For Immediate Release - March 30, 2010

Attorney General Martha Coakley's Food Drive Competition Raises Over 350,000 Pounds of Food; Law Firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Wins 1st Annual Award

Food and funds collected will provide nearly 180,000 meals to those struggling

BOSTON - Today, Attorney General Martha Coakley presented the 1 st annual Legal Food Frenzy Cup to law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. at an event at The Greater Boston Food Bank ("The Food Bank") this morning. Attorney General Coakley also announced that the eastern Massachusetts legal community raised the equivalent of, in funds and food, over 350,000 pounds of food during the two-week Legal Food Frenzy, a benevolent competition to raise food and funds to benefit The Greater Boston Food Bank. Staff at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. collected the equivalent of nearly707 pounds of food per capita (pounds of food per employee) and raised more than 25,000 pounds of food overall. The food and funds raised during the drive will provide nearly 180,000 meals to people in need.

"The hard work and enthusiasm of the legal community has yielded the equivalent of an impressive 350,000 pounds of food that will benefit many people in our state who are struggling to put food on the table," said Attorney General Coakley. "Congratulations to Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. for winning this year's Legal Food Frenzy Cup and thank you to all the other participants for joining us in this competition. We look forward to working with The Greater Boston Food Bank, local bar associations and the entire legal community in the coming years to continue the success of the Legal Food Frenzy and carry on our mission of fighting hunger in the Commonwealth."

"We are grateful to the Attorney General's Office for spearheading the Legal Food Frenzy, and we are grateful to the legal community for its enthusiastic participation at a time when so many people need our help. The 8,040 pounds of food donated and $83,892 of funds raised will provide nearly 180,000 meals to those in need throughout eastern Massachusetts," said Catherine D'Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank.

The Massachusetts Legal Food Frenzy is a benevolent competition within the legal community to raise food and money for The Food Bank. The Legal Food Frenzy was organized by the Attorney General's Office in partnership with numerous local bar associations. Law firms and law schools competed in a two week campaign to see who could collect the most funds and food.

Several other legal organizations were awarded in a number of other categories:

  • Harvard Law School was awarded for 'Most Raised Per Capita by a Law School' and 'Most Raised Overall by a Law School.'
  • Crowley & Cummings, LLC was awarded for 'Most Raised Per Capita by a Small Firm' and 'Most Raised Overall by a Small Firm.'
  • Cooley Godward Kronish LLP was awarded for 'Most Raised Overall by a Medium Firm'
  • Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. was awarded for 'Most Raised Per Capita by a Medium Firm.'
  • Greenberg Traurig, LLP was awarded for being 'Most Raised Overall,' 'Most Raised Per Capita by a Large Firm,' and 'Most Raised Overall by a Large Firm.'

View JPG photos from today's presentation of the 1 st annual Legal Food Frenzy Cup to law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.:

The Attorney General's Office recruited over 40 law firms and law schools to participate in this event, and the participants collected food items and donations during the campaign period, March 1 to March 12, 2010-a traditionally slow time for food donations.

All food and funds collected will go to The Food Bank to benefit hungry families across the eastern part of the state. Many bar associations from across the Commonwealth partnered with the Attorney General's Office to sponsor the Legal Food Frenzy including the: Asian American Lawyers Association of MA, Boston Bar Association, Mass. Association of Hispanic Attorneys, Mass. Black Lawyers Association, Mass. Black Women Attorneys, Mass. Lesbian and Gay Bar Association and Women's Bar Association. For more information, please visit the Attorney General's Legal Food Frenzy site.

A recent Hunger Study released by the GBFB found that an estimated 571,600 low-income people are served annually by Massachusetts food banks, which marks a 23% increase since the 2006. 571,600 is roughly 9% of the state's population. Food banks in Massachusetts serve 101,400 weekly. For more details on the Hunger Study, visit the GBFB's website.

Founded in 1981, The Greater Boston Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and distributes over 31 million pounds of food per year to approximately 600 hunger relief agencies throughout eastern Massachusetts.

The following law firms and law schools participated in the Legal Food Frenzy:

Law Firms

Berman, Devalerio, Pease, Tabacco, Burt & Pucillo

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Bingham McCutchen LLP

Bowditch and Dewey, LLP

Choate Hall & Stewart LLP

Cooley Godward Kronish LLP

Corwin & Corwin, LLP

Crowley and Cummings, LLC

Deutsch William Brooks DeRensis & Holland, PC

Foley & Lardner LLP

Foley Hoag LLP

Gesmer Updegrove LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Keegan Werlin LLP

Laredo & Smith, LLP

Lawson & Weitzen, LLP

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

McDermott Will & Emery

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Moriarty & Associates, PC

National Labor Relations Board

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

O'Connor, Carnathan, and Mack, LLC

Ogletree Deakins

Pabian & Russell, LLC

Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris, PC

Pierce, Davis & Perritano, LLP

Posternak Blankstein & Lund LLP

Proskauer

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP

Robinson & Cole, LLP

Ropes & Gray LLP

Rubin and Rudman LLP

Seyfarth Shaw, LLP

Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, PC

The McCormack Firm, LLC

Todd & Weld LLP

Volunteer Lawyers Project

WilmerHale

Law Schools

Boston University School of Law

Harvard Law School

New England School of Law

Northeastern University School of Law

Suffolk University Law School

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