© 2012 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
At a time when holiday cheer is around for all to see, Texas attorneys and law firms are helping spread the cheer by giving to those who are less fortunate.
Several firms are benefitting various charities in their local communities, whether by raising money, participating in a gift drive or putting together a fundraising event.
The Texas Lawbook put together a breakdown of some of the law firms and individual attorneys who stood out when it came to giving back. This is by no means a definitive list, as there are so many doing so much for those in need. But this article puts a little spotlight on some efforts that have come to our recent attention.
IP and commercial litigation partner at Baker Botts
Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Tim Durst has been supporting the cause of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for more than a decade. In 1997, shortly after Durst became a partner at Baker Botts as well as a father, his 23-month-old son was diagnosed with leukemia.
Jacob’s chance to live was about 50/50.
Fortunately Jacob recovered with no significant obstacles and is currently a healthy high school senior and basketball star. But the haunting effect that blood cancer has on patients and their loved ones never quite left Durst – which is why he became heavily involved with the North Texas chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 1999.
“It’s extremely important, very humbling, and amazing to me every year how many new people I come into contact with who have been touched by blood cancer,” Durst says. “It connects unfortunately very personally to a number of people.”
Thirteen years later, after serving as president of the North Texas chapter and various other leadership roles within the organization, Durst is now chairman of the national board of directors of the LLS. Durst hopes to achieve many things during his two-year term, but he says he will work especially hard to make progress in the LLS’ Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP).
Described as entrepreneurial philanthropy, the TAP’s mission is to pair charity dollars with private sector dollars to build funding for blood cancer therapy that historically has had trouble receiving funding.
“It could be a drug that addresses only a small population that therefore doesn’t attract big dollars… We have this program that we put in place a few years ago and it’s really got its legs [now],” he says. “It holds great potential for moving therapies to patients quicker.”
Durst is especially pleased with the support he has received over the years from his employer. “Community service is a very important part of who we are and what we do,” he says.
This year, Baker Botts was the No. 1 law firm in Dallas to raise money for the LLS’ Light The Night Walk that takes place in the fall. The fundraiser was part of the “law firm challenge,” a program that Durst started several years ago to promote healthy fundraising competition amongst local law firms. While Baker Botts raised the most money of the 11 firms that participated in the competition ($120,000), Thompson & Knight was No. 1 in terms of the number of people from the firm who got involved with the fundraiser.
Co-partner-in-charge at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Secretary elect of Dallas CASA’s 2013 executive board of directors
Karl Nelson is passionate about finding better homes for neglected and abused children. His passion began after he started getting involved with Gibson Dunn’s partnership program with Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), National Adoption Day.
The day raises awareness of the children in foster care who are yet to find permanent homes. Nelson says that Gibson Dunn was the first law firm in Dallas to be a part of National Adoption Day, and since the partnership began over a decade ago, the firm has helped with more than 400 pro bono adoptions.
The awareness day inspired him to get more involved with Dallas CASA, and today he is a board member of the organization and will serve on the executive board of directors next year as secretary. Volunteers of CASA act as mentors for children in state custody and play a big role in the court to help neglected and abused children find good homes.
Nelson says that his biggest goal as secretary will be to help Dallas CASA grow so that it can serve more children in need.
“There’s such a sad profound need to help these kids,” he says. “Right now Dallas CASA can only provide volunteers for about two out of five children who are in custody in the state so that means in three out of five cases kids in the system are by themselves and don’t have an advocate who can stand with them.”
Since Nelson joined Dallas CASA two and a half years ago, he has chaired one of the organization’s major community fundraising events, the Champion of Children Award Dinner, which recognizes one of Dallas CASA’s community partners for its significant contributions toward improving the lives of children. This year’s award recipient was ExxonMobil for providing more than $8.6 million in contributions to Dallas CASA.
In addition to his duties at CASA, Nelson also serves as a board member of the Nexus Recovery Center, an organization that provides residential substance abuse treatment for women and adolescent girls in the Dallas area.
(EDITORS NOTE: Texas Lawbook Business Administrator Sally Selio is a CASA volunteer and The Texas Lawbook financially supports Sally’s efforts in this extraordinary and life-changing cause.)
Litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Board of Directors member of KIPP Schools, former chair of YES Prep Public Schools Back to School Bash
When Eleanor Gilbane recently received a call from the counselor at YES Prep Southwest campus in Houston asking Gilbane to help a student in need, she started working on the counselor’s request without hesitation. YES Prep Public Schools, a charter school system that provides high quality education to low-income students throughout Houston, had a high achieving high school senior who was in a state of emergency.
The student’s mother had to quit her two jobs cleaning office buildings due to severe medical problems. The student, who has a bright future and has already been accepted into a number of colleges, was suddenly in a burdening situation that would require her to juggle her schoolwork with an after school job to help support her and her sick mother in the one-bedroom apartment that they moved into due to their financial situation.
When Gilbane learned about the student’s situation, she immediately reached out to her fellow attorneys at Weil and raised two months’ worth of rent for the family in a matter of a couple of days.
“It was such a small sacrifice for us to make a big difference in her life,” Gilbane says.
Weil’s heavy support of the YES Prep is what initially got Gilbane interested in becoming more involved with the charter schools. This year, Weil’s Houston office raised $45,000 through its ‘Pay It Forward’ initiative, a team charity challenge that raises money for select charities and non-profit organizations with strong local ties that could provide a meaningful community impact. YES Prep was one of the beneficiaries of the event.
Out of the five teams in Weil’s Houston office, Gilbane’s team came up with perhaps the most unique method to raise money. The team members put together a food scavenger hunt in which various teams of corporations and attorneys bought entry tickets to participate in the hunt. Proceeds went specifically to YES Prep’s Southwest campus.
Gilbane also chaired one of YES Prep’s annual fundraising dinners. Gilbane remains heavily involved in the Houston community in addition to her work with YES Prep. She is on the advisory board of KIPP Schools, serves on the board of directors for the University of Houston Friends of Women’s Studies, and is a member of the United Way Young Leaders, among various other organizations.
Other Texas Firm Involvement with Charity:
Jones Day: After a few years of placing behind champion Locke Lord, Jones Day became this year’s No. 1 law firm contributor in Dallas as of October for the United Way Campaign. Jones Day Dallas raised a whopping $220,679 for the cause – the most ever for a Dallas office – and also more than doubled its 2008 per-employee contributions to $820.
The incentive for Jones Day lawyers was a series of fundraising events in the office that were as fun as they were successful. Some highlights, according to Dallas partner-in-charge Pat Villareal, included a dunking booth that drenched some attorneys nearly 20 times in one day, a silent auction that sold a golden retriever puppy and various personal errands for sale by attorneys.
As a result of the firm’s brief history of being a business formal office, Villareal promised the office that attire would be business casual for the next year as an incentive to raise more money. Jones Day’s Dallas office also sent out a holiday greeting e-card that encourages those receiving the e-mail to donate to Jones Day’s sponsored charities: the North Texas Food Bank, SPCA of Texas, The Salvation Army and the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas.
Jackson Walker: The Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio offices at Jackson Walker participated in several holiday giving programs this year. Dallas attorneys collected food and monetary donations for the North Texas Food Bank and had a highly successful fundraising drive for United Way. The Houston office collected toys for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and adopted 79 children through the Houston Young Lawyers Association’s Adopt-an-Angel program. The Austin office conducted a food drive through the end of the year for the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. San Antonio attorneys also conducted a food drive for the San Antonio Food Bank and collected Wal-Mart gift cards for the Returning Heroes Home project.
Winstead PC: Winstead’s Austin office participated in the Partnerships for Children program, which helps bring Christmas to children in the state foster care system. Through donations, Winstead was able to directly sponsor 22 children, fund $350 worth of general gift items, and donate hundreds of dollars to Partnerships for Children. Winstead’s Dallas office benefitted 439 children this holiday season through the Adopt-an-Angel program. Dallas lawyers also paid $5 or more to wear jeans in the office on Fridays, which resulted in more than $31,000 to go to local charities. Additionally, the Dallas office conducted a toy drive for one of its adopted schools, John H. Reagan Elementary.
Gardere Wynne Sewell: In November, Gardere’s Houston office raised $137,580 to help Dress For Success Houston purchase 500 suits for economically challenged women as they transition into the workforce. In June, Gardere’s Houston and Dallas offices surpassed its $2 million fundraising mark for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Hunton & Williams: In honor of its clients, Hunton & Williams is donating to several employee-selected organizations for the holiday season, including The Nature Conservancy, National Veterans Legal Services Program, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges: In addition to Weil’s support of the YES Prep Public Schools, Weil is involved in various other charities for the holidays. Weil’s Dallas office provided gifts, warm clothing, food and toiletries to more than 195 children in need through its Angel Tree initiative program. Dallas also donated supplies to U.S. troops in its Support Our Troops initiative and delivered 100 Thanksgiving-themed arts and crafts bags for bed-ridden children at Children’s Medical Center. Weil’s Houston office annually participates in the Houston Bar Association’s AIDS Outreach Holiday Gift Drive program, which purchases items off of a “wish list” for an in-need family or individual afflicted with HIV/AIDS during the holidays. Houston attorneys also participate in the Houston Young Lawyers Association’s Adopt-an-Angel program, and donates gift cards to 10 critically in-need families who attend Weil’s adopted school, Houston Gardens Elementary School.
Gibson Dunn: The Dallas office conducted a canned food and dry goods drive for the North Texas Food Bank. It was also a large supporter of Dallas CASA’s Champion of Children Award Dinner in October.
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