The Colorado Lawyers Committee (CLC) announced that it has tapped local nonprofit executive and attorney Lauren Schmidt to build out a network of pro bono attorneys to support mission-driven, Colorado nonprofit organizations. As Special Counsel, Schmidt will oversee all aspects of the CLC’s new nonprofit rapid response initiative. The initiative will prioritize support for nonprofits facing government investigation or enforcement actions, as well as those at risk of losing federal funding.
Prior to joining CLC, Ms. Schmidt served as a shareholder in the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Director of the Civil Litigation Division for the Denver City Attorney’s Office; and Executive Director of the Colorado Outward Bound School.
“This position comes at a pivotal moment for the nonprofit sector. Organizations are navigating growing legal and regulatory complexity while working to meet rising community needs amid drastic funding cuts,” Schmidt stated. “As attorneys across the country continue to hold the line against unprecedented threats, access to high-quality legal support should not be a luxury—it is foundational to the strength of the nonprofit community and to the communities these organizations serve. The legal community has both an opportunity and an obligation to ensure that nonprofits are equipped to adapt, remain resilient, and continue to advance the promise of equal justice for all. I am proud to rejoin the outstanding team at the Colorado Lawyers Committee and grateful to the community partners that have recognized this need.”
In addition to pursuing impact litigation, CLC also runs Denver Legal Night, a Hate Crimes Education Program, New Immigrant Legal Clinics, and a Pro Bono School Expulsion Project. Over the last 20 years, 1,176 CLC volunteer attorneys have served 450 Colorado nonprofits through its Pro Bono Nonprofit Legal Audit Clinic. Through this project, CLC will host office hours, additional legal clinics, and connections to pro bono attorneys.
Said CLC’s Executive Director, Kristin Bronson, “The Colorado Lawyers Committee
stands with our service and advocacy nonprofits, many of whom are under threat simply because of the people they serve or the mission they pursue. Our hope is to create a legal safety net of pro bono attorneys to protect the infrastructure of charitable, public interest, and legal advocacy work in Colorado. Nonprofits are in a historic moment of crisis in our nation’s history, and the Colorado Lawyers Committee, and its legion of volunteer legal professionals, are meeting this moment.”
The project is funded through grants from the Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, Buck Foundation, and the Spruce Fund, a donor-advised fund at Rose Community Foundation.
About the Colorado Lawyers Committee:
Formed by the legal community in 1978, the Colorado Lawyers Committee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan consortium of 75 Colorado law firms dedicated to providing and increasing opportunities for children, the poor and other disadvantaged communities through high impact pro bono legal advocacy, negotiation, and litigation.