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October 2015 - Cheers to Charity

It’s been a banner year for the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) Charitable Fund, which awarded an unprecedented $140,600 in 2015 grants to law-related organizations and programs to further its mission of enhancing the system of justice and promoting equal justice for all—our highest donation total to date and a forty-two percent increase year-over-year. Moreover, the 31st Annual OCBA Charitable Fund Judge Kenneth Lae Charity Golf Tournament was another sold-out success, tallying up more than $76,000 to fund future grants. As such, we greatly anticipate another charitable hole-in-one as the tournament swings back on the scene on Thursday, March 31, 2016. Plan to make the most of your Cesar Chavez Day court holiday and mark your calendars now!

Of course, you needn’t wait that long to join friends and colleagues from the Orange County legal community to enjoy a stellar event while supporting a great cause. Not only does 2015 mark the 20th anniversary of the OCBA Charitable Fund, the OCBA’s charitable giving and fundraising arm, it also heralds our third annual Charity Awards—a milestone in its own right. We invite you to join us for Raise Your Glass III, a wine tasting and charity awards benefit, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

Third Time’s a Charm
It was under OCBA Charitable Fund 2013 President Dimetria Jackson’s stewardship that the Fall Fundraiser was first organized by a professional event planner and featured a charity awards tribute. Add in a bevy of participating wineries for a delightful tasting experience, and Raise Your Glass! was born—a theme so nice, we enjoyed it twice as Wayne Gross’s tenure as 2014 OCBA Charitable Fund President brought us Raise Your Glass II, which returned to the picturesque setting of Big Canyon to net $101,291 for charity. The response was so overwhelmingly positive that the 2015 OCBA Charitable Fund Board and President Thomas Bienert, Jr. opted to celebrate in similar style with a tried and trusted pairing of fabulous food, delicious wine, and a trio of worthy honorees:

About the Honorees
Individual Honoree Jim Skorheim should be a familiar face to anyone who has attended an OCBA Charitable Fund event in recent memory, as he regularly hits the links as both a player and primary sponsor of the Judge Kenneth Lae Charity Golf Tournament while also making room to attend and support the Fall Fundraiser. His generosity extends beyond his financial contributions, as he graciously serves on the OCBA Charitable Fund Golf Tournament and Fall Fundraiser Committees. A Past President of the OCBA Charitable Fund, Jim also serves as a Board member and Past President of the Orange County Bar Foundation (OCBF) and is a Founding Fellow of the OCBF Society of Fellows. This is not the first recognition of Jim’s dedication to serving the broader community, as he is a recipient of both the OCBF Distinguished Fellow Award and the Sam Barnes Excellence in Service Award—and we are certain that this won’t be the last. For more information, please visit www.skorheim.com.

Given that John O’Melveny, son of firm founder Henry O’Melveny, helped establish and served as President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, it should come as no surprise that Law Firm Honoree O’Melveny & Myers LLP prides itself on a commitment to ensuring access to justice. O’Melveny is represented on the cover by Michael Yoder, Partner in the Newport Beach office and Past President of both the OCBA and its Charitable Fund. A recipient of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s 2015 Beacon of Justice Award, the firm boasts a Pro Bono Initiative, which requires new attorneys in all its U.S. offices to handle at least one pro bono matter during their first year of employment, and encourages all lawyers to take on a minimum of fifty pro bono hours per year. In addition to supporting Public Law Center and the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Orange County, the Newport Beach office was recognized in 2011 with the Paul Davis Memorial Pro Bono Attorneys of the Year Award by the Public Law Interest Foundation at University of Southern California. Moreover, O’Melveny attorneys devoted nearly 63,000 hours of legal representation to pro bono matters in 2014. Over the past two decades, O’Melveny has contributed more than $9 million through its scholarship programs in the U.S. and Asia to provide academically promising students with access to higher education and a potential career in the law. Last, but certainly not least, as a founding member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit organization inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s request for major U.S. law firms to address the issue of racial discrimination, O’Melveny clearly champions the values espoused by the OCBA Charitable Fund’s mission. Please visit www.omm.com for additional information.

Founded by the OCBA in 1958, Community Partner Honoree Legal Aid Society of Orange County provides civil legal services to low-income individuals and promotes equal access to the justice system through advocacy, legal counseling, innovative self-help services, in-depth legal representation, economic development, and community education. Since its inception, Legal Aid has served as a leader in expanding access to justice on the local, statewide, and national level, including its work toward the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, through which interest from lawyer trust accounts is pooled to fund civil legal aid to the financially disadvantaged and support justice system improvements. This year marks the launch of Legal Aid’s Lawyer Entrepreneur Assistance Program (LEAP), which supplements traditional law school curriculum by providing participants with the hands-on, practical experience necessary to successfully launch their own community-based practices. The program offers new attorneys office space and access to training, mentors, and case guidance. LEAP participants give back by volunteering part of their time to Legal Aid’s pro bono caseload while building their own client base. To learn more, please visit www.legal-aid.com and incubator.legal-aid.com.

In Vino Veritas
Our sincere thanks and appreciation go out to Event Co-Chair Nikki Miliband and the entire Fall Fundraiser Committee for all their hard work putting together what promises to be a fun and memorable evening for all.

We encourage you to enjoy as you wine, dine, and network with colleagues from the Bench and Bar, but the evening’s entertainment is secondary to Raise Your Glass III’s express purpose: raising much-needed funds to support law-related organizations and programs in Orange County. We can only succeed in this worthy cause with the enthusiastic participation of our valued OCBA membership. Whether or not you’ve contributed to the OCBA Charitable Fund in the past, we invite you to get involved now. Register online or contact the OCBA Events Department at (949) 440-6700, ext. 127, or via email at events@ocbar.org for more information including details on available sponsorships.

For information on the OCBA Charitable Fund’s grants, events, and Board of Directors, please visit www.ocbacf.org.


By the Numbers

1988
First OCBA Charity Gala

1995
OCBA Charitable Fund founded

$140,600
Amount awarded in 2015 grants

42%
Increase in amount awarded YOY

$101,291
Funds raised by Raise Your Glass II

$76,103
2015 Golf Tournament proceeds

$1.19 million+
Total of grants given since 2003

10
Programs and organizations funded in 2015

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