More for the Poor
Legal Times, August 4, 2003

On its silver anniversary, the D.C Bar Foundation has reason to celebrate.

Flush with cash to support pro bono projects, the foundation awarded $1 million to legal services providers across the city—the largest amount doled out in its 25-year history.

The Neighborhood Legal Services Program, Ayuda, the D.C. Prisoners' Legal Services Project, Whitman-Walker Clinic Legal Services, and 23 other organizations received grants of between $5,000 and $80,000, depending on their needs.

With a 38 percent increase over last year's funds, the foundation was able to award grants to more legal services providers than ever before.

The rise is largely due to substantial donations from Washington firms. Williams & Connolly jump-started the annual fund-raiser with a first-time donation of $25,000. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a steadfast supporter of the foundation, and Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky also pitched in $25,000 apiece.

Crowell & Moring, another donor, is hosting the foundation's anniversary party September 23. The guest speaker is New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer—the younger brother of foundation Executive Director Emily Spitzer.

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