September 2019 Board of Directors Meeting Summary

The Florida Bar Foundation Board of Directors met on September 13, 2019 in Tampa.  The meeting was hosted by President Hala Sandridge’s firm, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, and allowed the Foundation to save meeting and accommodation expenses.  The Staff and Board are extremely grateful for the generous and kind gesture by President Sandridge and her […]

Foundation surpasses $500 million in lifetime grant funding

The Florida Bar Foundation has surpassed $500 million in lifetime grant funding. With its board’s approval on Sept. 13 of $3.3 million to provide nine grants though its Engle Grant program, the Foundation has given more than half a billion dollars in grants since 1982. Last year, the Foundation distributed $10.8 million in grants to […]

Foundation raises $63,665 for Loan Repayment Assistance Program at dinner

By Carley Conrod At the 43rd Annual Dinner and Reception on June 27, more than $63,000 was raised in support of the Foundation’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). Through LRAP, the Foundation helps legal aid organizations recruit and retain high-quality lawyers. It does this by funding a $5,000 annual paydown of individual student loans if […]

Richard C. Milstein receives Medal of Honor Award

Richard C. Milstein received the 2019 Medal of Honor for a lawyer at the Foundation’s Annual Reception and Dinner for his exemplary and unending capacity for pro bono work as a volunteer guardian ad litem for more than 35 years, his leadership and advocacy for marriage equality and civil rights, and his efforts to enact […]

Michael A. Bedke receives Medal of Honor Award

Michael A. Bedke, a real estate partner in the DLA Piper Tampa office, received the 2019 Medal of Honor for a Lawyer for his exceptional dedication to providing pro bono service, his remarkable advocacy for AIDS patients and domestic violence survivors both locally and internationally, his invaluable support developing the No Place Like Home program […]

Pro Bono Law School Challenge benefits mentor, law student and clients

After scouring the internet for legal help and finding the cost of a bankruptcy lawyer overwhelming, an elderly couple approached Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida (CLSMF). What might have seemed like an everyday occurrence at a legal aid program would become enlightening for law student Jonathan Levy. He and his mentor, lawyer Jesusa Panton, listened […]

Message from the President – Summer 2019

Benjamin Franklin once said, “You may delay, but time will not.” The poet John Mark Green wrote, “I blinked my eyes and in an instant, decades had passed.” These quotes capture some of the sentiments the Foundation has and is experiencing. What had been expected to be a short-term downturn in the economy in 2007 […]

Foundation sponsors Florida Court Public Information Officers Conference

The Florida Bar Foundation is proud to sponsor the Florida Court Public Information Officers (FCPIO) Conference Aug. 21-23, 2019 in Fort Myers, Fla. FCPIO promotes discussion among Florida’s court public information officers and meets regularly to discuss emerging developments in court and media relations with a special focus on Florida’s uniquely broad public records and public […]

Retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince appointed to Foundation board

The Florida Bar Foundation has appointed former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince to its board of directors. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing greater access to justice through civil legal aid in Florida. Quince’s term began July 1, 2019. In January 2019, after serving 20 years as a justice, Quince […]

The Launch: Claud Nelson, Florida Pro Bono Matters, and Legal Aid’s March Madness Equivalent

LSC’s Best Practices Corner recently interviewed the Foundation’s director of pro bono, Claud Nelson. “A couple of years ago in Florida, a giant idea was hatched to reinvigorate pro bono in the state by creating a centralized and easily accessible catalog of pro bono opportunities. It eventually became Florida Pro Bono Matters, which launched in April […]

2019 Annual Dinner Photos

Paul C. Doyle Children’s Advocacy Award presented to Americans for Immigrant Justice

For its work to reunite children in immigration detention centers with their families, Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ) has been awarded the Paul C. Doyle Children’s Advocacy Award. The award, which is given biannually, recognizes high quality legal representation and systemic legal advocacy for Florida’s low-income children by programs that receive Children’s Legal Services grants […]