By David Erickson, Historian of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations

David Erickson is the CBA Historian and will share his findings with us as he discovers them. If you have any historical stories to share, send them to Historian, 1900 Grant Street, Ninth Floor, Denver, CO80203.

The Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver was organized November 11, 1921, under the auspices of the Denver Bar Association. A not-for-profit corporation was created on February 26, 1925.

It was organized to render legal aid to any and all worthy poor, and to cooperate with the judiciary and officers of the law and bar association, and charitable organizations interested in securing a proper administration of justice on behalf of poor, worthy and distressed persons. The organization handled 2,200 cases in its first 15 years.

The first presidents of the organization were all prominent Denver attorneys: Halstad A. Ritter, George C. Manley, James H. Pershing, Stanley T. Wallbanks and Jacob V. Schaetzel.