Play ball!
Trial Lawyers’ Charities hosts their first pickleball tournament on August 2 in El Segundo
It’s summer, and as every kid knows, it is time to play! Orange County and Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities are providing the perfect excuse to spend a day playing – for others.
Every year, LATLC and OCTLC host the Great Tryke Giveaway, an incredible event where we provide new adaptive tricycles. These wonderful red “trykes” promote independence, social interaction, mobility, strength, self-esteem and quality of life for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities.
These tricycles make a real difference. At the first Great Tryke Giveaway, a non-verbal, 17-year-old girl received her first tricycle. A few days later, we received a card from her family:
“We just wanted to let you know how grateful we are to you for your generous donation to SoCal Trykers which allowed our daughter Evangeline to receive her first adapted bicycle! How wonderful it is to see her finally be able to cycle with her sisters after all these years of missing out. What a joy it is, as her parents, to see the smile on her face when she is behind the wheel!”
Normally, these “trykes” cost around $1,000 – but today the price has soared to over $1,800 each.
Most families cannot afford these adaptive tricycles, and that is why we donate more than $30,000 each year to SoCal Trykers, the non-profit started by occupational therapists, that provides them.
To ensure that children who need these trykes can still get them, LATLC and OCTLC are hosting the first pickleball tournament on Sunday, August 2. Our goal is to raise additional funds for this unexpected increase in costs this year and in the future.
We will be playing the tournament in the beautiful indoor (and air-conditioned) facility – California Smash – in El Segundo. Teams (you can have up to 4 players, with two at a time on the court) are $1,000, or $250 for individuals. Sign up at https://PICKLE26.givesmart.com. Bring the family and join in the fun. There will be a “Kid’s Area,” lunch, and beverages. Sponsorships are available.
The more we raise, the more trykes the kids will get at the GREAT TRYKE GIVEAWAY a few weeks later, on August 15. JOIN US for both events.
Griselda S. Rodriguez
Griselda Rodriguez received her B.S. from California State University, Northridge and earned her J.D. from Glendale University College of Law. She is a 2016 graduate of CAALA’s Plaintiff Trial Academy and is an active board member. Ms. Rodriguez established her law firm, Servin Rodriguez Law, in 2020. Her practice primarily focuses on representing plaintiffs in single-plaintiff employment actions and personal-injury matters. www.servinrodriguez.com.
Michelle M. West
Michelle Marie West is a partner with the law firm of Robinson Calcagnie in Newport Beach, California where she has practiced for 18 years. Her law practice is devoted to obtaining recovery for individuals who are catastrophically injured due to defective products, including vehicles, tires, skylights, machinery, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. She also handles dangerous condition cases, trucking cases, premises liability matters, and sexual assault cases on behalf of injured victims and survivors. Ms. West has been nominated as a Top 100 Southern California Superlawyer multiple times, Top 50 Orange County Superlawyer, and Top 50 Women Southern California Superlawyer, as well as being recognized by Best Lawyers. She is on the Board of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities, Past President of the Western Trial Lawyers Association and currently serves as President of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Charities.
In her free time‚ Ms. West enjoys weightlifting, traveling, marathons (completing over 100) as well as participating in ultra-distance running events, cycling events, and triathlons, and has completed over 10 full Ironman® triathlons. She competes in the Badwater Ultramarathon running event to raise money for charity and has finished the event five times. Her next race, the Great World Race, will take her to 7 continents in 7 days to complete 7 marathons.
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