A late push by many firms jockeying for position pushed the Legal Food Frenzy way past its goal of $55,000 in online donations on Friday.

As of 5:15 p.m., the Georgia legal community had raised $59,656.20 for the state’s food banks, which can stretch those funds into nearly $420,000 worth of food for hungry people.

Final results in the competition among legal groups are not available yet, as actual food and cash donations will be collected next week.  And the online results could change as the final hours of the contest tick by, given how close the top competitors are.

For now, however, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton has regained its lead, with $6,555 in online donations.  It eclipsed Georgia Tech’s legal department, which has $6,021.  King & Spalding holds a narrow lead on Alston & Bird for third place, with $5,575 over A&B’s $5,530.

The rest of the four-digit field looks like this:

DeKalb County Solicitor-General: $4,373.45

Georgia Department of Law: $3,815

Southern Company/Georgia Power legal department: $2,900

Hunton & Williams: $2,540

Atlanta Legal Aid Society: $1,470

Coca-Cola Co. legal department: $1,375

Kutak Rock: $1,285

Siemon Law Firm: $1,220

Rogers & Hardin: $1,170

Daily Report: $1,152.

For more information or to donate, go to this site: http://engage.acfb.org/site/TR/LegalFoodFrenzy/GeorgiaLegalFoodFrenzy?fr_id=1560&pg=entry

Georgia’s legal community scooped up $12,000 for hungry people on Thursday, putting the $55,000 goal for online donations in the Legal Food Frenzy within reach.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the second annual effort to raise the state’s food banks had collected $48,239.

One day remains in the competition among legal organizations to see which one can raise the most amount of food per employee, with awards given among varying types and sizes of legal groups.  Each $1 raised counts as four pounds of food in the competition.  More importantly, the food banks can stretch each $1 donated into more than $7 worth of food.

The winners will be determined after organizers add online donations to cash donations and actual canned food donated by each competing group.  Much could change in the final results, as last year more than half of the $107,000 donated did not come through the online route.

Nonetheless, the online donation action is the most fun to watch for competitors, so here is the penultimate leaderboard.

Georgia Tech’s Office of Legal Affairs remained in first place, with $5,881. But Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, which had led until Tech’s group vaulted from nowhere to the top yesterday, was closing in. It had collected $5,210, for second place.

King & Spalding, a slow starter, pushed into third place, with $4,880, edging Alston & Bird, which had $4,855.

Other teams above the four-digit mark were:

The Office of the DeKalb Solicitor-General, $2,910; Southern Company/Georgia Power Company Legal, $2,695; Georgia Department of Law, $2,650; Hunton & Williams, $1,840; Atlanta Legal Aid Society, $1,435; The Coca-Cola Company Legal Department, $1,275; and the Daily Report, $1,152.

McCurdy & Candler was agonizingly close to $1,000, with $997.

Donations can be made here: http://engage.acfb.org/site/TR/LegalFoodFrenzy/GeorgiaLegalFoodFrenzy?fr_id=1560&pg=entry

The Georgia Legal Food Frenzy is living up to its title on Wednesday, as the Georgia Tech Office of Legal Affairs leapt to the top of the online giving list with $5,771.

Tech’s big move and increased momentum in the Frenzy’s final days pushed the online donation total to $36,625, nearly $8,000 more than yesterday’s late afternoon total.  The money, plus actual food donations and other cash gifts, will benefit Georgia’s food banks as they get ready for the summer months. That’s when many school children can go hungry away from school lunch programs.  Georgia’s food banks can turn $1 into more than $7 in food for its recipients.

As of 2:10 p.m. Wednesday, 10 offices had raised $1,000 or more, with Tech’s legal group on top.

Displaced to second was Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, which has led much of the way, with $4,940.  Alston & Bird followed with $3,090; Office of the DeKalb County Solicitor-General, $2,470; King & Spalding, $2,390; Georgia Department of Law, $2,290;  Hunton & Williams, $1,790; Atlanta Legal Aid Society, $1,380; Southern Company/Georgia Power Legal, $1,060; and The Coca-Cola Company Legal Department, $1,055.

Donations can be made here: http://engage.acfb.org/site/TR/LegalFoodFrenzy/GeorgiaLegalFoodFrenzy?fr_id=1560&pg=entry

With nearly $29,000 in online donations collected, the Legal Food Frenzy has crossed the halfway mark to its goal of $55,000 by the end of business on Friday.  The money goes to Georgia food banks, which can stretch each $1 into more than $7 of food.

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the online tally stood at $28,945, with eight offices having raised $1,000 or more.  Some offices are getting creative in the competition, as detailed below the standings.

With $4,940 donated online, Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton continues to lead. (Totals for the contest will be based on pounds of food raised, with each $1 counting as four pounds of food, and actual food donations weighed.)

They were followed by:

Alston & Bird, $2,655; Office of the DeKalb County Solicitor-General, $2,385; Georgia Department of Law, $2,140; King & Spalding, $2,140; Hunton & Williams, $1,705; Atlanta Legal Aid Society, $1,280; and The Coca-Cola Company Legal Department, $1,045.

Southern Company/Georgia Power Legal was only $40 away from the $1,000 mark, and the Daily Report stood just $78 away from one grand.

Paige Boorman, an assistant solicitor-general in DeKalb County, writes the following about how the office’s efforts has earned third place in online donations.

“Since we lawyers like to compete at just about anything, what a better way than to have it benefit a wonderful cause! And the bonus is, even those of us without lofty paychecks can make a difference with a little bit of creativity. DeKalb County Solicitor-General Sherry Boston decided some healthy competition would help boost our numbers… and she was right! Within our office, we’re divided up into teams and the winner gets to have lunch on the boss lady. On Monday, we had “Taste of the Caribbean” where our Special Victims Unit created dishes to share with the office for a $5 donation.

“So far we have had two luncheons testing our office culinary skills, candygrams for a cause, raffles for gas cards, massages & braves tickets, candy & snack sales, along with traditional fundraising by each employee reaching out to friends and family outside the office. Currently in 1^st place for Government groups, we look forward to finishing out the week with even better numbers so that more families can receive the benefit of the Food Frenzy!”

My apologies for a short post, but the Food Frenzy is nearing $24,000.  Here are the details.

This article on Slate poses a fascinating question: “What’s the best jury size?”

Interestingly, a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case, Ballew v. Georgia, plays an important role in the answer.

Nearing halftime of the Legal Food Frenzy, Georgia’s legal community has raised $19,044 online for the state’s food banks.

As of 3:50 p.m., five legal organizations had raised more than $1,000: Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, $3,605; Alston & Bird, $1,965; Georgia Department of Law, $1,470; Office of DeKalb Solicitor-General, $1,200 and King & Spalding, $1,175.

Showing that small donations can add up, another 31 organizations had raised between $10 and $995, totalling $10,959, or more than half of the current online total.

The funds’ impact will be multiplied by at least seven, in that food banks say they can stretch $1 into at least $7 of food. The resources help feed hungry people–especially children who in the coming summer months will not be able to rely on food assistance at school.

The Frenzy’s goal is to raise $55,000 in online donations by the end of next week.

To donate, go here.

Legal groups have donated another $4,400 to Georgia’s food banks, with the Legal Food Frenzy cash total reaching $15,983 as of 4:42 p.m.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton continued to lead the online donations list, with $3,605, with Alston & Bird holding second place with $1,480.  DeKalb Solicitor was in third with $1,070, followed by King & Spalding with $905.

The Daily Report team was in fifth place, with $816, followed by the Georgia Department of Law at $790.

Frenzy organizers have a $55,000 goal for online donations, which means donations will need to pick up some speed to reach the goal by next Friday, May 3.

According to Greg Sims, the annual giving manager at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Frenzy last year collected $51,857 online, plus another $55,652.43 in off-line cash donations.  Groups also collected 20,378 pounds of food for the Atlanta food bank.

Legal groups have donated another $5,000 to Georgia’s food banks, with the Legal Food Frenzy cash total reaching $12,511 as of 4:45 p.m.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton maintained a commanding lead for total cash raised, adding nearly $2,000 from this time Tuesday for a total of $3,320.

The other top cash-giving teams are: Alston & Bird, with $1,165; DeKalb Solicitor, $985; King & Spalding, $835 and the Daily Report Team, with $711.

Food banks say they can buy more than $7 of food for each $1 raised, so the Frenzy has so far raised more than 50,000 pounds of food.

Georgia Legal Food Frenzy gained momentum on Tuesday, the second day of the fundraiser for the state’s food banks.

The effort had collected $7,281 as of 4 p.m., nearly $6,000 more than Monday’s late-afternoon total.  The cash is important for the food banks, which say they can stretch $1 into more than $7 worth of food.

The top teams so far are: Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, with $1,560; Alston & Bird, $550; Jason R. Schultz P.C., $500; Rogers & Hardin, $500; and DeKalb Solicitor, $410.

The Frenzy is also collecting actual food in bins within competing organizations.  The Atlanta Food Bank says it is in special need of: peanut butter, canned tuna, canned beans, canned soups, stews, pastas, 100% fruit juice, canned fruits, vegetables, macaroni and cheese dinners, whole grains, low sugar cereals (boxed.)

The winners will be judged on how many pounds of food raised, with each $1 counting as four pounds of food.  Not counting cans that have been donated, just from the cash the Frenzy has raised 29,124 pounds of food for hungry people.

Come back here for daily updates.

To donate, you can go here and look up a particular team you’d like to support.  For more information, our original post is here.