Porter Scott understands the importance of giving back to the community. We are committed to building strong, vibrant communities, improving quality of life, and making a positive difference where we work and live. Porter Scott strongly encourages its attorneys and staff to participate in pro bono activities and volunteer services.
For the past couple of years Porter Scott employees, friends and family have formed a large team for the Annual Alzheimer's Aid Society Memorial 5K Run/Walk at beautiful East Lawn Memorial Park in East Sacramento. The Alzheimer's Aid Society of Northern California is one of the only Alzheimer's organizations in Northern California where our total contribution dollars remain within the state to help Alzheimer's families. PHOTO »
As a part of Porter Scott's commitment to the community, the firm began a cooperative effort with WIND Youth Services to provide youth counseling at the WIND Center. Porter Scott attorneys will be present at the WIND Center twice a month to provide the homeless youth who use WIND services with another outlet to discuss legal issues and refer them to available recourses for assistance. We believe it is important to provide these youth, many of whom have been ignored or failed by our community, with guidance and support in their efforts to progress towards a healthy, functioning and independent adulthood.
Every Christmas, Porter Scott comes together to bake cookies for their Annual WIND Christmas party and distribute them to the youth at the shelter. The amount of support by the attorneys and staff was incredible this year, and a great time for all involved.
The mission of the Center for Youth Citizenship is to prepare personally responsible and community-minded youth. Porter Scott attorneys volunteer as judges and coaches for high school students in CYC's moot court, mock trial, and youth court programs. These activities expose students to the judicial process and assist them in developing skills in the areas of reasoning, public speaking and self confidence.
CYC Mock Trial Competition
The Center for Youth Citizenship, in its partnership with LawWorks, hosts the annual Gordon D. Schaber, Mock Trial and Moot Court Competitions.
This competition is open to high schools from five counties and is supported by volunteers from the legal community participating as presiding or scoring judges and appellate justices. The competition initially consists of four preliminary rounds with the top scoring schools from each round moving on to the semi-final and final rounds. Awards are given to the top teams in both competitions. Individual awards for outstanding performance throughout the competition are also given. The competition becomes reality when the students step into actual courtrooms to present their cases. This year’s competition was held at the Sacramento Superior Court for the early rounds with the semi-final and final rounds being held at the U.S. District Court and the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento.
The Mock Trial competition simulates a trial level proceeding with the students taking the roles of pre-trial counsel, prosecution and defense attorneys, witnesses, court clerks, bailiffs and jurors. For 2010 the student teams were challenged with a murder trial which included a pivotal pre-trial motion with Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure issues.
The Moot Court competition is an appellate level proceeding in which the students prepare and argue a topical case matter before a three-judge panel who pepper the student attorney with spontaneous questions throughout their prepared arguments. The issues on appeal for 2010 involved the free speech rights of a high school student who posted a message on a social networking site which may or may not have been a threat directed at a teacher. The student attorneys prepared and argued issues on the First Amendment’s protection of free speech regarding high school students, the Fourth Amendment regarding the illegal search and seizure of the student’s mobile phone and whether or not the student’s imposed punishment was excessive.
Porter Scott associates made a strong showing at this year’s competition with eighteen volunteers serving as scoring, presiding and appellate judges. Some associates did double duty and volunteered to judge both the Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions. Porter Scott judges participated in each and every round of both competitions.
Porter Scott has been participating in the News10 Coats for Kids Winter Coat Drive for the past seven years. We place several large bins throughout our building where we collect new and gently used coats. Porter Scott also serves as a community donation drop off point. Last year we collected 87 coats.
Porter Scott goes the distance for the cure. This year was Sacramento's 13th annual Race for the Cure and is one of the largest running events in Northern California. It started in 1997 and has grown from 2,039 participants to over 24,000 in 2007, raising over $14 million for local breast care services. This year Porter Scott developed a team of 60 members to show support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation at the Cal Expo Center. Click here to view photo.
Porter Scott collaborates with SCBA, McGeorge School of Law, and the University of California at Davis School of Law to sponsor a Summer Fellowship Program for minority and disadvantaged first-year law students. Porter Scott enjoys its involvement as part of its Summer Law Clerk program in helping to prepare minority and disadvantaged law students to become competitive in the legal industry.
Denim Day
Porter Scott holds a Denim Day once a month to raise money for a local charity. On this day employees wear denim with the option of making a donation to the selected charity of the month. The objective of Denim Day is raising money in a single day to better our community.
Other Community Involvement & Pro Bono Work
Porter Scott also supports the following programs:
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