“There’s no business like show business,” Ethel Merman sang in 1954. Theatrical performances are as entertaining now as they were years ago. Even better, guests can watch this new performance, Virtually Legal, from their home being performed by local lawyers and judges to benefit charities.
Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) hosted an event called Justice Jam in May of 2020, where they announced they would like musical acts to perform with the hopes of raising money for “emergency legal aid work.” That’s when they found out that there were already groups created to entertain an audience for charitable reasons throughout Texas.
Virtually Legal is made up of various groups from different cities. Dallas, Austin, and Houston law professionals came together to create a mixture of a musical, parodies, and an instructional video. Austin Young Lawyers Association (AYLA) makes up the theater group called Bar & Grill. Houston lawyers joined together to create their group: Night Court. Bar None is the name of the Dallas Bar Association, and Tarrant County is involved in The Tortfeasors.
This one-hour-long show consists of “Include Me,” inspired by The Greatest Showman’s “This is Me,” a song about knowing the importance of openness, inclusion, and diversity. “Is it Constitutional?” is inspired by Hamilton and is “an entertaining constitutional law refresher and an engaging primer for lawyers and non-lawyers alike,” according to Culture Map. Also in the show is “Back in the Texas State Bar,” inspired by The Beatles, which is an “examination of ethics” with a hint of Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil.
According to the website for Night Court, “Notorious for their often outrageous, hilarious parodies of social, political, and legal topics, each city has a long tradition of creating musical shows each year, always to raise funds for charitable causes.”
There are four charities that guests can donate to throughout the show. Austin Young Lawyers Association Foundation is one of them. The others are for a pro bono service by Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Tarrant Area Food Bank, and Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarships of Dallas.
Dallas’ theater group, Bar None, has raised more than $2.1 million for scholarships. The money raised has gone towards Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarships at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, the School of Law at Texas A&M University, and UNT Dallas College of Law.
If a viewer of Virtually Legal happens to be a legal professional, they can “receive one hour of Ethics CLE credit for attending the streaming production.”
Virtually Legal began on December 9 and will be streaming until January 1, 2022. Tickets are on sale for twenty dollars, and attendees will choose from the four charities to donate to during the performance.
A lawyer from the production said, “This is a great time to laugh and enjoy while you give a helping hand to those in need.”
To purchase tickets to watch Virtually Legal, click here.