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Thursday, September 22, 2022
9:30 Club
$126,377 fundraised

Winner: Harmful Interference for Miriam’s Kitchen with legal talent from the FCC; Meta; USTelecom; the Wireless Infrastructure Association; Verizon; and Somos

Judges’ Choice Award: Larry and the Landlawyers for HomeAid Capital Region with legal talent from Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, & Walsh

Law Rocks took over the 9:30 Club this past weekend, with eight bands of legal rock stars battling it out for local nonprofits. The competition was fierce, the sets were awesome, and the 9:30 Club was packed with fans.

The night began with first-timer The DePlorables who rocked the stage with English rock band covers and a fitting performance of “Lawyers, Guns and Money”.

Harmful Interference continued the English rock love with songs by Judas Priest and The Cure, but brought us back stateside with energetic hits from The Go Gos and The Bangles.

The Precedents took the stage for the first time, but rocked like veterans with beautiful vocals to hits like “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Rollin’ in the Deep”.

2021 Champions, The Fine Print, brought “saxy” back with a thrilling saxophone solo on an electric sax during “Baker Street” and energized the crowd with an exceptional cover of “Sweet Child of Mine”.

Night Work also made their Law Rocks debut. Rocking bouncy hits including “And She Was” by the Talking Heads and “Love Shack”, they kept the audience dancing along their entire set.

Larry and the Landlawyers boasted major musical prowess with songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan and a shredding guitar solo while rocking “Any Way You Want It” by Journey.

The night ended with Buzzard Point Caucus amping up the energy rocking 90s hits by the Foo Fighters, Eve 6 and more with the crowd joyously singing along.

Unfortunately missing from the stage was Noise in the Basement from Venable and Gordon Rees, who had to withdraw at the very last minute due to Covid. The three-time winners were certainly missed, and the band’s $16K in fundraising certainly contributed to the success of the evening.

All the bands crushed it both in performance AND fundraising making this one of the closest competitions to date and a very exciting night!

Law Rocks wouldn't exist without the support of all the bands and firms - major thanks to every participating band! Thanks also to the 9:30 Club team, the Rock Panel of Judges, our host, and our nonprofit guests. None of this would be possible without our sponsors, making the show possible - thank you Venable, LawPay, Secretariat, Interactive Brokers, Truist, Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, Stoneturn, Akin Gump, Shulman Rogers, USTelecom, WIA, Barrister Digital Solutions and George Mason University Center for Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy

Thanks for everything, DC! See you next year…

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Featured

Buzzard Point Caucus

Featuring legal talent from Deltek, U.S. Government, Antonin Scalia Law School
Rocking for Central Union Mission

Buzzard Point Caucus - Featuring the guitar talent of Sean (a world-class musician and decent law prof in spite of his ivory tower), Corban on the bass, Hemi (U.S. Government) on keys, Jon (Deltek) on vocals and other random instruments, and this dude named Scott on drums, you never know what is going to happen but we apologize in advance for any Irish drinking songs.

The DePlorables

Featuring legal talent from Berke Farah LLP, Library of Congress Law Library, Platinum Advisors
Rocking for Blue Check Ukraine

The DePlorables are the worst band you’ve never heard and are back at it by unpopular demand. The DePlorables came together in January 2019 for a charity gig and have since demanded charity from their audience (which is sometimes singular). The DePlorables had to cut short their “One Night Only: One Night Too Many” world tour of Pearl Street Warehouse in 2020 due to the pandemic (which many pointed out was the one positive unintended consequence of COVID-19). The DePlorables specialty is 70s glam rock and punk, although their audiences rarely recognize what they are playing. The DePlorables are: Erik “The Hitman” Huey (dynamic front man); Chris “The Dude” Boesen (bass); Ken Sigmund “the Sea Monster” (lead guitar); Joel “Thunderstix” Theros (drums); and “the Consigliere of Rockabilly” Elliot Berke (rhythm guitar).

The Fine Print

Featuring legal talent from Shulman Rogers, The Law Offices of Alan Tilles
Rocking for DC Bar Pro Bono Center

The Fine Print is honored to have been voted the best band in three of its five Law Rocks appearances. But we're more proud of having raised so much money for several charities. With the encouragement of our friends, family and colleagues, we've decided to try to be entertaining once again. We also appreciate how supportive many of our law firm competitors have been. You make it fun for us, and look forward to challenging ourselves to up our game.

Harmful Interference

Featuring legal talent from the FCC; Meta; USTelecom; the Wireless Infrastructure Association; Verizon; and Somos
Rocking for Miriam's Kitchen

Harmful Interference is made up of telecom law and policy geeks who play in various original and cover bands around the city. While we don’t always agree with each other in our 9 to 5 jobs, we all agree that we are really excited to be back at the 9:30 Club, especially because we are rocking again for Miriam’s Kitchen, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness in Washington DC. It is almost as exciting as talking about Pole Attachments or Part 15 Waivers! Our set features an eclectic mix of rock covers and covers of covers. We may have to file an ex parte at the end of the show, but it will be worth it!

Larry and the Landlawyers

Featuring legal talent from Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, & Walsh, PC
Rocking for HomeAid National Capital Region

Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh has a little known secret weapon at its disposal: the powerful sound of Larry and the Land Lawyers, a rollicking band led by three attorneys at the firm: the esteemed Mark Goetzman on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, the amazing Mike Kieffer on lead guitar, the super-cool John Rinaldi on the Bass Guitar. They are joined by the Larry Clark (of FDG) on Drums.

Night Work

Featuring legal talent from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Rocking for Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia

The members of Night Work are from the DC office of Akin Gump and Georgetown University Law Center. The genesis of the band dates back to the 80s – trade partners Steve Kho and Tom McCarthy playing Genesis, among other rockers, in their high school band, which they think might have been named No Outlet. Steve and Tom went separate ways in college, and have toured the country with their own bands, and Tom continues to record and play with his bands No Second Troy and the Reserves (those names are included to encourage you to look for them on streaming services, along with J.R. Molm’s band, The Restatements). They reunited by fate at Akin primarily with the ambition of rising to the top of the DC legal rock scene, and selected the firm as their home because of the depth of musical talent at the firm. Drummer Scott Alberino, a leader in Akin’s Financial Restructuring practice, is routinely selected as one the greats by himself and his bandmates. Lead vocalists Jennifer Richter (Telecom), Esther Lander (Labor), and Matt Nicely (Trade) have been regularly compared to Fleetwood Mac by associates at the firm looking for bonuses. Summer associate J.R. Molm, a law student and lead vocalist/guitarist of fantastic local band The Restatements, rounds out the rhythm section. The band debated various names, including Law and Disorder and Habeas Porpoise, but settled on Night Work in honor of the firm’s founder, Bob Strauss. Mr. Strauss famously said to a client that “You’ve given us your night work; now can we have your day work?” The band also plays under that name with Akin attorneys from other offices, and is really just trying to live up to the Akin Houston band, which has won Law Rocks Houston several times -- at least that is what they told us. We are happy to be rocking for the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia.

Noise in the Basement

Featuring legal talent from Venable; Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Rocking for Together We Bake

The only thing better than being able to play on the legendary 9:30 Club stage is raising a ton of money for an amazing nonprofit that rocks our community so much more than we could ever do. We are humbled to be back-to-back-to-back winners of Law Rocks DC, with nearly $100,000 in fundraising. We are excited to once again ditch our power suits to dance, sing and bang our heads with the Law Rocks crowd. Featuring legal professionals from Venable, Noise in the Basement can be seen around the DC area playing its version of high-energy, alt-rock songs from the last four decades.

The Precedents

Featuring legal talent from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Interactive Brokers, DOJ, McGuire Woods LLP
Rocking for Gifts for the Homeless

The Precedents have been together for 17 years. We are the band that all others must follow.

We are proud that Law Rocks DC 2022 raised funds for the following organizations.

Featured

Host - Daniel Bauman

Daniel Bauman is a native Washingtonian, a Maryland Terp, a community activist, a proud father and husband, and a music lover.

In the last decade, Daniel has served on numerous charitable Boards of organizations that provide housing to the underprivileged. He is a longtime Commissioner and former Chairman of the Board of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA), ensuring that thousands of low and moderate income households in Alexandria receive affordable housing, economic opportunities, and a living environment free from discrimination.

Professionally, Daniel has been in the real estate arena his entire career – leading the operations of multi-family assets from pre-development through disposition nationwide. Currently, Daniel serves as President of a real estate management company with offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts and he is an advisor to two start-up companies serving the real estate industry. Previously, he was President of an Alexandria based property management company and a property management company that was a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly traded company. He also served as Vice President of Asset Management for a national multi-family developer.

Personally, and most importantly, Daniel is a proud father and husband, as well as a music lover. He will happily share the videos of his 18-year old playing guitar in his band (Homesick Locations) during recent sell-out shows at DC9 Nightclub, The Pocket, and Union Stage, as he is the real talent in the family, having been performing since age 6. Daniel’s musical interests extend from Marley to Maroon 5, The Stones to Snoop Dogg, Eagles to Ed Sheeran, Pink Floyd to Pink, and U2 to YouTube. Mostly, he enjoys singing while his son plays guitar or during late night jams with his friends (and occasionally his son). It is said that what he lacks in skill, he makes up for with enthusiasm.

Rock Judge - Cathy Applefeld Olson

Cathy Applefeld Olson is a live music fanatic who also happens to be a veteran music, entertainment and culture journalist, and event producer. Through her work for publications including Billboard, Forbes and The Hollywood Reporter, she’s interviewed some of the biggest and most influential names in music including Radiohead, Neil Young, Missy Elliott, Tom Petty, Ed Sheeran, Smokey Robinson, Bette Midler, Lionel Richie, Halsey, Finneas and Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds. Cathy is also the founder of Hollywood & Mind, a venture that evolved from her Forbes column of the same name and sits at the intersection of entertainment and mental health.

Rock Judge - Devon Engel

Devon Engel is Vice President and General Counsel of General Dynamics Mission Systems, which is headquartered in Fair Lakes, Virginia. With approximately 13,500 employees worldwide, Mission Systems develops and delivers mission critical life saving products and systems across land, sea, air, space and cyber domains.

Devon earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He earned his law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with honors and was a member of the Law Review.

Devon started his legal career at Crowell & Moring in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in government contract law. In 1996, Devon moved to Scottsdale to go in-house with Motorola. That business was sold to General Dynamics in 2001 and is now part of General Dynamics Mission Systems. Devon has been active in the government contract legal community throughout his career and has published numerous articles and lectured frequently on government contract and other legal topics.

Devon is also very active in his community. He is a Law Rocks Board member and was a member of the Board of Directors for DrugFreeAZKids.org for ten years, serving as Chairman of the Board for three years. He has also been a long time supporter of the United Way, the American Diabetes Association, Sentinels of Freedom and numerous other charitable organizations. While in private practice in DC, Devon provided pro bono legal services on adoption matters, including the successful opposition of a high profile petition to the Supreme Court.

Devon splits his time between DC and Scottsdale, where he and his wife Carla have four kids between them. To unwind, Devon enjoys playing golf and tennis with his kids, cycling, hiking and reading. He is also a bass player and plays in a rock and roll cover band in Scottsdale called Retro-Active and an original band based in Atlanta called Several Dudes. Devon has played in Law Rocks events in DC, LA, and Phoenix.

Rock Judge - Eric Liley

Eric Liley, Executive Director and CEO for The Musicianship, is a seasoned Marketing and Communications executive with over 25 years of experience in the Entertainment and Media industries, including work in the for-profit and non–profit arenas. His breadth of expertise includes TV programming, music licensing, multicultural marketing, branding, event production, talent relations, business affairs, youth advocacy, social impact, and diversity & inclusion.

Over the years, Eric has held a variety of management positions in marketing at Fortune 500 media/broadcast companies as well as leading non-profit category leaders. His experience includes roles at Gannett/USA Today, Showtime Networks Inc, BMI Music, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In 1995, he served as the President of the NY Chapter of The National Association of Minorities in Communications (NAMIC), the organization’s largest chapter at the time. His extensive media experience included time abroad when, in 1999, he assumed the role of Senior Vice President Global Sales & Marketing for Net4Music Inc., an award-winning digital music company. Net4Music, headquartered in Paris, France, was ultimately acquired by Minnesota-based Coda Music Technology in 2001, one of the industry’s leaders of innovative digital products songwriters, composers, and producers.

Rock Judge - Evan Moses

Evan is a trademark lawyer, the founder of the local community concert series "Live in Rose Park," and most notably, a four-time Law Rocks veteran and former Judge’s Choice award winner with his band Rock Creek Kings. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Evan is of-counsel to the Boutique IP and litigation law firm the Concept Law Group on trademark, patent and copyright prosecution and litigation matters and holds an LL.M. in intellectual property law from the George Washington University School of Law. His band’s single More of You recently passed the 100,000 streams mark and you may just recognize him from the cover of the Washington Post’s Weekend Section. A veteran frontman of over 100 shows at venues and music festivals across the east coast, Evan's a true double-threat.

Rock Judge, Kevin de Souza

Kevin de Souza is the songwriter behind the confusingly-named, grownup-staffed rock band Uptown Boys Choir, as well as a busy freelance bassist and bandleader. In addition to a lively schedule backing up some of the DMV's finest songwriters, Kevin also holds the bass chair in Celtic rock band Ceili Rain, under the leadership of award-winning songwriter Bob Halligan, Jr. (Judas Priest, KISS, Kix, Kathy Mattea, Michael Bolton).

When he isn't recording or performing, Kevin serves as the Theatre Technical Director at The Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, MD, where he is proud to be training the next generation of scenic carpenters, lighting designers, and sound engineers.

Rock Judge - Zeke Roeser

Zeke Roeser is 5'8" and 160lbs of diamond-hard rock 'n' roll. He is a trial lawyer and the principal of Roeser Law Firm, a personal injury practice in Washington, DC. He litigates primarily in DC and Maryland, and has successfully represented thousands of DC-area residents.

Mr. Roeser's interest in music and entertainment is hard-wired. He was born to an acting teacher and the founder and lead guitarist of a venerable, white-shoe classic rock band from New York City. He will not say which, but he will advise that he has attended 100+ Blue Öyster Cult concerts from the age of fetus through his present 40th year. He believes that life begins at rock 'n' roll.

Mr. Roeser is a member of the Trial Lawyers Association of Washington DC, the Maryland Association for Justice, and the secretive Federalist Society.