The main goal of the Foundation is to offer free legal services to non-profit organizations (NGO), and other sectors of the society promoting welfare projects. More specifically, the key areas of the BLP Pro-Bono Foundation are education, youth, environment and community issues.

The Foundation receives resources from:

• At least 20 professional hours donated on a yearly basis by more than the fifty lawyers and paralegals of BLP Abogados
• Cash donated by the law firm.

By these means, the BLP Pro-Bono Foundation is the vehicle through which BLP Abogados will continue with the corporate social responsibility work. The medium-term goal is to look for the donation of more professional hours from other attorneys in the country, as well as to obtain additional funding to hire in-house counsel with expertise in other areas.

Although the law firm has always had a pro-bono service tradition the Foundation has as a strategic initiative to encourage professionals to volunteer and share their legal expertise in the most effective way. The pro-bono effort is an essential part of our core values. This type of initiatives promotes teamwork in our firm as well as the integrated personal development of our attorneys and paralegals.

As a result of the volunteering efforts of the BLP group, it was ranked as one of the leading law firms dedicated to pro-bono service in Latin America, and on the top of the list in Costa Rica. (http://www.latinlawyer.com/card.php?id=165).

Throughout the years, the firm has actively participated in important projects in different areas, such as rights for people with disabilities, environmental issues, human rights, and transparency.

BLP Abogados is the first and only Costa Rican signatory of the “Pro-Bono Declaration for the Americas”, which is a continental initiative of pro-bono efforts for law firms. (http://www.nycbar.org/citybarjusticecenter/).

“Pro-Bono” is the short version of “Pro Bono Publico”, a Latin phrase meaning “for the public good”. This expression is known in many countries around the world to describe professional services rendered voluntarily without any charge.