Alumni compete in Law Firm Challenge

Gifts improve law school’s participation rate

—By Lori Craig

The 2008 Law Firm Challenge is out of the gates following a kick-off reception held March 27. Sixty-three law firms of all sizes will compete to get the highest percentage of USC Law alumni to give to the school.

The Challenge, which runs through June 20, was launched in 2005 as a fun and competitive way to support the Annual Fund.

During the kickoff reception, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, leaders from the participating firms learned more about the goals of the program.

“The purpose of the Law Firm Challenge is to increase our annual participation rate, which in turn improves our reputation,” said Emily Page, assistant director of development and graduate relations. “The Challenge is also a good way to inspire a sense of USC Law unity by creating a little friendly competition between our alumni at different firms.”

Twenty new firms with 300 alumni have joined the Challenge this year. If all of those added players participate, Page noted that USC Law’s overall participation rate could improve by three percentage points.

“Each person can make a very big impact with even a small gift,” Page said.

Last year, USC Law alumni achieved a 75 percent participation rate, high enough to meet the Challenge goal and beat UCLA School of Law’s challenge. This year, organizers are aiming for 100 percent participation. To even the playing field, firms and organizations are divided into groups based on the number of alumni.

Progress at each of the firms is tracked in real time on the Law Firm Challenge website. During the first week of the Challenge, overall participation was nudging toward 20 percent. Firms with two to 10 alumni were leading the way, with Venable, led by Brandt Mori '06, reaching 100 percent participation and Heller Ehrman, led by Sam Wald '06, posting 84 percent participation. Milbank Tweed led firms with 11 to 30 alumni, at 37 percent.

The deadline for the Challenge is June 20 and winning firms will be announced on the USC Law website, featured in a Daily Journal ad, in all USC Law publications and during fall On-Campus Interviewing.

For more information about the Challenge, or to volunteer to be a firm representative, contact Emily Page or visit the website (law.usc.edu/LFC).