Social Impact
At DWT, we come together whenever a challenge affects our colleagues, communities, or clients. This past year, lawyers, staff, and alumni from six of our offices participated in ALS awareness walks in cities across the U.S. We walked in honor and support of our beloved former colleagues, Nick Warack and Sheila Swanson, both of whom are living with ALS.
Addressing Food Insecurity
Raising funds for food banks in the communities where we live and work is a high priority at DWT and we regularly participate via legal industry fundraisers, such as Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger and Food From the Bar (in multiple cities).
Our Seattle and Bellevue offices raised over $90,000 in the 2022 Food Frenzy competition, which helped Food Lifeline provide 450,000 meals to our neighbors in need. In addition, many people across the firm volunteered to sort and repackage food.
Promoting Sustainability
DWT is well into its sustainability journey, with a commitment to do much more. What started as a handful of devoted environmentalists has grown into a firmwide Sustainability Committee more than 50 members strong.
In 2022, the sustainability committee focused its efforts on raising awareness about how to reduce individual carbon footprints, the pros and cons of electric vehicles, and how to remove single-use plastics from everyday life.
The sustainability committee leadership team also presented to 10+ firmwide groups on sustainable practices for air travel and commuting and hosted a presentation with a representative of Seattle’s new Climate Pledge Arena to discuss the world’s first “zero carbon” and “net zero energy” sporting venue. The committee also organized volunteer opportunities, such as removing invasive plant species and cleaning up parks and beaches.
Out of the sustainability committee grew the firm’s Climate Network, a multidisciplinary team of attorneys who are building long-term partnerships with clients by helping them successfully meet the full array of climate-related challenges presently and in the future. As our corporate clients work to meet their own sustainability commitments, we’re working extensively to support them.
Advancing Environmental Equity
DWT attorneys hosted a series of webinars with Lawyers for Good Government on how state and local governments could use Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding to promote environmental justice and implement climate projects in disadvantaged communities.
David Glanton, Derek D. Green, Olivier Jamin, Monica Molina, Shannon E. O’Neil, and Nick Wegley presented on these webinars.
Day of Service with Sound Foundations NW
Volunteers from DWT and a corporate partner joined together to build a tiny home for an unhoused community member in Washington in partnership with Sound Foundations NW, which has created a system for building quality tiny homes that will last 20+ years, allowing our community members to have a safe place to live while they work with their case managers to find long-term permanent housing.
Day of Service Team: Christina Chan, Jason Farber, Matt Moersfelder, Darrah Hinton, Rachel Brown, Bob Homchick, Ken Noyes, Heather Johnson, Barrie Handy, Rachel Marshall, Manny Comas.
