For the 11th consecutive year, WilmerHale has surpassed the donations of all participating law firms in the Legal Aid Society’s Generous Associates Campaign, a fundraising campaign run by associates at Washington DC law firms. This year, WilmerHale led area firms in most dollars raised, with a contribution of more than $84,000. As a result of this community effort, the Legal Aid Society completed its most successful fundraiser in the campaign’s 24-year history—raising more than $975,000.
According to the Legal Aid Society, $47,500 is the starting salary of a full-time junior staff attorney at the organization. This means that WilmerHale’s total contribution to the campaign this year is nearly enough to fund the salaries of two full-time junior attorneys, whose work benefits hundreds of low-income individuals living in DC. WilmerHale has played a significant role in the Legal Aid Society’s fundraising efforts, contributing more than $250,000 in the past three years, and more than $500,000 since 2007.
One hundred percent of WilmerHale’s DC summer associates donated to the campaign and 50 percent of DC associates and senior associates participated. Their contributions were supplemented by partners, counsel and staff over an eight-week effort designed and driven by Senior Associates Mike Smith and Randy Weinsten and Associates Jeremy Moorehouse, Lynn Eisenberg, Lauren Moore and Richard Shordt. The firm’s Management Committee mentored the effort.
“Each year our entire office, including the partners and management, backs our efforts and encourages our participation in the campaign,” says Moorehouse, who, along with Weinsten, has served as a city-wide campaign co-chair for two consecutive years. “Members of our firm are willing to make significant donations, and we don’t have to go to extraordinary lengths to make that happen. This campaign is part of our culture now; we have a strong relationship with the Legal Aid Society, and they frequently let us know how great of an impact we make.”
DC-based Partner Craig Goldblatt, a member of the firm’s Management Committee, applauds the associates who led this year’s effort and everyone who contributed to the campaign. “This is an enormously important cause,” he says. “You cannot overstate the social importance of providing legal services to those who would otherwise lack access to justice. The hard work of our associates to support the Legal Aid Society is in our firm’s proudest traditions.”
