On Wednesday, October 17, 2018, Smokeball kicked off a new charity initiative for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children. Smokeball is a practice management software company based in Chicago and Sydney dedicated to building software solutions for small law firms that result in less stress and more success. Smokeball is also dedicated to working in the community and raising money for great legal causes. In fact, one of the company’s core values states, “Caring is Not Optional.”
It’s latest initiative, aptly named the “Season of Giving”, is well in line with its past efforts and its core values. For each new demo completed with a Smokeball small firm specialist between now and Thanksgiving, Smokeball is donating $100 to CASA. CASA ensures abused or neglected children receive the competent legal representation they desperately need and rightfully deserve. CASA “envision[s] a time when every child in state care has an influential voice in the court and in the community.” To achieve this, CASA trains volunteer advocates to speak for children throughout various legal processes. Smokeball has partnered with CASA for past fundraising efforts, including running Chicago’s Race Judicata 5K for its benefit.
Smokeball, through its socially-conscious employees, continually pursues ways to help in their community and effect changes nationwide. Smokeball employees regularly volunteer with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Anti-Cruelty Society, and the Ronald McDonald House. Smokeball’s culture dictates that entrepreneurship and helping small law firms do not occur in a vacuum; giving back to the community goes hand-in-hand with the company’s growth goals. Thanks to leadership from its President, Jane Oxley, the company has quickly become one of Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces and is a sought-after landing place for tech and legal folks across the country after being named one of 11 tech companies where employees can shine.
Besides creating intuitive easy-to-use yet powerful legal software, Smokeball continually promotes several core values, all of which shine through with its latest initiative, the Season of Giving. The core values are easy to remember and should be common sense for most companies: (1) caring is not optional; (2) innovate for the client, not the press release; (3) keep listening, keep learning; (4) check your ego at the door; (5) be frank; and (6) if you see it, you own it. Armed with these core values, Jane Oxley came to the U.S. from Australia to build a company that mattered to both its employees and its clients. Earlier this summer, Inc.com profiled this journey and Smokeball’s dedication to its values.
In all, Smokeball’s efforts through the “Season of Giving” are meant to achieve dual goals: put Smokeball in front of more small firms that could greatly benefit from it, and give a pile of money to a tremendously important cause. “We’re so confident that anyone who sees Smokeball will love it that it’s a no-brainer for us to give back to the community to get more people taking a look,” says Jane Oxley about the reason for the campaign. “Getting Smokeball in front of more small law firms that need it and helping those firms’ communities at the same time, that’s what our Season of Giving is all about.”
Smokeball looks forward to scheduling demos for Texas attorneys before Thanksgiving to help support the Season of Giving!