We are dedicated to make a positive impact on society and the environment. We aim to be conscious, to monitor and to adjust the kind of impact the Firm, its officers, associates and staff are having on all aspects of society, including human, economic, and environmental. Our strategic plan is to finally achieve a fully developed ESG practice through the implementation of the CSR ethos and its practices. The underlying idea is that we should operate as a socially responsible business and in ways that enhance human rights, the economy, the society, and the environment. We currently contribute to environmental researches, fully funding university scholarships, fully funding a fencing club and sponsoring the three major football clubs of our local community as well as offering pro bono legal assistance to NGOs and the unprivileged. Our direct objective is to increase access to law, increase and create opportunities, promote diversity in the legal profession and achieve sustainability.
Responsible Business
Our Approach to Responsible Business
- our dedication to responsible working practices, including our environmental impact and becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace;
- making a positive impact to our local community through our CSR related societal activities and pro bono work; and
- supporting our people and co-partners in the development of a sustainable future through our CSR actions and sustainability-oriented work.
A Solid CSR Practice
Our CSR practice has been developed after considering the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. We share the view that by incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into strategies, policies, and procedures, and establishing a culture of integrity, we are not only upholding our basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for a holistic sustainable development. In this spirit, we decided to proceed to the implementation of ISO 45000 family of international standards that concerns the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, ISO 14000 family of international standards that concern the Environmental Management System, in addition to ISO 9000 family of international standards, that concern the Quality Management System.
Our People
We are our People. We want to recruit the best and we commit to accommodate our People’s physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation needs and concerns, for them to attain their life targets, their work-related concerns and beyond.
We strive to build a climate of tolerance, diversification and equal access to opportunities. We afford no tolerance on any form of discrimination which relates to gender, sexual preferences, nationality, race, beliefs, religion, culture, social, economic, or political status. We maintain policies and procedures which make qualifications, skill and experience the basis for the recruitment, placement, training, and advancement of staff at all levels.
From the very first day of our People’s vocation with us, we make sure they are welcomed, introduced, trained, and inducted in all processes they are going to be undertaking as part of their careers. Our processes are well defined in our Policies, Processes and Procedures and our Operations Manual, designating a supervisor to guide and advise throughout.
We aim for our People to lead in their areas of expertise but at the same time make sure they understand the importance of being part of a Team and execute as part of the LLPO Family. Our People come to appreciate the power of the Team to maximise results by caring for each member of the Team. Team building activities periodically held, enhance the team members experiences and interrelations.
Everyone at the Firm is on a clear career path. Trainee, Junior Associate, Associate, Senior Associate are the steps of the ladder that everyone is prepared to climb. Appraisal is ongoing, not as an examination, but rather as a tireless effort to enhance professional expertise and personal development.
We aim to maintain an excellent in-office working environment, with designated areas of breaks, areas to discuss, think, rest and lunch. No maximum breaks policy, no limitation in social media utilisation, no limitation on absences from office. We afford our People with a choice to diversify their working hours amongst other by exercising flexible hours of work policies, exercise voluntary work from home policies or projects-based work policies. We want our People to be active members of our society, to express their opinion publicly but also to engage civil problems and institutions and extend the values on which the Firm is engaging.
We care about our Peoples health and safety, and we commit to maintain the highest standards available for the management of occupational health and safety issues. We are also committed to put in place a comprehensive pension fund plan in addition to other plans held privately and aim to deliver as many benefits to them as they become available.
Environment
We are part of the Environment, and we commit to apply the highest standards available to manage the impact of our operations to the environment. We commit to identify, reduce, and monitor the environmental impact that our business activities may have. In all actions and processes we engage; we assess them through applicable protocols to promote green policies for sustainable development. We commit to procedures that aim at waste reduction, re-use and recycling. We aim at using only recyclable materials or materials that can be made from recycled materials.
We promote greener transport by encouraging staff to walk, cycle, car sharing if possible. We encourage staff to use greener fuels in their personal vehicles if possible. All firm vehicles are to be gradually upgraded to those that are most energy efficient, as they become available.
Our Local Community
The Firm commits to support local community via several direct engagements, the following being an example:
Environment
We support via funding and costs undertaking the work of Enalia Physis Center of Environmental Studies, Cyprus’s leading NGO on marine sciences, covering a wide range of research fields ranging from fisheries science to marine protected areas, artificial reefs, invasive species, benthic and cave ecology and to marine and coastal conservation. Its main priority is to generate environmental knowledge and applicable use of results through scientific research that will help towards the protection and conservation of our marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Education
We provide 4 scholarships funding to Frederick University Cyprus, to be distributed to two Education Studies and two Legal Studies undergraduates, at the option of the Scholarships Committee of the University. Frederick University operates since 2007, although its founders have a history of more than 50 years in higher education in Cyprus. The University offers a broad range of academic programmes of study in the areas of Science, Engineering, Business, Arts, Architecture, Media, Humanities, Health, and Education. The University has a strong focus on academic research, being one of the leading research organisations in the country.
Sports
We are fully supporting and sponsoring the operations of the Nicosia Athletic Club and undertake all expenses of its Fencing Team. Nicosia Athletic Club is a local sports club of Nicosia, recognised by the Cyprus Sports Organisation and various Sports Associations of the Country. Its mission is to engage and introduce, as many sports as possible, to the youth and adults of Nicosia. Its Fencing Team is already a member of the Cyprus Fencing Association, participating and organising fencing competitions on the official calendar of the Cyprus Fencing Association. We are also supporting annually via grants and sponsorships the three main Football Clubs of Nicosia, as well as other regular grants to other Nicosia sports clubs.
Our Local Community
We engage regularly in the support of local community charities either via monetary contributions, legal advice or by donating time, such as staff participation in volunteering days. We are particularly supportive to children health charities, immigrants’ inclusion organisations, trust building activities among the Greek and Turkish Community in Cyprus, and of the work performed by groups supporting the underprivileged.
Our People
We support our People in participating in public offices promoting social and community work and we even include such participation on their annual evaluation.
Individual Sports
We support and sponsor the Pancyprian Karate champion and the Mediterranean Games 2022 bronze medallist Marcos Tsangaras. Marcos is the reigning Pancyprian champion and athlete/member of the Cyprus Olympic Committee delegation, having won 4 consecutive championships in the senior male category as well as the reigning Pancyprian champion in the junior male category since 2017. Since 2017, he demonstrates high performance and has received a lot of honours in several international games such as the Small States Karate Championship (gold medals in 2017, 2018 and 2021), the Panhellenic Karate Championship (silver medal), the WIKF Global Cup in England (gold medal) and others.
Armata 2022
We’re proud to be sponsoring and participating in the Armata 2022. This year’s event is loaded with sessions featuring and demonstrating the most important incidents of the Naval Battle of Spetses of the Revolution of 1821.
The Municipality of Spetses annually honours the event of heroism of the people of Spetses, at the Naval Battle, which took place in September 8, 1822 and which has been recorded as one of the most important events of the Revolution of 1821.
Crowds of visitors, Greeks and tourists alike, visit Spetses every September to attend the festivities of the “Armata”, which last a week. The programme of the celebrations includes painting exhibitions, music and dance events (concerts, choirs, traditional dance and music groups, etc.), theatrical performances, cannon firings, etc.
Pro Bono Work
Through the provision of our pro bono work, we’re committed to supporting non-profit organisations, charities and individuals who are in need, due to limited resources, to have access to justice. In light of the above, we became members of the “Justice for All” network, a non-profit organisation that provides free access to legal guidance and free legal representation by registered Lawyers to Beneficiaries. With our pro bono services, we aim to make a difference to our local community at an organisational and individual level.
Armata 2022
Spetses Island celebrate “Armata” every September. Armata celebrations commemorate the 1821 revolutionary war fight that took place in the strait between Kosta and Spetses Island. Every year, residents of Spetses build a wooden boat that it is used as an effigy of a Turkish boat, where it is going to be set on fire as part of the representation of the incidents back in the strait between Kosta and Spetses Island in 1821.