Capital Legal Services in the course of its activity follows the principles of corporate and social responsibility established in international practice as an essential basis for successful development of business and interaction with the professional community, society and government. The priority areas which are of particular attention include professional pro bono assistance when implementing important social initiatives, charity projects and providing support in the development of corporate and social responsibility on the market of legal services. Furthermore, the formation and improvement of the corporate culture based also on the principle of diversity play an important role in implementing the programs of corporate and social responsibility.

Pro bono

Starting from the company’s foundation in 1999, Capital Legal Services has been implementing a proactive pro bono policy, providing employees an opportunity to fulfil themselves in the best way possible not only in the professional sphere, but also in social initiatives. For us, social responsibility and civil service are real company values and are a part of work for each employee.

In 2014, the specialists of Capital Legal Services spent over 2,000 hours on pro bono projects, which is equivalent of over € 500,000 in monetary terms. The following significant projects should be noted:

• Collaboration with the Center for Community Procedures “Business Against Corruption,” including participation in improving the criminal legislation as regards crimes related to business and preparation of memoranda based on queries from entrepreneurs regarding the legality of them being held liable for criminal offences; support of liberalization of criminal procedure laws; provision of qualified assistance on criminal cases in the regions.
• Continuing work with the major global charity organization SOS Children’s Village International (cooperation since 2008). We provide legal assistance to the organization on all issues arising in the course of activity, including labor issues, as well as assistance in preparing recommendations for a draft law on developing the institute of guardianship in Russia.
• Starting from 2013, our company is a legal advisor, partner and sponsor of a unique eco-social project the “Arctic expedition – global tour around the North Pole on sled dogs.” In 2014, we worked on the next stage of the expedition, planned for 2016. This included work on sponsorship issues, ensuring safety for participants, including the expedition’s dogs, ensuring collaboration on issues of navigation and weather forecasts, communication with the state authorities of Greenland regarding access to the territory, as well as ensuring delivery of food to the event location, etc.

As a result of long-term productive pro bono activity, the associates of Capital Legal Services gained and continue gaining priceless experience, professional development, including in work on non-standard and unique projects, opportunities for broad professional and individual self-fulfillment. The free-of-charge expert assistance by Capital Legal Services became a notable contribution to the success of many social projects. Effective cooperation with Business Against Corruption was noted in the form of appreciation for Irina Onikienko, Partner at Capital Legal Services, and Anna Silinskaya (Leksashova), Senior Associate, for professional support and assistance. In 2014, Irina Onikienko also received an expert diploma for active pro bono work in protecting entrepreneurs’ rights. Capital Legal Services received letters of thanks for successful collaboration with SOS Children’s Village International.

Charity projects

Capital Legal Services charity policy is based on the principle of targeted aid for people in a difficult situation, first of all, to children left without parental care and to seriously ill children whose families cannot afford the necessary treatment. The charity committee of Capital Legal Services annually develops and implements the program of targeted aid for orphans and children suffering from serious deceases. Aid is also provided in the course of collaboration with charity organizations and children’s institutions in different regions of Russia. Providing real assistance to real people who are socially unprotected and are in a difficult situation, helping them improve the quality of life and sometimes saving lives is important to us. The staff at Capital Legal Services also assist in the work of orphanages as volunteers and participate in arranging festivals, theme events, and programs for children’s social adaptation.

Diversity policy

Capital Legal Services in the course of its activity follows the principle of diversity and respects the rights of individuals to self-determination and self-fulfillment. Diversity as a principle is included in the basic values of the company’s corporate culture and underlies the approach to forming the company’s staff of specialists as a whole, as well as internal teams working on client projects. We practice the principle of tolerance and respect for the individuality of our staff, partners and clients, and we highly value and use the broad opportunities this principle provides for development of our competences, expertise and gaining versatile experience. Considering the international scale of our company’s activity, implementation of the principle of diversity helps us to constantly raise the level and quality of communications, and to better understand the needs and peculiarities of our clients and partners.

As a Russian company developing its activity on the territory of such a multinational country as Russia, Capital Legal Services has extensive experience of building efficient cooperation of teams based on integration of various cultures and national peculiarities. The key provisions of the policy on diversity adopted in our company are:

• Creation of equal opportunities for the professional development and advancement in the company for all employees irrespective of sex, age, nationality, religion, etc.
• Programs of development and free training for young specialists in the company.
• Engagement of specialists from different countries for internships in the company within the framework of programs for sharing competences and experience.
• Trainings and team building programs related to promotion and improvement of the effectiveness of the diversity policy in the company.