Arturo J. García-Solá reflects on the values and vision that shape McV’s leadership, inviting you to discover how this legacy lives on in our work today.
Message from our Managing Director: 80 YEARS OF GIVING BACK
McConnell Valdés opened its doors 80 years ago, just as Operation Bootstrap was on the verge of transforming the country’s economy forever. Founders Herbert “Mac” McConnell and Adolfo “Wally” Valdés had a similar goal in mind: to uplift the people of Puerto Rico and their economic, social, and cultural development by providing the highest levels of excellence and professionalism in legal services. As we unveil the theme of our 80th anniversary, “Legacy Driven, Future Focused,” we look back on the values that have defined our history and the vision that will shape our future.
At McConnell Valdés, we always say that giving back is in our DNA. Since 1946, we have allocated millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations across the Island. The McConnell Valdés Foundation, created for the firm’s 75th anniversary, ensures that our legacy of giving back will live on. Through this arm of the firm, we have united the McV Pro Bono Program, charitable contributions, community service initiatives, educational sponsorships, and patronage of the arts—all in support of the communities where we live and work. I invite you to join me in reflecting on some of these efforts.
We have brought people together through arts and culture. Throughout the firm’s history, we have championed the visual arts—and their potential to create positive change. We donated funds to the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré for the completion of the main fountain located on the Plazoleta Juan Morel Campos and an oil painting of René Marqués by Jorge Rechany. To commemorate our 45 anniversary, we provided support to Puerto Rican graphic artists by purchasing a collection of works of art and publishing a book about the collection. And more recently, through the McConnell Valdés Collection of Puerto Rican Art - in 2021, the exhibition "El poder expresivo: una mirada a la colección McConnell Valdés" opened at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, encouraging Puerto Ricans to celebrate our island’s incredible artistic heritage.
We have fostered the next generation of socially conscious legal talent. In 2016, we established the McConnell Valdés/Antonio Escudero Viera Scholarship Program at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus School of Law, which has awarded close to $100,000 in scholarship funds to service-minded students. Now, we are proud to announce an expansion of the program. Starting in 2026, students at Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law and the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law will be eligible for financial support from McConnell Valdés.
We have lent a hand when our communities needed us. In 2006, we established our Pro Bono Program, the first institutional program of its kind in Puerto Rico. In the decades since, we’ve contributed more than 21,000 hours of legal assistance—equivalent to more than $5.0 million—to 400+ nonprofits in Puerto Rico.
We have been there when disaster struck. We have raised money for relief efforts on the ground and donated to nonprofits doing important work in their communities. In 2018, on the heels of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we created the McConnell Valdés Disaster Relief Fund which raised $90,000 with contributions from our attorneys, employees, clients and friends, the Firm’s matching contribution and some donations from Lex Mundi firms. When Hurricane Fiona landed in 2022, the Fund was at the ready with nearly $30,000 in donations. As the island rebuilt from disaster, McConnell Valdés stood ready to help individuals and organizations surmount challenges and seize opportunities.
We have invested ourselves. From top to bottom, we’re a community service culture—even our summer associates are asked to participate—and we reward those who go above and beyond. In 2023, we started the Jeans and Sneakers for a cause initiative, which allows employees, attorneys and capital Members to make a contribution to a preselected nonprofit organization, by dressing casually in jeans and sneakers once a month. Our attorneys and staff have raised tens of thousands of dollars from their own pockets, a contribution that is always matched by the firm itself.
On this special occasion, we thank all of you—our clients, colleagues, and friends—for continuing to call on us as Puerto Rico’s preeminent full-service law firm.
We renew the commitment we first made 80 years ago: to help Puerto Rico and its people prosper through service. This, above all else, is our legacy.
Arturo
