Dentons joins Westside improvement efforts

November 25,2015

Dentons, an international law firm with an office in downtown Atlanta, has joined philanthropic efforts to improve the city’s Westside.

On Tuesday, the firm announced it will pledge up to $375,000 in pro bono legal and public policy counsel to two entities connected with Westside neighborhood revitalization projects.

The legal services will be provided to the Westside Future Fund, an organization created last year by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and local business leaders, and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation’s Westside Neighborhood Prosperity Fund. The prosperity fund oversees a $15 million pledge that the Blank foundation made to the Westside communities as part of the nearly $1.5 billion Atlanta Falcons stadium project. The organization provides grants geared toward economic development, education, public safety and health initiatives.

Dentons has committed pro bono services for up to three years, focusing on real estate preservation, zoning, land use, economic development, contracts, policy compliance and litigation, according to a press release. Former Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Dentons partner, will serve as the lead partner for the project.

Formerly known as McKenna Long & Aldridge, Dentons is the latest major organization to announce its support for efforts to turn around blight and poverty in English Avenue and Vine City. In the wake of the Falcons’ new Mercedes-Benz stadium, a project that is receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds, several prominent business leaders, city officials and nonprofits have announced projects intended to improve the impoverished area.