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Community Involvement
The lawyers and professional staff at Davis LLP have a long history of community involvement.
We have been a major supporter of United Way for decades. We place a priority on supporting donation requests that directly involve the firm's employees, particularly for local cultural, health, social welfare and educational agencies.
Here are some of our community-related activities:
- Our lawyers and professional staff hold leadership roles in cultural, amateur sport, educational, political and community support organizations. For example, our Toronto lawyers are involved with Opera Atelier and the Canadian Rehabilitation Council for the Disabled, and many other organizations.
- We provide legal assistance free of charge or on a reduced fee basis to help needy individuals in the community referred by organizations like the Western Canadian Access to Justice Society, the Edmonton Centre for Equal Justice, the Salvation Army, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society (see the profile below).
- We support charitable and not-for-profit organizations in all of the provinces and territories where we have offices, such as grassroots business associations for women and entrepreneurs, health-related organizations, emergency shelters, and social, cultural and athletic associations. For example, many employees in our Vancouver office are involved in initiatives supporting Big Sisters, Dress for Success and the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
- We support charities with a focus on developing countries, like Operation Eyesight Universal.
Several of our lawyers give back to the legal community by teaching bar association Continuing Legal Education courses, and law school courses on a volunteer basis, and by holding leadership roles in the Canadian Bar Association and other provincial law societies and bar associations.
Spotlight on: The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (British Columbia Division) - Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program
More than forty lawyers, students and staff from the Davis LLP Vancouver office have provided pro bono legal services to assist people with multiple sclerosis (MS) since 2002. In 2006, the MS Society of Canada (B.C. Division) awarded Davis the Certificate of Exceptional Achievement to recognize the substantial assistance that the firm has provided to people with MS facing legal/advocacy challenges.
"The community partnership between Davis LLP and the MS Society has greatly strengthened the Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program. People with MS are often faced with a variety of legal challenges that concern human rights, employment equity, insurance, income security, and estate planning. Individuals living with MS are often forced to leave employment because of their level of disability, and for many, income is solely from disability benefits. MS symptoms also pose challenges to self advocacy, self-care and financial management.
Over the past five years, Davis has provided much needed legal advice and representation to our members. These clients were financially unable to afford legal assistance and were ineligible under any other program for legal representation.
The impact that Davis has had is life-changing for our membership. Without the commitment and skills of volunteer lawyers, these individuals would be in extremely difficult legal situations with no access to justice or community resources to assist them.
The dedication and commitment of Davis brings the MS Society one step closer to fulfilling its mandate of enabling people affected by MS to enhance their quality of life."
-Adrianne Boothroyd, M.A.
Manager of Lower Mainland Chapter
MS Society of Canada
Many people at Davis, including Cyndi Millar, Scott Andersen, Sadie Wetzel, Emma Ferguson, Diana Dorey, Maggie Campbell and Jackie Vaughan have generously contributed their time to this worthy effort.
More information on the MS Society's Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program in British Columbia can be found at http://www.mssociety.ca/bc/vlap.htm