Foundation puts $1.5 million from Bank of America settlement to work

The Florida Bar Foundation is using $1.5 million from a national settlement with Bank of America to fund seven legal aid projects around Florida, as well as four Equal Justice Works fellowships focused on community economic development. The funds are the first to be allocated from Florida’s $23 million share

Florida Bar Foundation adopts strategic reset

A year after unanimously resolving to adopt a “strategic reset,” The Florida Bar Foundation’s board of directors June 22 approved a document detailing the approach the organization will take in its future grant making, as well as the rationale for moving the organization in a new direction.

Foundation’s new pro bono website goes statewide

After a successful pilot in Miami-Dade County, FloridaProBonoMatters.org, a new website that enables pro bono attorneys to search for local pro bono cases that suit their interests, is being rolled out statewide. The Florida Bar Foundation, which has funded and overseen the development of the site, in June held training

Florida Racial Justice Fellowship stresses community-building

by Stacey Singer DeLoye More than two dozen legal aid attorneys from all over Florida recently spent several months learning about structural racism, inherent bias and the law, as participants in Florida’s inaugural Racial Justice Fellowship, a training program spurred by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and

Statement by Florida Bar Foundation President Matthew Brenner on Legal Services Corporation funding

The Florida Bar Foundation is calling upon all who believe in equal justice under law to urge their members of Congress to continue to fully fund the Legal Services Corporation, which President Trump’s budget proposal would completely defund. The Legal Services Corporation, in many parts of the country, is the

Escambia Project utilizes community design to create new legal services models

For two and a half days in early February, legal aid attorneys, community activists, social service providers, law professors, Florida Bar Foundation staff and others gathered at a community service center in Pensacola to design new approaches to the delivery of legal services. Led by Margaret Hagan, director of the

New interactive pro bono website puts attorneys in the driver’s seat

MIAMI –Lawyers in Miami-Dade County who want to volunteer their services will soon have an easy way to find just the right case through an interactive website funded by The Florida Bar Foundation. “This system puts pro bono attorneys in the driver’s seat, giving them a user-friendly way to filter

Study finds civil legal aid yields seven-fold return on investment in Florida

MAITLAND, Fla. – With funding for civil legal aid in Florida at its lowest point in 10 years, a new study shows that every dollar spent on civil legal services for the state’s low-income residents yields more than $7 in economic impacts. Commissioned by The Florida Bar Foundation, the study

Foundation continues to play vital role in Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice

When Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga issued an administrative order Oct. 10 re-establishing the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and making it permanent, the Florida Supreme Court’s news release recognized The Florida Bar Foundation and The Florida Bar as co-equal partners in the effort to create Florida’s first

Florida Bar Foundation continues to play a vital role in Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice

When Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga issued an administrative order Oct. 10 re-establishing the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and making it permanent, the Florida Supreme Court’s news release recognized The Florida Bar Foundation and The Florida Bar as co-equal partners in the effort to create Florida’s first

The Florida Bar Foundation invites participation in Pro Bono Week social media campaign

MAITLAND, Fla. – The Florida Bar Foundation invites Florida lawyers to join in its Oct. 23-29 social media campaign in recognition of the American Bar Association’s Celebrate Pro Bono Week, an annual initiative emphasizing the critical role of pro bono in increasing access to justice. The campaign, which will use

Foundation upgrades online pro bono news and information

The Florida Bar Foundation is working to streamline and improve statewide online pro bono news and information in order to facilitate pro bono engagement and partnerships. The Foundation has created a new Web page, www.TheFloridaBarFoundation.org/probono, to share information about pro bono in Florida, including initiatives in which the Foundation is