SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan

SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) champions diversity in the workplace. At the beginning of 2021, the firm admitted four female lawyers into the partnership. With the admission of these four women as partners, more than 40% of the partnership is now comprised of women.

SyCipLaw is committed to creating a positive difference not only for its clients but also for the community and the country. SyCipLaw makes active efforts to work collaboratively with stakeholders in the community and to enhance the well-being of others through pro bono initiatives and legal services, and other voluntary efforts.

The firm is very active in CSR work. It advised a number of local and international clients on various matters, including microfinancing and other programs intended to assist micro and small enterprises. This follows the firm’s membership in Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), a non-profit organization founded by the country’s biggest corporations to help strengthen the capabilities and governance structures of small and micro enterprises. SyCipLaw is the only law firm member of PBSP.

In September 2020, SyCipLaw signed a Cooperation Agreement with Justice Without Borders (a non-profit organization) pursuant to which SyCipLaw will provide pro-bono services in connection with cross-border claims by returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) against their former employers in Hong Kong and Singapore. Through this agreement, OFWs who are victims of labor exploitation are able to get access to legal aid in order to seek proper and just compensation from their former employers.

SyCipLaw also has a history of engagement in the area of workers’ rights. SyCipLaw, together with Asylum Access, Host International, Refugee Access, and five other law firms from across Asia, conducted research on refugee access to fair and lawful work in eight Asian countries. This project has been recognized by TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro-bono legal service, and was given TrustLaw’s Collaboration Award in its 2019 awards.