The Ropes & Gray Scholarship Fund

Ropes & Gray LLP
Boston and Worldwide

The Ropes & Gray Scholarship Fund will provide 50 scholarships to MCLE programs every year

August 12, 2015—MCLE is pleased to announce a recent leadership gift from Ropes & Gray LLP to support pro bono and legal aid training.

Since its founding in 1865, Ropes & Gray has held a leading and prominent position in the Massachusetts legal community, with a deep commitment to public service and providing the highest level of pro bono legal advice and support to those who need it most. Rooted in tradition and in the example set by the firm’s founders, that deep commitment continues strong today. Actively encouraging its lawyers and staff to engage in pro bono work, the firm dedicated 106,000 hours last year to assist impoverished individuals and families and underserved communities.

Ropes & Gray’s commitment does not end there. Nearly 10 years ago, the firm furthered its long history of pro bono advocacy by extending its support to the training of those who serve the poor with a pledge of $100,000 to MCLE’s scholarship program, providing the foundation for an endowment that has now exceeded $3 million towards a $5 million goal to endow 2,000 scholarships every year for the benefit of legal aid and pro bono attorneys. That gift alone has enabled deserving lawyers to attend more than 360 programs over the past nine years. More recently, as we approach the 10th anniversary of its foundational pledge, Ropes & Gray has reaffirmed its support by pledging an additional $25,000 to MCLE’s scholarship endowment. As a result of the firm’s generous gift, the Ropes & Gray Scholarship Fund will provide 50 scholarships to MCLE programs every year to lawyers who serve the public interest.

“Ropes & Gray strongly believes in the important work that pro bono and legal services lawyers do and that it is the responsibility of every lawyer—and law firm—to support and contribute to those efforts. Ropes & Gray is impressed with the growth of MCLE’s scholarship endowment over the past ten years, and the great work MCLE has been doing to train lawyers who support underserved communities. We are pleased to renew our commitment to this worthy cause and to the professional development of lawyers, particularly those who are dedicated to public service.”

David C. Chapin, Esq.
Managing Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP

MCLE’s Board of Trustees is extremely grateful to Ropes & Gray and all of the firm’s partners for its renewed support and for its leadership in helping MCLE in its efforts to grow its endowment so that the Commonwealth’s most needy have access to the best trained lawyers.

DONORS

Established with a generous gift from:

Ropes & Gray LLP