114 Brownstein associates, shareholders and staff donated over $26,000 to the 20th Annual Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) of Colorado Associates Campaign fundraiser benefiting Colorado Legal Services. This year’s donations exceeded last year’s total, and the firm reached its annual 100% associate participation goal. Across all participating firms, the campaign raised $381,793.45, beating last year’s total by over $33,000.
Each year, firms across Colorado compete to support LAF’s mission to promote equal access to justice by raising funds to provide civil legal services for low-income people in the state of Colorado. Each donation directly supports the work of Colorado Legal Services (CLS), which provides free, high-quality legal services to Coloradans living below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. There is a drastic need to increase access to justice for low-income and rural Coloradans who do not have access to legal services. Colorado ranks tenth in the West for per capita state funding for legal aid, and LAF and CLS rely on private donations to support their important work.
Tristan Jensen and Matthew Nilsen, firm representatives for the fundraiser and associates in Brownstein’s Real Estate Department, launched a weekly shareholder matching campaign to encourage greater giving across the firm. Managing Partner Rich Benenson, Corporate Shareholder and Executive Committee Member Gino Maurelli, Litigation Department Co-Chair Carrie Johnson and Shareholder Mark Leonard sponsored the inaugural shareholder matching campaign.
“I donate because this is an important cause and our associates have done an incredible job over the years raising money for this cause, which is a great example of our core value of Giving Back,” said Maurelli.
Following the campaign, Brownstein was awarded “Top Performance in Broadening Participation” in the large firm category. With this year’s campaign focus being the firm’s core value of All In, the firm saw an increase in both shareholder and staff giving, with a total of 59 shareholders and staff donating over $14,800. Compared to last year’s fundraiser, this was a 38% increase in shareholder giving and a 207% increase in staff giving, which is demonstrative of the firm’s collective effort to give back to the Colorado legal community.
The active participation in this campaign represents Brownstein’s core value of Giving Back. Learn more about how Brownstein attorneys and staff give back through donations and sponsorships, volunteerism and board service.