Goldstein award winners recognized at annual dinner
The Steven M. Goldstein Award for Excellence was created to honor a former member of the Foundation board who, as a legal services attorney and Florida State University College of Law professor, was devoted to defending the rights of the downtrodden, the unpopular and the disadvantaged. The Goldstein Award, given biannually at the Foundation’s annual […]
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Two long-time attorneys receive Curran Distinguished Service Award
Two lawyers received The Florida Bar Foundation’s Jane Elizabeth Curran Distinguished Service Award June 14 at the Foundation’s annual reception and dinner. The award, named for the Foundation’s first executive director, recognizes individuals who, over their careers, have achieved meaningful, effective and lasting increases in access to civil justice for the poor in Florida. Award […]
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Dr. Louis B. St. Petery receives Medal of Honor Award for a Non-Lawyer
Tallahassee pediatric cardiologist Louis B. St. Petery received the 2018 Medal of Honor Award in the non-lawyer category at the Foundation’s 42nd annual reception and dinner June 14. St. Petery’s leadership and legislative advocacy on behalf of children on Medicaid have led to funding increases and substantial changes to the system. When St. Petery sued […]
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Message from the President – Summer 2018
Like you, I am passionate about increasing access to justice for our most vulnerable neighbors, co-workers and loved ones. When I first began my legal career, I received funding from the Foundation to work at a clinic at Legal Services of Greater Miami. I later went on to volunteer for Broward Legal Aid. I am […]
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Howard Talenfeld receives Medal of Honor Award for a Lawyer
Howard Talenfeld, managing partner of Talenfeld Law and founding president of Florida’s Children First, received The Florida Bar Foundation’s 2018 Medal of Honor Award for a Lawyer at the Foundation’s annual reception and dinner June 14 in Orlando. Talenfeld’s legislative efforts have significantly improved services for dependent children with special needs and foster children, and […]
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Foundation support comes from cy pres awards, attorney donation
The Florida Bar Foundation has received a $500,000 cy pres award from a class action settlement in a case involving rental fees for propane tanks. Jeffrey M. Liggio of Liggio Law in West Palm Beach represented the class against Heritage Operating L.P., now AmeriGas, through more than 12 years of litigation. Philip M. Burlington of […]
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Legal aid organizations host law students on spring break
In February, Cornell Law School contacted the Foundation with an unusual request. Their law students wanted to come to Florida for spring break, but not for fun and sun. Instead, they wanted to work for legal aid organizations as part of the school’s Spring Break Service Trip program. The Foundation assisted in connecting the students […]
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Students, lawyers speed mentor
In April in Orlando, students from Boone High School’s Law Magnet Program spent a morning being “speed mentored.” Law students from Florida A&M University College of Law and lawyers from the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section and the Foundation volunteered to mentor the students, answering questions about law school and being a lawyer. After […]
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Initiative counts self-represented litigants in a single day
On May 15, the Foundation facilitated Everyone Counts, an initiative to take a census-like count of self-represented litigants on a single day in the Miami-Dade court system. First conducted March 20, 2017, Everyone Counts found that 63 percent of litigants were self-represented that day, and that domestic violence court had the highest number of self-represented […]
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Dominic C. “Donny” MacKenzie, Executive Director
Dominic C. “Donny” MacKenzie is the executive director of The Florida Bar Foundation. Appointed by the Foundation’s board of directors in 2018, Donny serves as the chief executive officer of the Foundation. In conjunction with the board of directors, the executive director sets a vision for organizational development, oversees systems, structures and internal policies, and […]
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Message from the President – Spring 2018
If you are reading this newsletter, then you are a friend of The Florida Bar Foundation and I would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment to promoting access to justice in Florida. It is only through the collaborative support of partners like you that we are able to advance this mission. I want […]
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EJW Fellow creates framework for pro bono attorneys to help immigrants
by Nancy Kinnally Krystin Montersil, a 2017-19 Equal Justice Works Fellow, is working on a project at Catholic Legal Services, Archdiocese of Miami, to address a specific problem faced by undocumented immigrants with U.S.-born children. She is creating training materials for pro bono attorneys and organizing pro se clinics to help parents complete emergency family […]
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