Souto Correa Advogados

Promoting a diverse environment with respect for differences is an essential trait of Souto Correa’s institutional culture.  The firm Diversity Committee was created in 2017 as part of the firm’s governance structure and has received several awards and recognitions. Souto Correa’s diversity committee benefits from the collaboration of 30+ professionals in the firm who voluntarily serve as “Ambassadors of Diversity” and provide internal support to the diversity team on different arrays of mindfulness such as gender, color, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ to ensure effective policies towards a more diverse environment.

Among Souto Correa’s Diversity Committee and firm Diversity Ambassadors’ achievements are: promotion of several events to increase awareness, dissemination of readings and literature for a better understanding of diversity-related issues, monitored increase of diversity among partners, associates and professionals, gathering and analyzing internal firm data on diversity issues, sponsoring of Law School program and professional courses to create new opportunities to those in need of financial aid, recommending implementing tools manage unconscious biases in hiring processes, career advancement and evaluation. Diversity is one of the firm’s corporate governance principles and part of the firm’s core values.

Respecting differences is an essential trait of our institutional culture. Souto Correa has formalized its commitment to diversity by creating a specific committee in 2017 as part of the firm’s governance structure. The establishment of a group focusing on diversity seeks to align the firm with corporate governance principles and to further materialize one of the firm’s core values, which is “focus on people, they are a means and an end onto themselves”.

Souto Correa’s Diversity Committee main goals are to collect and gather internal firm data on gender, race, and LGBT+ in addition to finding tools to deal with issues such as unconscious biases in hiring processes, career advancement and evaluation. Additionally, the group seeks to promote measures to increase diversity, raise awareness about the issue and promote respect for differences within the firm.

The firm also has a voluntary mentoring program for its junior associates to encourage their professional development. For 36 months (during the estimated time for progression from junior to mid-level), the attorneys benefit from regular meetings with senior associates to plan their careers as well as help them better understand the inner workings of Souto Correa and its culture.

The firm’s overall retention is high and as relates to the retention of female lawyers, Souto Correa has an official maternity program. The program has clear rules on compensation (monthly and bonus) so that the associate can have peace of mind when planning their family and career. The expecting or adopting mother has guaranteed certain payments at the time of her leave, so she is duly compensated. Further, any time taken away from the office is in no way deducted or computed for bonus and evaluation purposes.

Moreover, also talking about retention tools, the team has great flexibility in the organization of its working time to enable them to meet personal commitments not only related to parenthood, but also from differentiated options in the career, such as an academic degree or pro bono activities.