Social Responsibility of a Law Firm Specialized in the Criminal Area

• Autor: Yon Ruesta, Roger
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2010
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Repositorio: Revistas - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:revistaspuc:article/3030
• Enlace del recurso: http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/derechopucp/article/view/3030
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Pro Bono Cases; Social Responsibility; Law Firms; Public Institutions; Casos Pro Bono; Responsabilidad social; Estudios de Abogados; Instituciones Públicas

In this article, the author questions the raison d'être of pro bono work, since it is possible that the assumption of these cases is part of an instrumental use to hide a certain professional practice carried out in legal studies. The criticism starts from a transversal analysis of public institutions, lawyers, universities, attorneys, and law practitioners. Regarding institutions, the author emphasizes the current system of public institutions in which corruption and impunity traditionally prevail. From this, he wields the attitude of social responsibility of the lawyer. Second, he exposes the professional practice of the lawyer in the cases that he defends and, above all, with what arguments he makes them. Third, he argues that there is a great academic responsibility of universities, not only to demand high academic performance from their professors, but qualities and values in their professional practice. Fourth, he points out that law firms should not only limit themselves to creating generic programs that are used as a declaration or letter of commitment to respect certain values; In the author's opinion, it would be better to choose a symbolic case of corruption and analyze it legally. In this way, it is announced that pro bono cases must configure an enforceable step in the line of social responsibility of the lawyer that not only covers the assumption of social cases, but also the academic level, in the level of professional practice, in the level internal institutional of the study to which it belongs. In conclusion, the need to expand the legal panorama and develop the social responsibility action of the lawyer in the different levels where he exercises his activity is highlighted, since this leads to the strengthening of public institutions.