Washington, DC (September 1, 2022) – The Venable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Venable LLP, is pleased to announce that it has once again been recognized as a platinum-level participant in D.C. Access to Justice's Raising the Bar Campaign. The platinum level is the campaign's top tier and honors firms that have administered financial support amounting to .11% of DC office revenue to local legal services providers. The Venable Foundation provided grants to numerous legal services organizations, including Bread for the City, Children’s Law Center, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, among others.
Michael W. Bigley, director of the Venable Foundation, said, “The Venable Foundation is committed to providing essential funding to nonprofits serving vulnerable residents of the Washington, DC area. This recognition from the Access to Justice Commission is both a celebration of our efforts and a reminder of the persisting need for accessible legal services as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to ripple through our communities.”
To meet the urgent need for increased funding for legal services, the D.C. Access to Justice Commission formally launched the Raising the Bar in D.C. Campaign in December 2010. The campaign's goal is to substantially increase financial support to the District's legal services community by establishing benchmarks for law firm giving and annually recognizing those firms that have donated at benchmark levels. Because the benchmarks are based on revenue, the recognition levels are accessible to firms of all sizes.
The D.C. Access to Justice Commission was created by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2005 to improve low- and moderate-income residents' ability to access the civil justice system and raise awareness of the need for equal access to justice. The Commission has 23 commissioners, including D.C. Court of Appeals, Superior Court, and D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings judges and administrators; prominent members of the D.C. Bar; legal services leaders; corporate counsel; legal academics; and community leaders.
The Venable Foundation was established in 1983 to support a wide variety of charitable, civic, and cultural endeavors, and serve public interest law needs in our communities. In the past 12 years, the Venable Foundation has granted more than $32 million to worthy organizations that provide critical support to those in need. These include children's services and funding for disadvantaged families and individuals; homeless shelters and food programs; community organizations, hospitals, hospices, and local chapters of national health organizations; and educational, artistic, and cultural events and organizations. In 2021 alone, the Foundation awarded more than $3.6 million in grants to 346 nonprofit organizations. The Foundation is funded by the partners of Venable LLP.
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Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC that serves as primary counsel to a worldwide clientele of large and mid-sized organizations, nonprofits, high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and other individuals. With more than 850 professionals across the country, including in California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the firm strategically advances its clients' objectives in the United States and around the globe. Venable advises clients on a broad range of business and regulatory law, legislative affairs, complex litigation, and the full range of intellectual property disciplines. For more information, please visit https://www.venable.com/.