Legal Aid's Generous Associates Campaign Raises $1.79 Million, Smashing Previous Record!
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal Aid is delighted to announce that our Generous Associates Campaign has raised $1.79 million for Legal Aid – smashing last year's record total of $1.475 million.
More than 4,000 people from 85 law firms came together for the Campaign, which will fund more than a quarter of Legal Aid's budget over the next year. Each year, Legal Aid helps thousands of D.C. residents save their homes from eviction and foreclosure, reach safety from domestic violence, access unemployment and other public benefits, and more.
"This is an unbelievable organization that has earned the support that it gets from the law firm community," Honorary Campaign Chair Seth Waxman of WilmerHale said. "It's the legal aid organization that is setting the standard for others."
Some highlights from this year's campaign include:
*For the first time, the Campaign had three six-figure firms, with Williams & Connolly ($101,000) joining Latham & Watkins ($187,000) and WilmerHale ($135,000).
*Of the 70 firms who participated in both 2016 and 2017, a whopping 44 raised more than last year.
*First-time participant in the 1-50 attorneys category Wilkinson Walsh raised $43,000.
*In addition to our three top firms, eight more raised at least $10,000 more than last year: Covington & Burling, Venable, Perkins Coie, Skadden, Orrick, Willkie Farr, Steptoe and Sidley Austin all raised at least $10,000 more than last year.
*And perhaps most memorably, Buckley Sandler's partners took several pies to the face on the way to a record $25,000 campaign.
We especially congratulate our Top Firms, including the following who won their respective categories (by firm size):
Latham & Watkins
Williams & Connolly
Mayer Brown
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Alston & Bird
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Wilkinson, Walsh + Eskovitz
We also extend a special thank you to our Outstanding Generous Associates! – the more than 650 non-partners who gave at least $285 to the campaign in honor of Legal Aid's 85th Anniversary.
"We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from the D.C legal community this summer," Eric Angel, Legal Aid's Executive Director, said. "There are thousands of people who cannot afford a lawyer but truly need one who will benefit because of this campaign."
Full campaign results, including the Top 5 firms in each category, have been published on our website. From all of us at Legal Aid, thank you for making this the most successful Generous Associates Campaign ever.
About the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Legal Aid was created in 1932 with the goal of making justice real – in individual and systemic ways – for persons living in poverty in the District of Columbia. For more than 85 years, Legal Aid lawyers have provided a continuum of legal services to clients in the areas of domestic violence/family, housing, public benefits, and consumer law. In addition to providing direct representation, we also help clients avoid unnecessary legal entanglements through outreach and education, and help them resolve their own disputes with advice and other brief assistance.
Legal Aid also works to identify systemic issues that have an impact beyond an individual client. In such cases, we often seek structural solutions – from changes in law or regulatory schemes to a reform of government or court practice – to benefit our client community. And our nationally-recognized Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project, which pursues an anti-poverty agenda, litigates important cases affecting persons living in poverty before the D.C. Court of Appeals every year. In all that we do, Legal Aid strives to make fair and equal access to justice possible for those who need it most.
Contacts
Rob Pergament, Director of Development, 202-661-5964, [email protected]
Thuy-Tu Tran, Deputy Director of Development, 202-661-5975, [email protected]
SOURCE Legal Aid
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