2020 Benefit Report

On July 19, 2020, PortaLaw officially opened for business. Six months later, on January 25, 2021, we became a registered benefit company. This means we are a for-profit business that promotes public benefits such as charitable, economic, educational or environmental activities.

Under the law, benefit companies must publish an annual report about their benefit-related activities. This report is short and sweet. It covers PortaLaw’s activities during our first fiscal year, which ended on October 31, 2020. Even though we weren’t a benefit company at that time, we were already taking steps to operate our business in an ethical and sustainable manner.

We launched our office as primarily remote and paperless, helping us minimize our environmental impact. First, while most traditional law firms churn through massive amounts of paper, by using technology, we significantly minimized our use of printers and paper. Second, each of our employees is committed to recycling and composting both at our home offices and while at our co-working space Suite Genius.

We dedicated an entire section of our website to free legal education. Through OpenPorta, people can access reliable legal information on various employment law topics.

During the week of September 22, 2020, PortaLaw lawyers participated in Access Pro Bono’s annual Advice-a-Thon. Both Erin and Paula raised funds for Access Pro Bono’s services and provided pro bono employment law advice to Access Pro Bono’s clients.

In the fall of 2020, Erin provided free webinars at Vancouver Startup Week and Community Futures on hiring and managing employees generally and during Covid-19.

We are proud of what we accomplished during our first four months in operation and look forward to expanding our public benefits during our next fiscal year.