Our Firm
Giving Back
Community Engagement Is One Of Our Core Values
Shields Legal is dedicated to investing our very best selves in the communities we serve.
We’ve proudly supported numerous local non-profits and year-by-year, we continue to build a formidable culture of good corporate citizenship. Back in 2014, Shields joined a program affiliated with Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), then known as Entrepreneurs for North Texas (EFNT). EFNT was a network of approximately 100 member companies, consisting of small to mid-size businesses, private equity investors, venture capitalists and professional service providers, that shared a commitment to giving back to the neighborhoods and communities in which we live and work. EFNT operated as a type of out-sourced corporate philanthropy department by arranging “plug-and-play” volunteer opportunities for the employees of its member companies.
EFNT’s signature volunteer event was its annual Freedom Day, held on September 11th in honor of the lives that were lost and forever changed as a result of the tragic events of 9/11. Hundreds of employees of EFNT’s member companies spread out across North Texas to volunteer their time, energy and talents in serving our communities. For Shields Legal’s first Freedom Day project back in 2014, our team cleaned, painted, and made minor repairs to a home for rehabilitating veterans.
In 2017, EFNT was rebranded as Communities Foundation of Texas for Business (CFT4B). Shields Legal became a Cornerstone Sponsor of CFT4B as a testament to our organization’s belief in their mission to bring together like-minded companies that value charitable giving and community engagement.
In 2024, Shields marked ten years of community engagement through our affiliation with CFT4B. Our attorneys and legal staffers have volunteered their time, organized supply drives and collected donations for numerous local nonprofits. These include Minnie’s Food Pantry, Reading Partners, Heart House Dallas, Hunger Busters, Hope Supply Co., the North Texas Food Bank, Frisco Family Services, and Bonton Farms. We’ve also cleaned out the Trinity River, made countless sandwiches and packed hygiene kits for shelters. We have collected and distributed jars of peanut butter, cans of black-eyed peas, boxes of instant mashed potatoes and a boatload of school supplies. We have donated gift cards, toys and gardening tools. We have forged meaningful relationships with like-minded businesses and local nonprofits every step of the way.
For National Volunteer Month, which begins the first of April every year, Shields Legal encourages our employees to get out of the office to give back and make an impact. We invite our colleagues, clients, families, friends, and other like-minded businesses to join us at our next giving-back event. To learn more, please contact Katherine D. Hoke, Managing Partner.
National Volunteer Month
This April, in recognition of National Volunteer Month, Shields Legal encouraged our team to Get Up, Get Out of the Office, and Give Back.
Our employees had a variety of in-person volunteer opportunities from which to choose, curated especially for the Business Impact Network of companies affiliated with Communities Foundation of Texas for Business.
Although we were striving for 100% participation, the April showers did not cooperate, causing the postponement of many outdoor service projects. Nevertheless, our team still made a positive impact on several local non-profits and the people they serve.
Hope Supply Co.
Hope Supply meets the critical needs of homeless and at-risk children in North Texas by providing necessities including diapers, wipes, hygiene kits, baby food and formula.
Shields Legal’s morning shift volunteers worked side by side with employees from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to pack newborn diaper kits for delivery to local hospitals.
We were a small but exceedingly efficient group of volunteers. In fact, we concluded our shift early to leave enough work for the afternoon crew!
Hunger Busters
Hunger Busters provides a third meal of the day for Dallas school students.
Shields Legal team members packed sandwiches along with our friends and colleagues from Market Wave, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Civitas Capital.
We love the opportunity to join forces with like minded businesses to do good where we live and work.
The Senior Source
The Senior Source is dedicated to providing financial and emotional support services to local seniors and their families.
Shields Legal’s MaryNell Cash and the other Business Impact Network volunteers serving at Arapaho Rehabilitation and Care Center completed a painting project before enjoying bingo, laughing, and socializing with the residents.
Liberty Street Garden
Liberty Street Garden is a local garden growing specialty produce sold at farmers markets, local restaurants, and directly to the community.
The garden provides women and teen survivors of human sex trafficking with jobs, enabling them to earn a living wage while rebuilding their lives.
Volunteers, like our Kasey Rose, lovingly mulched and prepped the garden beds for spring planting on a gorgeous day.
The Storehouse Community Center
The Storehouse addresses “invisible poverty in North Dallas” through a variety of programs including a food panty, clothing closet, resource referral program, and education program that offers job, language, and life skills training.
Quite a few Shields family members showed up to lend helping hands in the Seven Loaves Food Pantry.
Time spent giving back with co-workers, family members, and colleagues is always time well spent. As Jacque Kelly and her husband can attest, the couple that volunteers together stays together!
Freedom Day 2014
Our very first Freedom Day project was painting and repairing a group home for veterans. There were quite a few Type A personalities in the house that day, but we still managed to get the project done on time!
Kathy Hoke won EFNT’s Engagement Captain of the Year award.
Doing the Mashed Potato
Shields Legal collected 1,000 boxes of instant mashed potatoes to stock the shelves at Minnie’s Food Pantry. Many of the firm’s clients joined our effort.
We also collected classroom supplies for Project Transformation.
Minnie's Food Pantry
In addition to our famous mashed potato drive, the Shields team also collected food donations at our Annual Open House for Minnie’s Thanksgiving Food Giveaway.
North Star Award
In 2015, Shields Legal received EFNT’s North Star Award in recognition of significant contributions made to the community by a member company.
Down By the River
For our Freedom Day 2015 project, we headed to Trinity Sleepy Hollow for a clean up project. We bonded moving dirt with Kevin Margolis and the team from SFMG Wealth Advisors. We never forget why we serve on Freedom Day.
Serving with Heart House
For Freedom Day 2016, we brought our families along for a painting project at Heart House Dallas. During our Annual Open House, we collected gift cards for the families served by Heart House. We were back at Heart House for Freedom Day 2018, and invited colleagues in financial services to join us.
North Texas Food Bank
The Shields Legal team served at the North Texas Food Bank for Freedom Day 2017. Once again, we brought our families to serve with us. Encouraging the next generation to serve with open hearts is a big part of our mission.
We ran a food drive in August 2020, collecting jars of peanut butter and cans of tuna fish. On Freedom Day 2020, we masked up and worked a socially distanced shift at NTFB, packing meal boxes for the many families in our community that faced food insecurity during the pandemic.
Hope in a Box
In 2017, we collected hygiene items and packed hygiene kits for Hope Supply Co.
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Bonton Farms in South Dallas started with a simple garden planted on a condemned city lot. Over the years, the garden was tended with care and grew into a 40-acre urban farm with an on-site market and café that provides nourishing food to the neighborhood residents, meaningful employment, and even temporary housing.
On Freedom Day 2021, Shields Legal helped Bonton Farms realize its vision of transforming its origin garden into a research garden for growing herbs and plants with natural health benefits for a community that lacks health care.
Our team collected and donated the gardening tools we used that day, including wheel barrows, shovels, hoes, and a new picnic table. After our shift, we treated all the volunteers to lunch at the Bonton Farms Market Café.
Serving During the Pandemic
Freedom Day 2022 was spent packing meal kits for the 9/11 Day Meal Pack Dallas. This was the last formal Freedom Day event sponsored by CFT4B.
Jordan McCarroll attended Career Day at Cedar Hill ISD to spark interest in legal career opportunities.
Busting Hunger at Hunger Busters
Shields has volunteered many times at Hunger Busters since 2014, including for Freedom Day 2019.
In early 2024, we held a friendly sandwich making competition with the team from Lennox International. The winners were … all the DISD children served by Hunger Busters!
The mission of Shields Legal is to bring strategic business insight, professional judgment and competence to your company’s business and legal issues.