a premium on contributing to and connecting with our community. We find this creates a workforce of committed citizens who carry over good stewardship and dedication into the practice of law for the benefit of our clients," said the firm's founding partner, Joel Collins. Collins also received the Primerus Lifetime Achievement Award at the Global Conference. The award is given to members who have helped build their individual institutes, as well as the Primerus organization as a whole, since the establishment of Primerus in 1992. "Incorporating the Primerus Community Service Pillar into our firm's core mission and values has allowed our entire team of attorneys and staff to see the importance of our Primerus membership in a very real and relevant way for the communities in which we live and work, and to carry on this ethic in every area possible," Collins said. As a firm-wide community service project, Collins & Lacy implemented the 2012 Denim Days project. Employees were invited to wear jeans on the last Friday of each month in exchange for a $5 donation to a local charity. The firm then identified the top charities it would like to support: Kids' Chance of S.C., Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands, Harvest Hope of S.C., American Red Cross, S.C. Bar Foundation, American Cancer Society, Alzheimer's Association of S.C., National Alliance on Mental Illness, Special Olympics, Senior the commitment to community service at Collins & Lacy, P.C. It starts at the top and trickles down to each individual attorney devoting time to the causes they love. Because of this wide-reaching effort, Collins & Lacy, of Columbia, South Carolina, won the 2012 Primerus Community Service Award, as announced at the Primerus Global Conference in November. Primerus names two finalists in addition to the winner. This year's finalists are Kubasiak, Fylstra, Thorpe & Rotunno of Chicago, Illinois, and Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles L.L.P. of New York, New York. commitment to community service even more official by developing a new core values statement, which says, "We are devoted to our communities through our support and involvement." At the beginning of this year, the firm's managing partner, Ellen Adams, challenged all employees to identify their "passion" in pursuit of excellence in both their professional and personal lives. She encouraged firm employees to pursue their passion by identifying one goal and outlining the steps to achieve that goal. Many attorneys and staff have incorporated community service into their overall passion for excellence by renewing their commitment to helping others and their communities. As a result, working together and individually, the firm has served about 50 organizations in the four cities where the firm is located. Dystrophy Association, Habitat For Humanity and Jamil Shrine Cripples Hospital. The project has raised over $1,100 to date. In August 2012, the firm conducted the first "Biggest Giver" food drive to benefit Harvest Hope Food Bank and Crisis Ministries, creating a fun competition between office locations. The firm delivered a total of 223 food items to these organizations in each of the cities where it's located. Here are just a few examples of individual attorneys' volunteer efforts: Kids' Chance of South Carolina with attorney Rebecca Halberg currently serving as the president of this organization. Kids' Chance is a nonprofit corporation developed in 1992 by the S.C. Workers' Compensation Educational Association, and is committed to providing financial scholarships for children of South Carolinians killed or seriously injured in work-related accidents. South Carolina Bar Foundation which promotes legal aid and the advancement of justice in South Carolina through grants to related |