Our Community Involvement
Giving Back.
If Eric Traut were to offer advice to young lawyers starting their careers, it would be simple. Eric would suggest that the young lawyer develop a plan to give back to the community and join professional associations that contribute to the greater good. Eric believes that giving back is vital to the human experience. He takes philanthropy to heart.
Following Eric’s lead, Traut Firm supports and is engaged with its community. Fundraising, non-profit work, and membership in legal associations and like-minded organizations are just a few avenues that enable community involvement. Traut Firm believes that helping others can impart lasting change and provide the tools to overcome social and economic obstacles. Helping others, rubbing elbows with fellow professionals, and networking are a win-win.
Orange County Bar Foundation/ Project Youth – www.projectyouthocbf.org
In 1981, Project Youth OC was established as the philanthropic arm of the Orange County Bar Association. Since then, Project Youth has become an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to keep at-risk youth in school, healthy and drug-free through education, counseling, mentoring, and family strengthening. Project Youth aims to reach at-risk youth early and provide long-term solutions to the obstacles they face. The non-profit offers specialized services to help kids make positive and healthy life choices. For many youth, this means giving them a second chance to get back on the right path.
Project Youth created Project SELF (Summer Employment in Law Firms) as part of their mission. This program offers summer internships for Santa Ana high school seniors at local law firms and related businesses. An 8-week, paid opportunity, this program provides positive adult mentors, exciting alternatives for a student’s summer, and a first-hand look at professional environments.
Eric is actively involved with Project Youth. He has served as its President and is currently on its Board. Every summer, Traut Firm works with an intern from Project-SELF. A recent and former intern just received a scholarship from Baynard Inn of Court.
Orange County Trial Lawyers Charities (OCTLC) – https://www.octlc.org
Since 2020, the Orange County Trial Lawyers’ Charities has strived to positively impact the greater Orange County area by providing financial assistance and volunteer services to non-profits in the community.
Eric is a member of OCTLC. In April 2023, he offered himself as Roastee for their Annual Roast, which raised money for many of Orange County’s non-profits.
Public Law Center (PLC) – www.publiclawcenter.org
As a pro bono law firm located in Santa Ana, The Public Law Center (PLC), Orange County provides access to justice for low-income and vulnerable residents. The PLC provides free civil legal services, including counseling, representation, community education, strategic litigation, and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.
In October 2023, the PLC Board unanimously approved Eric’s appointment as a Board Member for a four-year term beginning in January 2024.
Operation Helping Hands – www.ohhsc.com
If personal experience has taught Kim Valentine anything, it has taught her to understand the perils of homelessness. Although her own childhood situation improved, Kim has always been aware of the unfortunate circumstances that can befall another. Kim founded Operation Helping Hands (OHH), a non-profit organization empowering communities to give back by providing backpacks with hygiene items and other essentials. These packs are then distributed to the homeless, housing insecure, and the needy. In addition, a partnership with Southern California Community Colleges enables OHH to offer monthly housing stipends to students in need. This small and mighty consideration can be life-changing. If housing is secure, students can focus on receiving the education and skills needed to improve their circumstances. With values based on the philosophy of ‘Think Big and Act Bigger’, OHH has over 900 volunteers worldwide and has distributed over 14,000 backpacks. (Source: ohhsc.com)
Working with OHH, Eric, Pamela, Connor, and the Traut Firm support staff held a Charity Team Building Backpack Project in the spring of 2023. 100 backpacks are assembled and delivered to MICAH’S WAY – a nonprofit helping Orange County’s impoverished with a support system that responds to immediate needs and helps develop self-sufficiency. Says Eric, “We agree with Operation Helping Hands. Homelessness comes in all forms.” Eric continues, “Helping others is the right thing to do.”
Bloom Where Planted – www.bloomwhereplanted.org
Over 20 years ago, former Traut Firm clients and current friends Mary and Edmund Fry visited a Primary School in Kenya while on safari. Despite being greeted with the singing and dancing of happy children, the couple had deep concerns for the school’s learning environment. It was out of this concern that the 501(c)(3) Public Charity Bloom Where Panted (BWP), was born.
The mission of Bloom Where Planted is to enhance the lives of children and further education in Kenya. The nonprofit provides books, improved learning environments, and secondary sponsorships. Mary and Edmund believe that by educating the girls and boys, BWP can help them to ‘Bloom where they are planted.’ The couple wants to help the children prosper and be good citizens in their country, promoting peace and goodwill in the world. (Source: bloomwhereplanted.org)
To fund the nonprofit, Mary and Edmund are the proprietors of Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena, California. Guests enjoy afternoon tea in the rose garden, which includes a proper cuppa, scones, homemade preserves, finger sandwiches, and English-inspired savories like Beef Wellington and Toad-in-a-Hole.
Not only have Eric and Pamela enjoyed afternoon tea in the rose garden, but they are also generous supporters of Bloom Where Planted.
Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) – www.ocbar.org
The Orange County Bar Association strives to enhance the justice system, support the lawyers who serve it, and assist the community it serves.
In addition to being an active member of the OCBA, Eric will be sworn in as its Secretary in January 2024. In accordance with the OCBA’s bylaws, Eric will become Treasurer in 2025, President-Elect in 2026, and President in 2027.
American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) – www.abota.org
ABOTA membership is by invitation only. The mission of ABOTA Orange County is to promote and improve the American civil justice system and to preserve the Seventh Amendment right to civil jury trials for future generations. It does this through Civics Education, Professional Education, and grants.
In 1998, Eric was invited to join ABOTA – Orange County. At 33, he was the youngest member voted into the organization’s membership. In 2010, Eric served as President of the Orange County Chapter. He attended nearly all the board meetings in the ten years post-presidency.
In 2017, Eric received the OC ABOTA Joseph D. McNeil Civility Award. In 2019, Eric was honored with the OC ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year award. That same year, Eric conducted the first Masters in Trial program wherein a one-day expedited jury trial was presented. The case was an actual case pending in the Orange County Superior Court. Since then, he has presented over ten Masters In Trial programs for ABOTA-OC and other chapters and has been a team coordinator and program chair for Masters in Trial on at least five occasions.
Eric has been responsible for coordinating the ABOTA-OC Judge’s Night since 2017, personally delivering invitations to the judges and coordinating the dinner and awards ceremony from start to finish. Eric also serves on the committee organizing the ABOTA-OC Golf Tournament, the biggest revenue generator for any local chapter since its inception 13 years ago. Eric has secured thousands of dollars in sponsorships for the Orange County Chapter since becoming a member in 1998.
In 2021, Eric rose to Diplomat, followed by Legacy Fellow and then Governor status within the National ABOTA Foundation – the educational arm of ABOTA – Orange County Chapter. Only four of today’s 240 Orange County members are at the Governor level or higher.
Eric has been a National Board Representative for 11 years and attends most national meetings. He has attended 11 out of the last 13 ABOTA International trips. Eric is the ABOTA-OC Fellows program co-chair, having selected and placed numerous 3rd-year law students into law firms and courtrooms for internships.
International Society of Barristers– www.isob.com
With exclusive membership by invitation only, The International Society of Barristers is a group of legal professionals that exemplify exceptional talent, integrity, honor, and collegiality and embody the spirit of the true professional. A rigorous screening process identifies trial lawyers who meet the Society’s high standards.
Eric was invited to become a member of The International Society of Barristers. With only 65 members in California, Eric is one of only three in Orange County who practices plaintiff personal injury and wrongful death.
Robert A. Baynard Inn of Court – www.banyardinn.org
Banyard Inn of Court is a legal association designed to foster high excellence, professionalism, and ethical awareness of the bench and bar. Members learn side-by-side with the most experienced Judges and Attorneys in the Orange County legal community.
As a member, Eric received the Angelo Palmieri Civility Award from the Robert A. Banyard Inn of Court in 2011. Eric is a past president of the Inn of Court.
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles– www.caala.org
The mission of CAALA is to empower attorneys advocating for people.
Eric presents annually at CAALA Vegas. Eric addresses trial-related topics using his perspective and over 30 years of experience.
Eric was invited to become a member of The International Society of Barristers. With only 65 members in California, Eric is one of only three in Orange County who practices plaintiff personal injury and wrongful death.
Italian American Lawyers of Orange County – www.ialoc.wildapricot.org
The Italian American Lawyers of Orange County’s mission is to “celebrate Italian culture and provide continuing legal education opportunities to members of the Orange County legal community. The organization creates opportunities for networking among lawyers and non-lawyers.
Eric is a member of Italian American Lawyers of Orange County and the organization’s past president.
Orange County Trial Lawyers Association – www.octla.org
OCTLA was formed by trial lawyers in 1963 to protect the rights of people who have been harmed by the wrongful acts of others, to provide education and training, access to resources, and to promote laws which correct injustice.
Eric Traut was President of OCTLA in 2002 and the recipient of their Top Gun Trial Lawyer of the Year award in both 2003 and 2023. He has been a frequent speaker at their monthly meetings on topics related to effective trial practice. He has also been an annual presenter at the popular Judges and Arbitrators Evaluation Seminar.
Endorsment
“Dear New Members of Bloom 90 Club-
Thank you, Eric! It was wonderful to have you here with us at Christmas-time and not just because of the chequeS! Your generous donation is going to go such a long way to helping children attend secondary school! We are so very grateful!
We hope that if either or both are ever up this way and in need of a cuppa’ that you will feel free to stop in anytime — you’re most welcome to join us for a proper sit down or casually!
And, once again, we thank you for all you did to bring about a positive outcome. We feel truly blessed to have been sent your way and know that it could not have happened without your hard work and guidance.”
– Mary Fry, Proprietor, Rose Tree Cottage
