clients and our business, in December 2017 we launched a Work Efficiency Program as a pilot test to make the life of each one of us more predictable. This Program has had a substantial impact, also from a Gender Equality perspective for the reasons outlined below.
Prior to the launch, partners and associates worked together with the assistance of an external consultant for several months to agree on program guidelines, so that everyone had the necessary information to meet the proposed objectives and was fully aware of the firm’s expectations.
The program has been in place for over a year with very positive results. It has neither affected the services provided to our clients nor our revenues and it has improved the work-life balance for all of us. This has particularly helped in changing perceptions on expected working hours for women attorneys with young children, since it is now well regarded for all attorneys (male or female) to routinely leave the office at much more reasonable hours.
This program has been innovative and groundbreaking in the Argentinian market and it has also had a positive impact in law firms of other regions, which have inquired about it.
- Young Professionals Program
In 2022, we launched a new edition of our Young Professionals Program. This program started 20 years ago to attract young lawyers with high potential.
This program addresses junior lawyers who recently graduated university, who have great academic performance, excellent level of English, and high potential.
- Extended Leave for Promoting Coparenting
Our Firm strongly believes that fathers should be given the opportunity to share more time during the first days of their children’s lives, since they have an active role in the family and at home.
Since 2016 our law firm extended the paid leave of absence which nowadays extends to 14 days, even though the current labor laws only grant two.
Sharing responsibilities paves the way for developing better chances for a professional career of both parents. This is only a first step towards that goal.
- Kindergarten adaptation
During the first weeks of the school year, parents are encouraged to participate in the adaptation processes of toddlers to kindergarten routines. This initiative enables parents to take some time off and adapt their working day.
About 82 Marval members participated in their kids’ school adaptation during 2022.
Our Actions towards Raising Awareness
Marval is the largest law firm in Argentina and market leader. We are strongly committed to raising awareness in the community and promoting action for real change. Our partners and our most experienced associates constantly participate in many activities.
Below are some activities performed by our Firm members during last years.
- Combating Sextortion
Marval O’Farrell Mairal was invited by Thomson Reuters Foundation to be the Argentinian representative and international coordinator in preparing a report on corruption involving sexual exploitation.
This report was written by initiative of The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). The IAWJ is a non-profit and non-governmental organization whose members represent all levels of the judiciary in over 70 countries and share a commitment to equal justice and the rule of law. The object of this report was to establish a legal framework to prosecute corruption involving sexual exploitation. This behavior is known as sextortion.
The report illustrates how sextortion manifests around the world, examines the laws in force for prosecuting it, and describes the often-inadequate response of criminal justice systems in nine jurisdictions. These findings provide a blueprint for strengthening the laws and policies needed to combat sextortion.
This report has a detailed description of the situations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Kenya, Mexico, Taiwan, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
The Firm’s role as international coordinator was to organize, supervise, revise and put together the reports prepared by the different law firms that contributed to this project.
After seven months of hard work, the final report was launched in New York City on April 10, 2015 at the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s office.
The complete report may be obtained here:
https://www.trust.org/publications/i/?id=588013e6-2f99-4d54-8dd8-9a65ae2e0802
https://www.marval.com/publicacion/informe-combating-sextortion-12639
- Women in business
Our Of Counsel Patricia Lopez Aufranc spoke on “Women in business and finance” in the Seminar on Women and Power organized by the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, on August 30, 2016.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/la-mujer-en-los-negocios-2381
- Gender Gap
Patricia López Aufranc was invited by law firms Guyer & Regules, Ferrere Abogados, Hughes & Hughes, Posadas & Posadas, and Jiménez de Aréchaga, from Montevideo, Uruguay, to host a workshop on “Understanding the Gender Gap: Stereotypes and Unconscious Biases” on November 11, 2016, during the 2nd Conference of the Women in the Profession Program at the Cyrus Vance Center for International Justice.
Patricia also spoke on “Leadership in Times of Great Transformations” at the Biannual Congress of the Council of Economic Sciences Professionals, on November 10, 2016.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/brecha-de-genero-2428
- Stonewall Report
In 2016, Marval O’Farrell Mairal took part in the project led by Freshfields, writing the Argentinian Chapter of the Global Workplace Briefing, developed by Stonewall. Stonewall is a British association that campaigns for the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people across Britain (http://www.stonewall.org.uk/).
- Opportunities for the Development of Women Lawyers
Patricia Lopez Aufranc was invited by the Costa Rican Bar Association to speak about “Stereotypes and Unconscious Biases. Impact in the Development of a Career” in the Seminar on Opportunities for the Development of Women Lawyers, on May 17, 2017.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/oportunidades-para-el-crecimiento-de-profesionales-2483
- Combating Sextortion – vol II.
Since the release of the first report, the Institute of the Rule of Law (UIA-IROL) of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA after its French acronym) has undertaken a new effort to expand the 2015 research.
Marval O’Farrell Mairal has led the international team and coordinated the report. This new joint effort constitutes a landscape study of legal and institutional frameworks for combating sextortion, covering ten jurisdictions representative of diverse cultural and legal backgrounds: France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.
On June 3, 2017, this Second Volume of the Report “Naming, shaming and ending Sextortion” was presented to the President’s Council of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA after its French acronym) in Geneva, Switzerland.
This Report was also presented at the UIA Colloquium on “Status of Women” at the Cercle Cité, organized by the UIA "When the Bribe Isn't Money: Gender, Sextortion, and How to Fight Back" in the City of Luxembourg on June 8, 2017.
- Seminar on Diversity and Inclusion in Latin America
Patricia López Aufranc drew the conclusions of the seminar on Diversity and Inclusion in Latin America, sponsored by the Cyrus Vance Center of the New York City Bar on June 5, 2017.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/diversidad-e-inclusion-2499
- Internal Event for Women Lawyers
In August 2017, Marval hosted an event for all lawyers but specifically aimed at female practitioners, hosted by Mónica Pinto (Dean of the Law School, University of Buenos Aires) and Patricia Lopez Aufranc.
In November 2017, Marval invited former partner and copyright and entertainment lawyer Maria Vázquez to share her experience as a female lawyer both in Argentina and abroad. Patricia Lopez Aufranc moderated the discussion. The event was addressed to all practitioners, but specifically directed to female lawyers.
- International Women’s Day lunch
On March 8, 2018, Patricia López Aufranc was keynote speaker at an International Women’s Day lunch organized by Demarest Advogados in Sao Paulo, where she discussed how the quest for gender equality affects women in their professional life.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/almuerzo-por-el-dia-internacional-de-la-mujer-2577
- Women and Leadership Seminar
On May 11, 2018, our partner Cecilia Mairal participated as a panelist in the Women and Leadership Seminar, organized by Carey and Chambers in Santiago de Chile.
- Feminism: What does it mean for professional women
Patricia López Aufranc analyzed feminism and what it means for professional women during an event organized by the Women’s Strategy Committee, held at Morrison & Foerster, New York (July 26, 2018)
https://www.marval.com/novedad/feminism-what-does-it-mean-for-professional-women-2682
- Challenges of Female Lawyers
On September 11, 2018, we invited Noiana Norigo, former associate of our firm and currently Head of the International Arbitration Group of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York, to share her experience developing a successful career as a female lawyer both in Argentina and abroad. Patricia Lopez Aufranc moderated the discussion. The event was open to all professionals but specifically focused on female lawyers.
- Diversity Seminar
On September 19, 2018, our partner Iris Quadrio participated as speaker in the Diversity Seminar held in Paraguay, organized by Chambers & Partners and Berkemeyer.
- Labor and Employment Event
Our partner Enrique M. Stile moderated a panel at the Latin Lawyer Live 5th Annual Labor & Employment Event held in Miami that discussed equal pay legislation in Latin America and private sector-led affirmative actions (September, 2018).
- Gender gap
Our Of Counsel Patricia López Aufranc analyzed the gender gap during a business lunch held at the Sede Social del Colegio de Abogados on October 9, 2018.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/brechas-de-genero-3792
- #PotenciandoMixidad
On October 23, 2018, our Partner Santiago Carregal and our Of Counsel Patricia López Aufranc participated in the launching of the #PotenciandoMixidad initiative, which promotes a balanced leadership scheme. The event was organized by the Marianne association and members of the following organizations: FAME, FLOR, Fundación Global, Red de Empresas por la Diversidad (RED), UPWARD, Vital Voices, and Women Corporate Directors (WCD).
https://www.marval.com/novedad/potenciandomixidad-3804
- Mujeres Líderes
Cecilia Mairal participated in the fourth edition of Mujeres Líderes, an event organized by La Nación, held on November 12, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires.
https://www.marval.com/novedad/mujeres-lideres-3844
- "Arbitral Women Diversity Toolkit TM – From Bias to Inclusivity in Arbitration"
On November 13, 2018, Santiago Soria participated as speaker in the panel "Arbitral Women Diversity Toolkit TM – From Bias to Inclusivity in Arbitration", organized by Arbitral Women and the ICC during the annual ICC Miami Conference.
- Diversity on Boards
On December 7, 2018, Cecilia Mairal co-chaired the "Diversity on Boards" panel at the IBA 5th Corporate Governance Conference, held in Frankfurt, Germany.
- “Fundación Mujeres 2000” (“2000 Women NGO”)
We have provided legal advice to an NGO named Fundación Mujeres 2000, mainly composed of professionals and university students. This foundation has been active since 2000 in vulnerable neighborhoods in the northern area of the Province of Buenos Aires, with the main purpose of promoting initiatives for women, youth, and families to favor the development of their potential.
- “Damas de la Caridad” (“Charity Ladies”)
During 2018 our Firm provided legal advice to this NGO which has two premises mainly focused on assisting vulnerable women of all ages. The San Jose foster home (“Hogar San José”) provides shelter to 35 girls who have been separated from their families and the Santa Ana foster home (“Hogar Santa Ana”), where over 51 elderly women live, most of whom do not have a family.
- “Fundación de los Colores” (“Colors NGO”)
In 2018 Marval O’Farrell Mairal provided legal advice to this NGO that teaches courses of professional make-up to women in vulnerable situations in order to raise awareness of their potential, providing them with the necessary tools to build a meaningful work life.
- Provision of legal services to women
During 2018, our Firm provided legal support to several women in vulnerable situations. In one case, we assisted a victim of violence throughout her. On another case, we assisted a woman seeking sole custody of her children.
- Diversity, Integrity, and Inclusion Policy
In 2019, Marval O’Farrell Mairal ratified the Firm’s commitment to Diversity & Inclusion, updating our existing policy to current standards.
- Us Too?
In August 2019, our partner Barbara Ramperti participated as speaker in a panel organized by the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires to share and discuss the results of the Us Too Report prepared by the IBA.
- Businesswomen Around the World
In September 2019, one of our associates participated as speaker in the panel “Businesswomen Around the World” held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the context of the IV Congreso Integra, II Congreso Compliance Across Americas.
- Us Too – Update
In June 2020, Barbara Ramperti participated as speaker in the IBA Webinar to discuss bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession.
- Dispute Resolution & Diversity
Santiago Soria participated as speaker in the October 2020 Podcast with the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution and New York International Arbitration Center.
- The Right to Gender Self-Determination: A Comparative Law Overview.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation invited Marval O’Farrell Mairal to represent Argentina in a comparative law research on the right to gender self-determination.
At the request of the Spanish National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTBI+), the goal of this research is to produce a comparative law report that will lay the groundwork for drafting and promoting a gender identity and trans rights bill. The final report was delivered in 2021 to FELGTBI+, to be used in the negotiations of the bill.
Members of Marval O’Farrell Mairal’s Diversity Committee, Pro Bono Team, and other team members collaborated with this report.
As seen on the news, Spain has already passed the bill https://www.euronews.com/2023/02/16/spain-passes-law-allowing-people-to-freely-change-gender-from-age-16
- Special Olympics Latin America
During 2021, the Firm assisted Special Olympics Latin America reviewing the “Operation Safeguard” document. Special Olympics is an international NGO that works for more inclusive sport, health, and educational opportunities. They connect over 6 million athletes in 200 countries. It is estimated that children with disabilities may be 5 times more likely to face abuse and girls are at greater risk for sexual violence. The Organization wanted to extend the reach of its protective behaviors programming to ensure its availability outside of the USA to include more athletes. The areas involved were criminal law, labor law, intellectual property law, contracts, and the LGBTQ+ team. The final report was delivered in July 2022.
- Women Rights in Argentina
On October 25, 2022, our partner Cecilia Mairal participated as speaker in the meeting organized by the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer law firm. There, she addressed the evolution of women's rights in Argentina. The meeting was held within the frame of the IBA 2022 conference in Miami, USA.
- International Report on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work.
Marval O'Farrell Mairal was chosen by Thomson Reuters Foundation as the Argentinian representative and the international coordinator on a report on laws regarding violence and harassment in the world of work.
This report was done by initiative of ELA, a non-profit organization working on the promotion of women's human rights and gender equality in Latin America through rules, laws, and public policies.
Thomson Reuters Foundation and ELA chose Marval O'Farrell Mairal for this project, due to the expertise of its members, two of whom had already participated in other four international research where Marval contributed.
This report took 8 months of work and includes a detailed description of the situation in the jurisdictions of Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, México, Paraguay, Perú, and Venezuela.
Marval O'Farrell Mairal’s role as international coordinator consisted of organizing, supervising, revising, and assembling the reports prepared by the different law firms collaborating with this project.
The report was made during 2022 and final version is yet to be published.
Diversity & Inclusion Teams
In 2019, our Diversity Committee organized five Diversity & Inclusion Teams to work on new initiatives. All our members (professionals and support staff) were invited to join the different teams:
- Women Interest Group: The group is mainly focused on gender diversity concerns and career challenges and how to address them.
- Age Diversity Group: The team encourages the interaction among individuals from different generations. We can all learn from each other, despite our age, and all of us add value to the firm.
- Disability Interest Group: The main goal of the team is to increase awareness and foster the onboarding of personnel with disabilities.
- Socio-Cultural Diversity Group: The main purpose is to understand concerns arising from different ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds, and to make sure that our firm has an inclusive environment embracing all differences. We can learn from each other’s cultures and social backgrounds to better understand and address our clients’ needs.
- LGBT+ Interest Group: Increase awareness and promote an inclusive environment.
These teams involved over 50 members of our firm, held over 50 meetings up to date and implemented several actions. Each team is sponsored by two partners whose main role is to provide guidance and support.
The program is successful as it provides a safe environment to openly discuss these topics, freely raise their concerns, hopes and expectations and propose different initiatives.
All new members and new partners receive training on Diversity and Inclusion at the time of joining the Firm or being appointed as partners.
Since the program was created, these teams have carried out many actions. The most outstanding ones are:
Women Interest Group:
- Nursing Room (2019/2020): the Firm set up a nursing room at the firm to address mothers’ concerns regarding breastfeeding. This contributes to soft landing and work-life balance.
- Awareness campaign to commemorate Women’s Day by means of a graphic campaign encouraging discussions on unconscious bias.
- "Overwhelmed moms and dads": webinar for parents on how to handle the challenges imposed by the lockdown, home office, and home schooling (available at Marval’s Learning Room).
- Workshop “Una con una misma”: external counsel-designed workshops for female lawyers on commercial skills for career development (October 27 and October 29, 2020).
- Workshop “Una con los clientes”: some partners organized a workshop to discuss main aspects of the relationship with clients and how to successfully develop new businesses (November 6, 2020).
- Successful Rainmaking for Female Lawyers Program. Roundtables with Female Partners: the firm organized two events in which all our female partners shared with our female professionals their experiences in developing a successful career (November 17 and 24, 2020).
- Survey about the time invested in housework (from cleaning to taking care of children or the elderly, August 2020).
- International Women’s Day Celebration: a visual awareness campaign (March 8, 2021). We joined the UN #ChooseToChallenge initiative for a more inclusive world to support the undisputed role of women in society: "we can all choose to promote and celebrate women's achievements and help foster a more inclusive world."
- International Women’s Day Celebration: As part of the activities related to International Women's Day, we invited our professionals to share the webinar “Asymmetries in the impact of the pandemic” hosted by Dolores Cortés, entrepreneur passionate about women empowerment, regional leader, founder and director of the Lean in Argentina network (12 March, 2021).
- Maternity coaching: During 2021, the firm appointed this program to provide an environment where mothers can share conversations on their concerns and where women can receive tools that allow them to maintain long-term and sustainable agreements with their lifestyle. The program consists of a 60-minute meeting, to which women can assist both virtually and in person. The different topics will be addressed from their own experiences, and conversations can be raised to nurture them in the process.
Age Diversity Group
- Construction of two houses jointly with “Un techo para mi país” - NGO. Marval participated with a non-for-profit organization in the construction of two houses for families without resources. A group of partners, associates, and support staff worked together during a weekend. It encouraged teamwork and awareness of the different skills and experiences of the team members.
- Marval Choir and MOM Rock band (2019 up to 2020): different generations meet on a regular basis for Marval’s choir and rock band. They perform in our happy hours, among other events.
- #MarvalEstaConectado - #EntreGeneraciones the team prepared videos to share their first-hand experiences during the Covid-19 lockdown, and the challenges and lessons learned by the different generations (March 24, 2020, and June 11, 2020, Available at Marval’s Learning Room).
- Workshop “Lo no dicho en las palabras”: Agustina Bazterrica, together with colleague Agustina Caride, invited us to participate in a reading workshop which proposed to look for the mechanisms from which literature draws to construct a text and, at the same time, "cheat" with it. (Available at Marval’s Learning Room).
- Online healthy cooking class (October 27, 2021).
- Designing and organizing sports tournaments and integrative games to be played during 2022 (during 2021, there were many limitations due to Covid-19 restrictions).
- Online healthy cooking class (November of 2021).
- Talent in Movement Program: designed to help junior associates to develop careers skills and to promote networking opportunities within the Firm. Launched in December of 2021.
Disability Interest Group
- Survey to assess how much people know about this topic, its impact, and concerns (2020).
- "Inclusion Talent and Diversity": awareness talk. We were accompanied by Marie Clare Le Chevalier and Inés Voncini from Accenture, recognized leaders in the field, along with Jeremías Gamarra, a collaborator of the company, who shared their experiences on their program “Without Barriers” focused on inclusion, talent, and diversity (November 5, 2020.Available at Marval’s Learning Room).
- Awareness-raising talk on disabilities on International Persons with Disabilities Day (December 3, 2021).
- During 2021, Marval conducted research and edited an international report on access to health for people with disabilities or rare diseases. Its publication is still pending.
- Technical Report: the team requested an accessibility report and survey of positions aimed at determining Marval’s possibilities to hire a person with a disability.
Socio-Cultural Diversity Group
- Unique email addresses format for all members of the firm: historically, our firm used a specific email address format for lawyers and a different one for support staff. As a result of the initiative of this team, the firm decided to implement a unique email address format for all members.
- Chinese business culture (promoted by the Ethnic-Cultural Working Group): Mr. Martín Miguel Lo Coco, CEO of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce for Asia and the Pacific, shared with us the customs and culture of Asian countries to better understand our clients and better communicate with them (April 24, 2020).
- Brazil, UK and USA Culture Webinars (promoted by the Ethnic-Cultural Working Group): lawyers from different