November 24, 2015


Tortious Tones on stage at the 9:30 Club (photo courtesy of Law Rocks)

Law Rocks had its inaugural concert in Washington, D.C., at the 9:30 Club on November 19, 2015. The event featured various bands that are comprised of lawyers from law firms in the district. Each band chose a different local charity to raise money for through ticket sales, sponsorships, and donations. At the end of the night a winner was chosen through the amount of donations raised, tickets sales/sponsorships, audience ballot, and a panel of judges. Law Rocks Washington, D.C., featured 7 bands from various D.C. law firms and one student band from the Columbus School of Law.

Yes, CUA Law's very own Tortious Tones played at the 9:30 Club, and they chose Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington as their charity.

Tortious Tones members include Dan Lechner ((3L) Guitar), Nic Zawarski ((3L) Vocals and Keyboard), Mike Dinet ((3L) Bass Guitar), Elizabeth Ottman ((2L) Vocals), Christian Baron ((3L) Drums), William Russell ((3L) Bongos, Kongas, other Percussion), Dan O'Connell ((3L) Sax), and special guest Jon Quigley ((Class of 2014) Guitar and Vocals). The Tones sold over $4656.75 worth of tickets and ended up raising $1505 in donations for Catholic Charities. All donations raised and a portion of the ticket sales will be given to Catholic Charities.

The Tones' took the stage around 9:50 p.m. and had a setlist that included: The Beatles' Saw Her Standing There, Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart, Men at Work's Land Down Under, Taylor Swift's Style, Dion and the Belmonts' Run Around Sue, and Eddie Money's Take Me Home Tonight. Click here to view the Tortious Tones performance at the 9:30 Club.

When asked about this experience, Mike Dinet said, "Being able to perform on the legendary 9:30 Club stage was a dream come true for us. Never in a million years did we think we would ever play at the venue like that in front of such an amazing crowd. What makes it even more exciting is that we were able to raise money for Catholic Charities. They do some absolutely wonderful work and we were so happy to be able to play for them. We would like to sincerely thank everyone who donated and everyone who made it out to the performance. It was truly an incredible night."

What is Law Rocks? This is a statement from their website:

The mission of Law Rocks is to benefit amazing local nonprofit organizations in cities across the globe through epic battle of the band fundraising concerts, which star legal professionals-turned-rockstars.

Law Rocks provides an opportunity for the global legal community to bring attention and funding to deserving local nonprofits. Our vision is to make a real difference in cities around the world by raising funds and attention for local organizations that change local lives.

Each Law Rocks concert is a memorable event where legal professionals can let their hair down and have a blast. At the end of the night the winning band is selected by three factors - total fundraising, audience favorite, and total score from a Rock Panel of judges.

To learn more about Law Rocks Washington DC and the bands that participated, click here.