For many years, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP has taken a leadership role in making the communities we serve a better place to live and conduct business. This steadfast commitment to community development is a part of the firm’s culture in all offices. Through volunteer activity and sponsorship, the firm has supported a wide variety of charitable and civic organizations. Many attorneys at Michael Best provide pro bono legal services and serve in prominent board positions in these organizations.

Supporting the arts is a particular focus of the firm. We believe our communities are stronger with a healthy arts community. Specifically, several Michael Best partners helped lead the effort to build the Calatrava addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, and since that landmark was completed, the firm has supported important exhibitions inside the museum. In Madison, the firm proudly pledged the largest corporate contribution to the Great Performance Campaign, an endowment for the Overture Center's umbrella of arts organizations.

Michael Best is proud to serve as the exclusive law firm sponsor of Project Ripple Effect. Project Ripple Effect is a unique effort to encourage involvement in our community’s non-profit organizations – ultimately making our community a better place.

“We know of nothing quite like Project Ripple Effect. Unlike groups that promote leadership or donations or volunteerism, this has a broader mission: involvement. We want people to know how to get involved and why to get involved,” stated Josh Gimbel, partner, chair of the firm’s Land & Resources Practice Group and co-chair of the firm’s Community Outreach Committee.

Project Ripple Effect uses print and television advertisements with a message that encourages people to volunteer. Then, through the Project Ripple Effect website, www.projectrippleeffect.com , people can find specific opportunities to give of their time and learn more about getting involved with non-profit organizations.

Hundreds of non-profit organizations have participated in the initial stages of Project Ripple Effect. They will offer volunteer opportunities in areas such as arts and culture, education, health, children, and the environment.

Corporations, foundations and an educational institution have joined on as the founding sponsors of Project Ripple Effect. In addition to Michael Best, founding sponsors include, Assurant Health, Bucyrus International, the Argosy Foundation, the Frieda and William Hunt Memorial Trust, and Marquette University. The media sponsors are the Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, Time Warner Cable, and Zizzo Group Advertising and Public Relations.