April 24th is Alec Cory Day in California, established by then-Governor Gray Davis to honor a longtime social justice warrior and leader in San Diego’s legal community. A co-founder of what is now Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch LLP, Alec began his career in the San Diego Public Attorney’s Office, what later became the Legal Aid Society. He practiced law for 47 years before retiring from Procopio in 1993, serving as Managing Partner during most of his tenure with the firm. He passed in 2010.

Alec was one of the first in the San Diego legal community to embrace pro bono work and provide legal services to the poor. He established a scholarship fund that assisted students with a demonstrated interest in public service or public interest law. Procopio has continued this scholarship program by recognizing annually outstanding law students at University of San Diego School of Law and California Western School of Law with the Alec L. Cory Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service. During his career Alec was recognized for outstanding achievements by the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program and the San Diego County Bar Association, of which he was a past president. He was also named an Inaugural Fellow by the San Diego County Bar Foundation in 2005.

Alec co-founded Cory and Schwartz in 1946, opening a small office in downtown San Diego with Edward Schwartz. Ed would later leave the firm to serve as a Municipal Court judge, eventually reaching the position of Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The federal courthouse in San Diego is named in his honor. When Alec retired in 1993, the firm had grown to more than forty attorneys with six broad practice areas, General Business, Real Estate, Tax, Bankruptcy, Trial and Complex Litigation, and Real Estate litigation. The firm’s leaders continued Alec’s focus on smart growth after his retirement. Today, Procopio has nearly 200 attorneys in seven offices across the United States and is the only AmLaw 200 firm headquartered in San Diego.