Law Firm Challenge Raises More Than $215,000 for USD School of Law in 2016-17

San Diego (July 12, 2017) - The Law Firm Challenge has wrapped up another successful year, raising more than $215,000 for University of San Diego (USD) School of Law from alumni at participating law firms, $75,000 more than last year.

This year, Bartell Hotels, owned and operated by USD law alumnus and trustee, Richard Bartell, ’75 (JD), offered a $10,000 challenge gift to encourage alumni support. The challenge gift was successfully obtained after alumni at participating firms collectively raised $100,000 for the law school. Torrey Pines Bank sponsored the 2016-17 Challenge by offering $5,000 to support scholarship funding.

Congratulations to the following law firms and their team captains who won this year's Challenge by achieving 100% alumni participation, the highest number of alumni donors, or the most dollars raised. Full results are available on the Law Firm Challenge website.

100% Alumni Participation

• Blanchard, Krasner & French (Robert Blanchard ’80, Mark Krasner ’81, Abigail Stephenson '10)
• Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP (David S. Casey Jr. ’74)
• Finch, Thornton & Baird, LLP (Dustin Jones ’07)
• Gomez Trial Attorneys (Ben Coughlan '12 and Patrick Stormes-Swan '15)
• Herold & Sager (Brooke Finley ’15)
• Peters & Freedman, LLP (James R. McCormick, Jr. ’97)
• RJS LAW - A Tax Law Firm (Ronson Shamoun '98 (BA), '02 (JD), '03 (LLM))
• Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie, LLP (Alan Brubaker ’76)
• Witham Mahoney & Abbott (Charles B. Witham ’98 (JD), '99 (MBA))

Highest Number of Alumni Donors

• Higgs Fletcher & Mack - 21 alumni donors (Steven J. Cologne ’84)

Most Dollars Raised

• Firms With More than 10 Alumni: Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP - $44,385 (Jeff Hood ’01)
• Firms With 6-9 Alumni: RJS LAW - A Tax Law Firm - $23,491 (Ronson Shamoun '98 (BA), '02 (JD), '03 (LLM))
• Firms With 2-5 Alumni: Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP - $15,000 (David S. Casey Jr. ’74)

A sincere thank you to all firms that were up for the challenge!

Aldridge Pite LLP ♦ Allen Matkins ♦ Best, Best & Krieger, LLP ♦ Blanchard, Krasner & French ♦ Booth Mitchel & Strange LLP ♦ Buchalter Nemer ♦ Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, LLP ♦ Cooley LLP ♦ Dentons ♦ DLA Piper LLP ♦ Dorsey & Whitney LLP ♦ Duane Morris ♦ Dunn DeSantis Walt & Kendrick LLP ♦ Finch, Thornton & Baird LLP ♦ Fish & Richardson P.C. ♦ Foley & Lardner LLP ♦ Gibson Dunn & Crutcher ♦ Gomez Trial Attorneys ♦ Gordon & Rees, LLP ♦ Hanna Brophy ♦ Herold & Sager Law ♦  Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP ♦ Jones Day ♦ Kalfayan Merjanian LLP ♦ Krause Kalfayan Benink & Slavens, LLP ♦ Latham & Watkins LLP ♦ Lincoln Gustafson & Cercos ♦ Montage Legal Group ♦ Morris Polich & Purdy LLP ♦ Morrison & Foerster ♦ Office of the Attorney General ♦ Paul Hastings LLP ♦ Paul Plevin Sullivan Connaughton ♦ Peters & Freedman LLP ♦ Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP ♦ PricewaterhouseCoopers ♦ Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP ♦ Qualcomm ♦ RJS Law - A Tax Law Firm ♦ San Diego District Attorney's Office ♦ San Diego Public Defenders Office ♦ Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek ♦ Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP ♦ Simpson Delmore Greene LLP ♦ Snell & Wilmer LLP ♦ TechLaw LLP ♦ Wingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie ♦ Witham, Mahoney & Abbott

If your law firm has three or more USD law alumni and you are interested in joining next year’s Challenge, please sign up online or send an email to lawdev@sandiego.edu. 

About the Law Firm Challenge

The Law Firm Challenge is designed to strengthen the connection between alumni, law firms, legal departments, and USD School of Law. Challenge participants strive to achieve 100% alumni giving in their respective organizations, providing critical support to the law school and supporting USD's students and programs. In addition to raising the profile of participating law firms and organizations and building a stronger alumni network, the Law Firm Challenge also provides an opportunity for alumni to make a collective difference.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

The University of San Diego (USD) School of Law is recognized for the excellence of its faculty, depth of its curriculum, and strength of its clinical programs. Each year, USD educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 84 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 35th nationally and 6th on the West Coast among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 24th nationally and 6th on the West Coast in all-time faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.