«The decision to prepare once again a social report arises from a need for evolution and the desire to providing, through the use of a reporting tool and in a transparent manner, a comprehensive and detailed overview of the social, environmental, and economic effects arising from LCA’s activities, initiatives, and choices» says managing partner Giovanni Lega in the introduction to LCA Studio Legale’s 2023 Report, a document produced with the coordination of head of innovation Marco Imperiale that takes into consideration the activities and statistics of the last 12 months.
New facilities in Rome and Milan
At the beginning of the year, the new Rome office in Piazza del Popolo was opened, to which was added the project of expansion of the Milan headquarters, now including the entire building at Via Moscova 18, which thus becomes the LCA Building.
With more than 6,000 square meters, the LCA Building will include a cafeteria/lounge area, a state-of-the-art auditorium, a wellness area, and the creation of a hub that will host several companies working in the art world – in harmony with the Law is Art! project, now in its tenth year. The decision to expand and revolutionize the workspaces responds, on the one hand, to the need driven by the constant increase in people, and on the other hand, to the desire to evolve the welfare measures and boost the “sense of belonging” to the firm, on the understanding that remote working is to be maintained (the general guideline, with flexibility, is two days a week).
Annual profits to the employees
Confirmed for 2023 and the years to come is the unprecedented decision – implemented at the end of 2022 – to donate a share of annual profits to all people hired in the various business service divisions (accounting, HR, business development & communication, IT, KM, paralegal, assistants, reception and facilities, as well as the general manager) with the aim of consolidating the team concept, where each individual plays a key responsibility role.
Parental leave
Always in the business welfare sphere, special attention is paid to parenting: in addition to the recognition of parental leave, the integration to the maternity allowance granted by the Italian Lawyers’ Social Security Fund (Cassa Forense) is ensured to maintain a full salary throughout the reference period. In addition, in order to facilitate the return of new mothers from maternity leave, there is the possibility to reshape work activities by providing for greater flexibility, through reduced hours or the extension of remote working days.
Governance and Gender Parity
Also for 2023, LCA has maintained its Gender Parity Certification, which in 2022 led it to be the first law firm in Italy-and one of the first three Italian firms ever-to obtain the certification. Today the firm is composed of 55 percent women and 45 percent men, a figure constantly monitored by the Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging in-house committee whose task is to carry out activities dedicated to contributing to the development of an increasingly caring and inclusive culture in LCA.
An amendment to the Bylaws and Regulations also introduced gender quotas in decision-making bodies, with the aim of ensuring an increasing presence of female partners until reaching at least 30 percent of the overall composition.
On the subject of governance, the Anti-Money Laundering Committee was also established in 2023, with the aim of supporting the partners and the homonymous function in the collection and review of AML documentation of new clients at the practice opening stage. In addition to the Anti-Money Laundering Committee, the Conflicts Committee was established with the aim of further enhancing the activity of verifying that there are no conflicts of interest or other reasons that prevent or make it inappropriate to undertake a particular professional engagement.
Young people and sustainability
LCA’s sustainable actions also include a focus on young people, who again this year worked on the second edition of the Law & Sustainability guide on the legal aspects of sustainability, freely available online. They also had the opportunity to organize an event on the topic of business development aimed at their under-35 peers.
Innovation, Legal Design, Your Legal Counsel
With the intention of consolidating the deeply technological and innovative law firm structure, various legal software such as e-Bibles, Aiseek, and Atoka have been developed to simplify and accelerate actions such as document cataloguing and searching.
Great space was also given to the discipline of legal design, i.e., the design of legal documents created specifically for the end user: alongside the work and training activities, the Design Rights team (combining LCA and Mondora) also presented a project at the Milan Design Week this year. Finally, the “company-sized” Your Legal Counsel project came to life with the purpose of providing integrated, flexible, multidisciplinary and specialized assistance.
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