Community Investment
Our Culture of Community Investment
HRO’s deep-rooted commitment to helping others dates back to the firm's founding in 1898 and is a distinguishing characteristic of the firm. Engrained in our culture's fabric, the commitment extends to all employees.
Our attorneys give of time and talent through pro bono work. All employees give back to our communities through leading or supporting local civic and cultural institutions and initiatives.
We know that by investing in our communities, we make a difference in the lives of our neighbors and build stronger communities for everyone.
Pro Bono
As leaders in the communities in which we live and work, our attorneys recognize the opportunity and responsibility they have to apply their skills and time to pro bono work for people and organizations of limited means. HRO encourages attorneys to dedicate pro bono work to causes at the attorneys’ discretion, in consultation with their practice group leader. As a result, HRO’s pro bono legal activities include representation of individual clients, community groups in which partners of the firm are involved, and organizations representing environmental concerns.
We represent individual clients through organizations such as:
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Bar Associations
- Legal Aid Society
We represent a host of community groups, including but not limited to:
- Arapahoe House, Inc.
- Boys' and Girls' Clubs
- Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble
- Earth Island Institute
- Rocky Mountain Children’s Legal Clinic
- Ronald McDonald House
- Urban League
We also provide environmental litigation representation for organizations such as:
- Land and Water Fund of the Rockies
- Sierra Club
Giving
HRO attorneys and staff give generously to many different causes.
The United Way is one organization with whom we partner closely. HRO is the foremost law firm partner of Mile High United Way (MHUW). Employee contributions to the MHUW total approximately $100,000 annually.
In addition, the firm has been a major corporate donor to United Way programs, such as Denver’s Road Home Pajama Party to raise funds to end homelessness and Urban Peak to help young people overcome homelessness.
The firm contributes approximately $400,000 annually to causes in the communities its employees live and work.
Community Service & Volunteerism
Community Involvement Committee
HRO’s Community Involvement Committee organizes numerous projects and volunteer events throughout the year such as fundraising lunches, book fairs, blood drives, bowl-a-thons, run/walks and holiday gift basket packing parties. These projects and events provide a valuable opportunity for HRO staff and attorneys to get to know one another and work together toward productive community goals.
Jim Bye Day – HRO’s Annual Community Service Day
HRO initiated its annual community service day in 2007 and named it in honor of Jim Bye (1930-2007), a partner who had practiced with the firm for 50 years and who was known as an advocate for both community volunteerism and philanthropy.
Jim Bye Day 2007: The firm donated $25,000, in Jim’s memory, to the Denver Mayor’s initiative to end homelessness “Denver’s Road Home.” In addition to the monetary contribution, the firm partnered with the Mile High United Way and provided 200 volunteers to various agencies on August 25th – and that date was proclaimed by the Mayor of Denver as Jim Bye Memorial Day.
Jim Bye Day 2008: On October 4, more than 180 lawyers, staff, and their family members, in conjunction with the Mile High United Way, sponsored a volunteer day for Urban Peak and partnering agencies. Volunteer activities included cleaning, painting, landscaping, and sponsoring a fall festival at Skyline Park downtown. HRO fed over 100 youth who participated in games such as apple eating contests, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin decorating, and dance contests. The firm presented a check to Urban Peak in the amount of $21,000 -- $10,000 of which was collected from employees in its Colorado offices.
Learn about the James E. Bye Diversity Scholarship.
Meals On Wheels
Helping to serve the basic needs of the most vulnerable individuals and families in our communities, many of our attorneys and staff members participate in the daily delivery of hot lunches to elderly participants in our local Meals On Wheels program.
Thanksgiving Food Baskets
It has been a long-standing tradition for HRO to collect canned, packaged goods and money to be used to assemble baskets of food for distribution to those who would otherwise not have a Thanksgiving dinner. Each year, the firm donates the more than 200 turkeys, and on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, HRO families and friends gather for the stuffing of more than 1,000 food baskets. The filling of the baskets has become an important ritual for many. In fact, the children of the lawyers and staff, who have participated since they were as little as three years old, are known to fly back from college early that morning just to make it in time for this important event.
Denver’s Passport to Peace and Read for Peace
Several of our attorneys and staff members are involved in Denver's Passport to Peace and Read for Peace projects, which are conflict and anger management programs for elementary school children designed to teach them how to handle conflict at home and school without resorting to violence.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
For the last several years, HRO has granted the wish of a young child, through Colorado’s Make-A-Wish (MAW) Foundation and the local MAW chapter of one of HRO’s offices. In 2008, HRO was pleased to grant the wish of Aaron, a four-year-old who resides in Santa Rosa, California with his family of five. He lives with Medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor that forms in the cerebellum and spreads down the spine — resulting in motor weakness, facial sensory loss, and other serious nerve-related issues. Despite his condition, Aaron, like so many young boys loves trains! More than anything, he wanted to have a special day with Thomas the Tank EngineTM. To make his wish extra special, after his big ride, Aaron visited with Thomas and his friends, and was presented with a giant bag full of toys, train whistles, and an official train engineer’s outfit.