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March 2020 Cover Story - 2020 Golf Tournament: A Return to Pelican Hill!

by Deirdre M. Kelly

We are excited to announce a return to Pelican Hill for the Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund’s 2020 Kenneth Lae Golf Tournament!

The Golf Tournament will take place Tuesday, March 31 (a court holiday) and sells out every year so please visit www.ocbacf.org to register now. There will be a social event immediately after the tournament (usually around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m.) for golfers and non-golfers (like me!) and all are welcome.

Playing for a Good Cause

In addition to honoring the legacy of Judge Lae, the sponsorship and underwriting options provide an opportunity to give back to the legal community, promote your business, and mingle with clients (and potential clients), judges and members of the Bar. All proceeds from the event benefit the OCBA Charitable Fund’s support of local legal organizations and charitable programs. As the charitable giving and fundraising arm of the OCBA, the OCBA Charitable Fund provides resources to legal organizations and programs in order to enhance the system of justice and promote equal justice for all. The Charitable Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Orange County Bar Association, overseeing and administering all charitable giving for the OCBA. The Charitable Fund is dedicated to bettering the Orange County community and legal profession by facilitating access to justice. This goal is achieved by making monetary contributions to carefully selected Orange County law-related organizations.

The golf tournament is one of the Charitable Fund’s two annual events to raise money for our local grantees, which in the past have included Public Law Center, Community Legal Aid SoCal, Veterans Legal Institute, Laura’s House, Human Options, Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and many more.

Over the last decade, the OCBA Charitable Fund has provided over $1.4 million in grants to law-related charities in Orange County. We ask for your assistance in helping us support these impactful local organizations (while having fun at the same time!). If you don’t golf, and can’t make it to the social reception, a donation of any amount would always be appreciated. In recent years, the Charitable Fund has been able to give over $200,000 each year to help support the efforts of these great organizations.

About the Course

The South Course at Pelican Hill weaves through the Newport Beach coastline, featuring numerous holes with breathtaking views of the Pacific. The course provides a unique tour of the natural landscape, and uses the terrain to create challenges for both experienced and inexperienced golfers. Designed by renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio, Pelican Hill is a fixture on “Best Of” golf course lists.

Pelican Hill Golf Club describes itself the following way: “When jaw-dropping scenery is par for the course, you’ll need to remind yourself to keep your eye on the ball. But once you find your focus, players of every skill level are rewarded with 36 holes that test your mettle, quicken your pulse and stir your soul. Pelican Hill Golf Club is more than just a round of golf. It’s a two-course feast to make you feel as if golf is your sole reason for being. And from the moment you tee off, it absolutely is.

“Celebrating 25 years of majestic California sunsets and unforgettable rounds, Pelican Hill Golf Club is a world-class experience that you have to play to believe. With a quarter century of accolades and accomplishments on the score card, it’s no wonder these two courses are described as ‘some of the most spectacular in golf.’”

Who wouldn’t want to play here?

As a non-golfer who, by being Immediate Past President of the OCBA is now President of the OCBA Charitable Fund, I can’t wait to experience this beautiful venue at the social reception and maybe even take a golf lesson that day! For golfers, this sounds like heaven. This is why it sells out every year. Don’t be sorry … reserve your spot today!

About the Grant Recipients

On February 19, 2020, the OCBA held a grant reception where each of these grants was awarded.

This year, the Charitable Fund will be providing $200,000 in grants to eighteen programs as follows:

CALIFORNIA YOUTH CONNNECTION

Project: Creating Leaders From Within • Grant awarded: $2,500

Providing a transformative experience for current and former foster youth through its dual goals of empowering youth and improving foster care.

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY DALE E. FOWLER SCHOOL OF LAW


Project: Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic • Grant awarded: $6,000

Provides free legal representation, legal advice, and pro per workshops to indigent and low-income people and survivors of family violence, sexual assault, and trafficking.

COLLABORATIVE COURTS FOUNDATION

Participant Assistance Project • Grant awarded: $10,000

Provides court-requested assistance to participants in the various Collaborative Court programs such as Drug Court, DUI Court, Veterans & Military Diversion Courts and numerous Mental Health Courts.

COMMUNITY LEGAL AID SOCAL (FORMERLY LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY)

Project: Collaborative Court Partnership Project • Grant Awarded: $40,000

Provides on-site screening and “legal check ups” relating to civil legal matters for individuals at the collaborative courts, performs intakes for eligible individuals, and provides referrals to pro bono attorneys for ineligible individuals.

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION – ORANGE COUNTY (CRF-OC)

Project: Civic Education • Grant awarded: $40,000

Provides civic and law-related educational programs made available to all high school students in Orange County including Mock Trial, Peer Court, Constitution Day, Law Day, and the Orange County Career Forum.

COURT–APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA)

Project: Mentor Advocate Program • Grant awarded: $4,000

Provides a voice for youth in the child welfare system through a unique one-on-one relationship with trained and supervised court appointed volunteer advocates.

 

ELDER LAW & DISABILITY RIGHTS CENTER (ELDR)

Project: Youth Advocacy Project • Grant awarded: $7,000

Provides community legal education, advocacy, and representation to disabled children and their families in the area of special education law.

HUMAN OPTIONS

Project: Legal Advocacy Program • Grant awarded: $5,000

Provides victims of domestic violence and late life family violence with education on legal rights, court accompaniment and support, direct assistance and resources.

LAURA’S HOUSE

Project: Legal Advocacy Program • Grant awarded: $5,000

Provides victims of domestic violence with a broad range of services and support to assist them in understanding and securing their legal rights so they can lead safe, productive, and violence-free lives.

OCBF PROJECT YOUTH

Project SELF • Grant awarded: $3,500

Provides low-income and at-risk high school students with hands on internships in the legal field.

Project Youth/Shortstop • Grant awarded: $2,500

Provides a juvenile crime diversion program for at-risk Orange County youth and their families to prevent youth delinquency from escalating into chronic criminal behavior.

ORANGE COUNTY GANG REDUCTION AND INTERVENTION PARTNERSHIP
(OC GRIP FOUNDATION)


Grant awarded: $5,000

Provides a partnership program between the Orange County
District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement to prevent at-risk minors in grades fourth through eighth from joining a criminal street gang and promotes opportunity and education to help students make the right choices.

ORANGE COUNTY JUSTICE FUND

Grant awarded: $2,000

Coordinates efforts among the legal community to enhance deportation defense services.

 

PUBLIC LAW CENTER (PLC)

Project: Orange County Expanded Domestic Violence Assistance Project • Grant awarded: $25,000

Provides free civil legal services, including counseling, individual representation, community education, strategic litigation, and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE SCHOOL OF LAW

Project: Pre-Law Outreach Program (POP) • Grant awarded: $2,500

Provides assistance to undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds to prepare for the law school application and admissions process, and to understand the unique demands of legal education.

Project: Saturday Academy of Law (SAL) • Grant awarded: $5,000

Provides an educational pipeline program for underserved ninth grade students from Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Garden Grove school districts.

 

VETERANS LEGAL INSTITUTE

Project: Pro Bono Veterans Legal Mobile Clinics • Grant awarded: $30,000

Provides pro bono legal assistance to homeless, at risk, disabled, and low-income veterans and service members. Seeks to eradicate barriers to housing, education, employment, and healthcare, and to foster self-sufficiency.

 

WOMEN’S TRANSITIONAL LIVING CENTER (WTLC)

Project: Survivor Immigration Legal Services • Grant awarded: $5,000

Assists individuals and families to escape the depths of domestic violence and exploitation, and specifically assists survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking with immigration relief such as U-Visas, T-Visas, and VAWA petitions.

Congratulations to the grant recipients!

About the Committee

I want to give a special thanks to all of the incredible members of the OCBA Charitable Fund Golf Committee who have worked tirelessly to make this event happen, including a big thank you to Co-Chairs James Pack of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP and Christopher Ross of Knobbe Martens.

2020 Golf Committee


James Pack (Co-Chair), Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP

Christopher Ross (Co-Chair), Knobbe Martens

Ashleigh Aitken, Aitken, Aitken & Cohn

John Altstadt, Altstadt Consulting

Bill Artigliere, Garcia & Artigliere

John Beckley, Automobile Club of Southern California

Thomas Bienert Jr., Bienert Katzman, PC

Cathrine Castaldi, Brown Rudnick LLP

Joseph Chairez, Baker & Hostetler LLP

Matt Fletcher, Connor, Fletcher & Hedenkamp LLP

Kelly Galligan, Rutan & Tucker LLP

Dan Glassman, Crowell & Moring LLP

Deirdre Kelly, Western State College of Law

Eoin Kreditor, Fitzgerald Yap Kreditor LLP

Teresa McQueen, SAFFIRE LEGAL

Nikki Miliband, Good Wildman

Sarah Nowels, SJN Law, PC

Daniel Robinson, Robinson Calcagnie, Inc.

Beau Stockstill, Paul Hastings LLP

We look forward to seeing everyone on the course on March 31!

Deirdre M. Kelly is the OCBA Charitable Fund President and the Assistant Dean of Career Development at Western State College of Law. She can be reached at DeirdreKelly@ocbar.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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