{"id":7731,"date":"2025-09-09T04:18:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/no-misconduct-found-in-law-firm-review\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T04:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:18:13","slug":"no-misconduct-found-in-law-firm-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/no-misconduct-found-in-law-firm-review\/","title":{"rendered":"No Misconduct Found in Law Firm Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tA<\/span> new report from elite law firm Latham & Watkins says FireAid has made good use of the $100 million raised during a pair of all-star benefit concerts following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January.<\/p>\n

\n\tFireAid tapped Latham to conduct an independent internal review of its grantmaking process in July, when online skeptics, led by Republican congressman Kevin Kiley, were publicly questioning whether the money actually went to victims of the Palisades and Eaton Fires.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe answer, according to Latham\u2019s report<\/a> released on Monday (Sept. 8), is an unequivocal \u201cyes.\u201d After interviewing FireAid board members and reviewing meeting minutes, wire transfers and emails, the law firm concluded that there has been no misconduct in the distribution of $100 million raised during the two concurrent shows at L.A.\u2019s Intuit Dome and Kia Forum.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBased on the investigation conducted to date, we have not identified evidence of any misrepresentations in the solicitation of charitable funds, improper selection of grantees, improper distribution of funds, improper use or misappropriation of funds, fraudulent intent, or deviation from FireAid\u2019s stated mission,\u201d wrote Latham in the report.<\/p>\n

\n\tMany of FireAid\u2019s online critics have claimed the organization gave the false impression that these funds would be issued as direct payments to fire victims. But Latham says in the report that FireAid \u201cmade clear from its inception\u201d that money would be distributed not directly to individuals, but to partner organizations that were providing fire relief.<\/p>\n

\n\tCritics on the internet have also suggested that some of the FireAid recipient organizations are not actually involved in wildfire recovery. Latham\u2019s report said this too is false; the firm reviewed progress reports from FireAid grantees and said the $75 million distributed so far has been spent on food, housing, medical care and other key expenses for fire victims.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cLatham has not identified any evidence that funds were given to organizations that were not providing relevant aid nor that funds were being used improperly,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a press release announcing the Latham report on Monday, FireAid said the firm\u2019s investigation \u201caffirms that FireAid\u2019s grantmaking was transparent, mission-aligned and impactful for fire-affected communities across Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt is important the survivors and our LA community have real insight into how FireAid funds are supporting recovery,\u201d the release added. \u201cWe remain committed to helping communities affected by the Eaton and Palisade Fires rebuild and recover, and providing transparent documentation of progress and impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe FireAid concerts were held on Jan. 30 with a star-studded line-up that included Green Day, Billie Eilish, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Stevie Wonder, Lil Baby, Tate McRae, Sting, Alanis Morissette, John Mayer, a Nirvana reunion, Joni Mitchell, a reunited No Doubt, P!nk and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe shows were livestreamed, drawing in more than 50 million viewers, and raised $100 million from ticket and merchandise sales, sponsorships, donations from the public and private gifts.<\/p>\n

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\n\tFireAid distributed the first $50 million of these funds in February and followed up with a second round of grants totaling $25 million in June. The last $25 million tranche is set to be distributed by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the report, FireAid has been using a \u201ccomprehensive, multi-level grantmaking and evaluation process\u201d to decide where funds go. The first step in this process is run by staffers from the Annenberg Foundation, who conduct due diligence and recommend a slate of fund recipients to FireAid\u2019s grant advisory committee.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe grant advisory committee, comprised of philanthropy professionals, further evaluates each charity and its governance before moving a slate of recommendations forward to the FireAid board. The board \u2014 whose members include L.A. real estate developer Rick Caruso<\/strong> and music industry titan Shelli Azoff <\/strong>\u2014 does a final review and approves grant recipients.<\/p>\n

\n\tFireAid\u2019s actual fund distribution is handled by the Goldman Sachs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund, which also confirms the 501(c)(3) status of each recipient organization before sending the money.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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A new report from elite law firm Latham & Watkins says FireAid has made good use of the $100 million raised during a pair of all-star benefit concerts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[184,153,1396,2266],"class_list":["post-7731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-firm","tag-law","tag-misconduct","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}