Taylor Porter is a proud sponsor of Louisiana Appleseed's 2018 Good Apple Gala to be held Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, at the NOPSI Hotel, beginning at 6 p.m. The annual event is a celebration of the achievements of the legal community and professionals in their pro bono work throughout the state. Louisiana Appleseed recruits professionals to donate pro bono time to solve problems at their root cause with the goal of advancing social justice by affecting change at the policy, or systemic, level. Louisiana Appleseed's projects seek to increase access to education, opportunity and justice.

​Taylor Porter Managing Partner Skip Philips serves as a board member of Louisiana Appleseed.

The 2018 Good Apple Gala Social Justice Honorees include:

• Chief Justice Bernette Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court, for increasing access to justice throughout her esteemed career, from her days as a community organizer, to her service at the Civil District Court of New Orleans, to her term as Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
• Alan Philipson for his work increasing access to education, including his achievements on behalf of Bricolage Academy, to his membership on the boards of numerous other community-benefitting schools and nonprofits.
• Ken Polite of Entergy Corporation, and former U.S. Attorney, for increasing access to opportunity through his work with many initiatives, including the 30-2-2 Reentry Collaborative, a workforce pipeline for ex-offenders returning from incarceration.

The 2018 Good Apple Gala Pro Bono Honorees include:

• Caroline Crosby and Lillian Grappe of Phelps Dunbar, for increasing access to justice by suggesting best practices to the Access to Justice Commission, related to providing quality interpreters for litigants and victims in our civil and criminal justice systems.
• Sam Ford of Scott, Vicknair, Hair and Checki LLC, for increasing access to opportunity by working with the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Debt Buyer Task Force, to advocate for state-wide reform to protect
• vulnerable consumers from debt buyers’ unfair, illegal, and harmful collection practices.
• Patty McMurray of Baker Donelson, and daughter Madison McMurray of UVA Law School, for increasing access to opportunity through advocacy efforts to change the law on small successions to make it easier and less expensive for community members to have clear title to their property, thus preserving home ownership and promoting economic development.

Other sponsors of the 2018 Good Apple Gala include: The Helis Foundation, Adams and Reese, Jones Walker, Pan-American Life Insurance Group, Allison & Ben Tiller Allient Advisors, Baker Donelson, Barrasso Usdin, Capital One, Cook Yancey King & Galloway, Fayard Law Firm, Gainsburgh Benjamin David Meunier & Warshauer, Huber Slack Law Firm, IBERIABANK, Steven J. Lane, Liskow & Lewis, Phelps Dunbar, Sher Garner, Stanley Reuter Ross Thornton & Alford, Association of Corporate Counsel Louisiana Chapter, Bourgeois Bennett CPAs & Consultants, Fishman Hayggod, Frilot, Gold Weems Bruser Sues & Rundell, Stephen and the Hon. Karen Herman, Kean Miller, Louisiana Association for Justice through its sister nonprofit entity Bayou Research Institute, Louisiana State Bar Association, Ranier Law Firm, Rebecca Maisel and Nicky Sheldon, Pool Corp., Scott Vicknair Hair & Checki, Smith and Fawer, Stone Pigman, Jeannine Sullivan, Irving Warshauer, Whitney Bank, Frischhertz Electric Company, Christy and Michael Harowski, Jessie and Beau Haynes, and Dean David Meyer.