SyCipLaw has been nominated for Regional Law Firm of the Year in the TrustLaw Awards 2024. TrustLaw is the global pro bono legal service network of Thomson Reuters Foundation. It serves as a platform for member non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social enterprises to request free legal support from highly reputable law firms around the world.
The Regional Law Firm of the Year award recognizes a firm's commitment, effort, and enthusiasm in supporting pro bono clients in NGOs and social enterprises on projects undertaken through TrustLaw. A regional law firm is one which has offices in one or more countries (or states) within its continent. Other nominees in this category for 2024 are law firms Mattos Filho based in Brazil and Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie based in Nigeria.
SyCipLaw has actively worked with TrustLaw since becoming a member in January 2017. It has advised NGOs and social enterprises on matters such as corporate governance, tax, employment, data privacy, and intellectual property. SyCipLaw also co-hosted TrustLaw's first in-person Legal Health Check Workshop for the Philippines in 2023 which was participated in by representatives from NGOs, civil society organizations, and social enterprises. The activity aimed to help the participants assess their organization's legal needs and to provide information on basic legal concerns for these types of entities.
SyCipLaw is a past recipient of various awards from TrustLaw, including the Powered by Pro Bono Award in 2022 (for assisting Smart Air, a social enterprise that is committed to helping people breathe quality air through its low-cost air filters, in registering its trademark in the Philippines), the Collaboration Award in 2019 (for its work with Asylum Access, Host International, Refugee Access, and five other law firms across Asia, on their research on refugee access to fair and lawful work in eight Asian countries), and the Lawyer of the Year for Managing Partner Hector M. de Leon, Jr. (for work rendered to Roots of Health (Ugat ng Kalusugan), an NGO focused on improving the reproductive, maternal, and sexual health of women and girls in Puerto Princesa, Palawan).
View the full list of nominees here.