Bees waxing.

Lawyers generally are not known for flair with literary style and grammar, so credit is due a number of Los Angeles lawyers who have volunteered to be humiliated on stage for a good cause.

"My goal is to get a bunch of attorneys up there--without spell check--to embarrass themselves for children's literacy," said Craig Fleishman, the executive director of Everybody Wins! Los Angeles. The organization sponsored the second annual Lawyers for Literacy Spelling Bee at the El Rey Theater last week.

The group raised $40,000 and is expecting to boost receipts further with a 100-item silent auction. Procoeds will go to literacy programs at local schools.

The foundation is 16 years old with chapters in 40 cities across the nation. The Los Angeles chapter was founded in 2000. Volunteers visit local classrooms and read to students during their lunch breaks to foster a love for reading.

While spelling may not be a strong suit for most lawyers, competitive zeal seems to be.

Reigning champion Seyfarth Shaw LLP sent three teams of three people, to "stack the deck in their favor," Fleischman joked. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Foley & Lardner LLP, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP also sent teams.

Allen Wang, a Foley associate in the transactional securities practice, said he was looking to redeem himself from a loss in the Scripps Howard regional spelling bee when he was in the seventh grade.

"I still remember the word I lost on," he said on the morning of the event. "R-E-S-C-I-N-D-A-B-L-E. I don't remember anything I spelled right, but I remember that one."

Wang said the Foley team's "Mr. Miyagi" is Nate Lacktman, a recent Seyfarth transfer and a member of last year's winning team. He sent a dictionary and word lists through the inter-office mail system and assigned sections to each team member.

KTLA's Lynette Romero will emcee the event.

The winning team will receive a plaque and a great deal of S-A-T-I-S-F-A-C-T-I-O-N.