Young and Generous Lawyers
More than 300 came out for the DC Bar Foundation's Young Lawyers Network second annual Go Formal for Justice Gala this weekend, raising nearly $64,000. At Mayer Brown, we snapped the event's co-chairs, Lewis Baach's Courtney Weiner and Arent Fox's Alison Lima Andersen.
This year, the DC Bar Foundation awarded $600,000 to 20 DC legal services organizations, such as Bread for the City, Children's Law Center, and Legal Counsel for the Elderly. Here's DCBF executive director Kirra Jarratt, right, with one of the founders of the Young Lawyers Network, Mayer Brown's Megan Hall, and a new YLN leadership council member, Sidley Austin's Karen Smith. YLN started in November 2011 to engage younger lawyers with DCBF.
By the silent auction table, we spotted the DC Bar Foundation board president, Arent Fox chairman emeritus Marc Fleischaker, right. He's with his wife Phyllis and a former DCBF and DC Bar president, Arnold & Porter partner Robert Weiner. Auction items ran the gamut: "celebrity lunches" with legal stars like Neal Katyal, Marna Tucker, Seth Waxman, and Paul Smith; signed pilot scripts of the The Good Wife and Suits; personalized copies of books written by Hillary Clinton and Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor; private whiskey tastings; and dinners at restaurants including Komi and Oyamel.
Crowell & Moring public service partner Susan Hoffman is DCBF board vice president and Koonz McKenney's Paulette Chapman is on the board. Monday kicked off National Pro Bono Week. While the gala was an opportunity to "go formal for justice," this week many law firms are doing the DCBF's sixth annual "Go Casual For Justice" fundraiser to raise money for grants to DC legal aid providers.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Urquhart with Laura Kulkarni, Mayer Brown's Sean Kulkarni, and James Peter Thompson III. Guests enjoyed tastings from a variety of artisanal liquors—such as Leopold Brothers whiskey and DC's own Green Hat Gin— and caprese skewers, a mezze display, salmon cakes, and pistachio chicken in philo cups. Just down the hall, guests could try out a tarot card reader or photobooth.
Grant Biles, Foley & Lardner litigation associates Olivia Singelmann and Zac Coffelt, Foley recruiting coordinator Kristin Willig, and Foley litigation associate Alexander Kramer. After the gala, guests walked around the corner to Crepeaway for a midnight crepe feast, from which 20 percent of profits went to DCBF.
