At the Lawyer of the Year 2019 award ceremony, HAVEL & PARTNERS, the largest Czech-Slovak law firm, handed over a cheque for CZK 100,000 to the Krtek Children’s Oncology Endowment Fund (Nadační fond dětské onkologie Krtek), a charity financially supported by the law firm since 2015. Assisting physicians and healthcare professionals in the Children’s Oncology Clinic at the Brno University Hospital, the fund aims in particular to raise the quality of care and comfort of children staying at the hospital, providing follow-up care over the entire duration of treatment and helping children and their families cope with the consequences.
“If standard treatment covered by health insurance companies does not work, the child is given an additional opportunity–thanks to our regular donors–to receive a customised diagnosis and follow-up care tailored to the little patient. Unfortunately, the additional treatment is not paid by the state. Our endowment fund can, however, use our partners’ and donors’ contributions to cover the costs, and that is the purpose the money from HAVEL & PARTNERS will serve,” says Professor Jaroslav Štěrba, chairman of the administrative board of the Krtek Fund and Head of the Children’s Oncology Clinic at the Brno University Hospital.
“It has become a tradition that we hand over a cheque to a charity at the Lawyer of the Year ceremony. Over the past few years, we have asked all colleagues to select a project to support and a clear majority of them voted for Krtek this year. Its team headed by Professor Štěrba does a really good job, which we admire and respect very much,” says Veronika Dvořáková, head of marketing and a partner at HAVEL & PARTNERS.
Not only does the law firm provide financial support but also free legal assistance to charitable organisations and projects. Last year, the firm provided more than 650 hours of pro bono work, among many other projects, to Nadace Krása pomoci (Beauty of Help Foundation), Nadační Fond AutTalk Kateřiny Sokolové (Kateřina Sokolová’s AutTalk Endowment Fund), Nadační fond Českého rozhlasu Světluška (Světluška Czech Radio Endowment Fund), Spolek/Fond na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných (Association/Fund for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted), the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague and the Czech Technical University in Prague. As part of its CSR activities, HAVEL & PARTNERS supports its staff participating in charity runs and sales, providing advisory to children from children’s homes, organising fundraising breakfasts or campaigns for charities, etc. The law firm has also listed charities and sheltered workshops as its regular suppliers of goods and services.
