LS&L personnel have been involved in a wide range of public and community service activities. Our attorneys have served as pro bono counsel and mentors, and have provided volunteer and fundraising support to a wide range of non-profit, charitable, educational, and professional organizations and programs – locally and nationally. These organizations include the Federal Communications Bar Association (and particularly its charitable foundation), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Delta Research Educational Foundation, Carolina for Kibera, Inc., and various schools, universities and college alumni associations. LS&L personnel have also been instrumental in the creation and founding of numerous organizations, and have served in prominent leadership roles.
While LS&L attorneys pursue their own individual charitable and pro bono interests, LS&L as a firm provides both legal and volunteer support to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (“MMTC”) and the Bruce-Monroe Elementary School, both in Washington, DC. The firm has also initiated a relationship with the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (“WALA”).
MMTC is a non-profit, public-interest organization that advocates for diversity in ownership, employment and participation by minority groups and women in telecommunications industries. LS&L has supported MMTC and its Executive Director David Honig for many years. In recognition of its long-standing commitment to MMTC, the firm was honored with MMTC’s “Distinguished Pro Bono Achievement Award” at an award luncheon in July 2006. Steven Lerman, the firm’s managing partner, and S. Jenell Trigg, also partner in the firm as well as a member of MMTC’s Board, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the firm.
LS&L is currently counseling MMTC in the areas of trademark, copyright, privacy, and regulatory and policy matters pertaining to minority ownership in the broadcasting and wireless industries. The firm is also involved in the planning and is a sponsor of MMTC’s well attended Annual Access to Capital Conference for 2007. Members of the firm also serve on various advisory committees, including the “Best Minds Policy Group,” or as panelists/moderators for MMTC’s Annual Conference. www.mmtconline.org
Bruce-Monroe Elementary School serves 370 students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade near the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Columbia Road in northwest, DC. Its student population, 56% Black and 43% Hispanic, is served by DC public school teachers as well as those provided by “Teach for America,” a nationally recognized program that supports teachers for low-income students. The school did not have a library when LS&L first started providing support to Bruce-Monroe Elementary School. LS&L organized a book drive and donated approximately one thousand gently-used and new books to the school. The firm will continue the book drive for children’s books – fiction and non-fiction – and the classics from Dr. Seuss to E.B. White. Additionally, to support the School’s Dual Language Program, the school needs books in Spanish, which LS&L is endeavoring to provide, both by locating used books or by raising funds to purchase new ones. LS&L personnel also participate in a Reading Program at the school several times per month.
WALA has supported artistic expression and creative innovation by serving the legal needs of Washington, Maryland and Virginia’s arts and cultural communities for twenty years. A 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization, WALA provides education, advocacy and volunteer legal services through workshops and seminars, legal clinics for artists and arts organizations, and pro-bono referral services. WALA regularly circulates a list of local artists, film makers and other members of the creative community who need legal services, primarily in the areas of intellectual property and nonprofit creation and organization as a 501(c)(3) charity. LS&L attorneys have undertaken pro bono projects in these areas on behalf of WALA-referred clients. www.thewala.org
