by Michael A. Gregg
The OCBA Charitable Fund is the 501(c)(3) giving arm of the OCBA and is dedicated to improving the Orange County community and legal profession by facilitating access to justice through grants to pro bono legal providers and law-related charities. Earlier this year, the Charitable Fund presented $215,000 in grants to fifteen Orange County based legal charities that provide much needed legal services to the underserved populations in Orange County. Since 2003, the Charitable Fund has given grants totaling close to $3,000,000 to deserving Orange County law-related organizations. The 2023 grant recipients included the following Orange County based organizations:
The Charitable Fund Raises Money Through Two Signature Events As shown above, money raised by the Charitable Fund provides much needed resources to legal organizations and programs to enhance the system of justice and promote equal justice for all. The Charitable Fund generally raises money through two signature fundraising events: (1) the annual Kenneth Lae Golf Tournament (held earlier this year on May 13th) and (2) the annual Raise Your Glass gala. This year, the Charitable Fund celebrates its 12th annual Raise Your Glass event on Thursday, August 15, 2024, at the beautiful Newport Beach Country Club. As the 2024 President of the Charitable Fund, I invite you to register for the event at www.ocbar.org. Even if you are not able to attend the event, you can still support the Charitable Fund by making a donation online at www.ocbacf.org/ryg/donate.
What to Expect at Raise Your Glass You should expect to sample wines from outstanding wineries, mingle with 350 or more members of Orange County’s bench and bar, and bid on unique silent and live auction items that include exciting trips, all while helping to raise funds to improve access to justice in Orange County. You will also be able to sample delectable foods, listen to great music, and purchase the opportunity to randomly pick from a series of highly rated wines from the ever popular Raise Your Glass “wine wall.” The Raise Your Glass event is also an opportunity for the Charitable Fund to recognize individuals, law firms, corporations, and/or community partners for facilitating access to justice and for their support of the Charitable Fund. This year’s honorees are the Honorable Kirk H. Nakamura (Ret.) and the law firm of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP.
Hon. Kirk H. Nakamura (Ret.) – 2024 Individual Honoree The Honorable Kirk H. Nakamura (Ret.) is a well-revered leader in the legal community. Judge Nakamura served two decades as a Judge of the Orange County Superior Court, including an assignment on the Complex Civil Litigation Panel, and presided over 300 jury trials during his tenure. Judge Nakamura served as the Presiding Judge for the Orange County Superior Court, one of the nation’s largest, during 2019 and 2020. Judge Nakamura was the Presiding Judge at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully navigated the Court to overcome unparalleled challenges to the administration of justice. During the pandemic, he personally went into the courthouse every workday from March to late November 2020, leading the court in safely conducting 200 in-person jury trials. After Governor Newsom implemented various stay-at-home orders, Judge Nakamura continued to hold monthly bar leaders’ breakfasts online to facilitate an ongoing dialogue with the bar. He participated in OCBA-sponsored webinars and encouraged his fellow judges to do the same, and kept the legal community informed of newly adopted procedures and administrative orders.
Access to justice has always been important to Judge Nakamura. He is a former president of the Orange County Japanese American Lawyers Association, Orange County Asian American Bar Association, the William P. Gray/Lex Legion Inn of Court, and the California Asian Pacific American Judges Association. He was a board member of the Orange County Bar Association and the California Judges Association. In 2020, Judge Nakamura was honored by the OCBA with the prestigious Harmon G. Scoville Award, in recognition of his career exemplifying the highest standards of the legal profession, his significant contributions to the OCBA, and for being a champion of our constitutional system of justice. He has also been involved in many of the programs supported by the OCBA Charitable Fund, particularly by personally supporting the Charitable Fund’s grant giving efforts and golfing in the Charitable Fund’s annual golf tournament. The OCBA Charitable Fund is proud to honor him as the 2024 Individual Honoree.
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP – 2024 Law Firm of the Year Fragomen is a preeminent global immigration law firm with more than 6,000 immigration-focused professionals and staff spanning more than sixty offices worldwide. Immigration has been Fragomen’s sole focus for seventy years, and today they offer support in more than 170 countries. Fragomen is also dedicated to giving back and serving the community. Fragomen’s firm policy provides that each attorney complete fifty hours of pro bono work each year. In 2023, Fragomen’s attorneys completed 14,266 pro bono hours, participated in 280 legal clinics, and assisted an estimated 5,412 individuals at such clinics. Fragomen’s attorneys have also taken on many asylum cases pro bono over the years.
Fragomen Partner Jim Pack has also served multiple terms on the Charitable Fund board, the OCBA board, and as Co-Chair of the Charitable Fund’s Kenneth Lae Golf Tournament from 2017 to 2023. This year, Jim served on the Golf Committee and as one of the scoring czars for the Golf Tournament. Fragomen has been a longstanding supporter of the Charitable Fund and has stepped up once again this year. The consistency with which they have supported the Charitable Fund is significant and noteworthy. Thank you to Fragomen for its longstanding support of the Charitable Fund and for facilitating access to justice in Orange County and beyond.
Thank You to Those Who Helped Make This Event Happen I want to give a huge thank you to all the law firms, companies, and individuals who have sponsored this year’s Raise Your Glass event or otherwise contributed to the Charitable Fund. Their generosity is critical to the Charitable Fund’s ability to carry out its purpose. A big thank you also goes to the 2024 Raise Your Glass event chairs Sharon Oh-Kubisch and Eric Traut, as well as the Wine Committee and its co-chairs Nikki Miliband, Deirdre Marie Kelly, and Christina Zabat-Fran, and the Auction Committee and its co-chairs Caroline Djang and Heidi Plummer.
I also want to thank and recognize the Charitable Fund Board of Directors, the OCBA Board of Directors, and OCBA Past Presidents for their hard work to make the Raise Your Glass gala a success. Finally, I want to give a special thank you to recently retired OCBA CEO Trudy Levindofske, new OCBA CEO Dennis Slaughter, and all the other amazing OCBA staff members who have worked to make these fundraising events successful. The Orange County legal community is special in so many ways, and the giving of time and resources by so many to enhance access to justice and improve our community is just one example.
Michael A. Gregg is the 2024 OCBA Charitable Fund President and a shareholder at Littler. He represents companies in all aspects of labor and employment law. You may reach him about these or other issues by emailing mgregg@littler.com.