Our Community Service
Volunteerism is the means by which we fulfill our obligation to leave behind a better world for being here. I have tried to live my life by adopting principles that will give meaning for being here. I believe as so eloquently put by Wilfred Grenfell that “The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on earth.” ‘“It is not enough merely to exist. It's not enough to say, "I'm earning enough to support my family. I do my work well. I'm a good father, husband, churchgoer." That's all very well. But you must do something more. Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. Even if it's a little thing, do something for those who need help, something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.”’ --Albert Schweitzer
The Firm's belief that a few good people can make a difference has been the foundation of a long tradition and history of service to the community. In 1980 we donated services to Para Los Ninos, to help a struggling young organization form and become a viable 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax exempt organization dedicated to helping the children of Skid row in Los Angeles. The Firm has continued to provide services to help support this organization that today operates a day care program and family support services for the children of the area.
For many years when our firm was located in Hollywood, California we donated services to the elderly through the Hollywood Senior Citizens Center to deal with their individual needs and problems. When we moved to the San Fernando Valley we continued the tradition donating services to local Senior Citizens Centers.
Since 1996 the firm has been an active member of the business community of the San Fernando Valley striving to bring focus to the business community on issues that concern our schools and the viability of small business. Members of the firm have served as president of the Encino Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman of the United Chambers of Commerce. Working together we have worked to make the voices of the Valley heard on important social issues of the day. One of our most coveted accomplishments was standing up with the Mayor of Los Angeles to achieve better schools for the children of the LAUSD. This is an ongoing battle that we continue to fight.
The firm has devoted many hours of service to establishing and raising the ethical standards of our legal community by participating as a volunteer on the Los Angeles County Bar Association Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee, authoring many opinions and guidance on ethical issues. We have served as Chair of the Committee. We have continued for more than 25 years to provide volunteer arbitrator services to the Los Angeles County Bar Association Dispute Resolution Services to help resolve conflicts between clients and their counsel.
Members of the firm have served on the Encino Neighborhood Council and have used there training as a certified mediator to help resolve conflicts and to help make the council a strong viable force in the community. We have devoted substantial time to the Los Angeles Superior Court as a temporary judge and as a mediator to help the system to function to meet the problems and needs of those that come into it. We support the Junior Blind of America, serving on its Board of Directors and as Chairman of their Planned Giving Committee.
The Firm has donated and continues to donate services to help form and provide tax exempt status to Jewish World Watch, to help raise the consciousness of the genocide in the world to stand up to atrocities that continue to plague our world. We have donated countless pro bono hours to the obtaining of tax exempt status for Los Angeles Crime Stoppers and Orange County Crime Stoppers, organizations devoted to making our community safer. We have donated services to the formation and obtaining the tax exempt status for The Valley Group, an organization dedicated to helping support non-profit organizations in the Valley. We have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Mid-Valley YMCA, helping to provide needed services to the urban residents of the Valley by serving on its finance committee.
We have worked with New Horizons since 2004 to establish a program to employ its clients in our law office to work in jobs that pay a living wage and as a model program for other offices to help the individuals achieve the respectability and fulfillment of being productive members of our community.
Astronomers now tell us that there are more stars and galaxies in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of our world - at a time when our significance seems so unimaginable, to reach out and attempt to make a difference in the life of a fellow human being is the true measure of meaning. We are committed to be a participant in this endeavor.