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
FSU law professor honored for work supported in part by The Florida Bar Foundation
by Jakeyla Augustin Paolo Annino, director of the Children’s Advocacy Clinic at the Florida State University Public Interest Law Center, has been selected by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) to receive the 2017 Father Robert Drinan Award for his work, much of which has been funded by The
Legal aid attorneys push Florida Medicaid to cover cure for hepatitis C
For two years Vickie Goldstein filed appeals and wrote letters trying to get Florida’s Medicaid program to pay for a drug with the potential to cure her of the viral infection that was slowly destroying her liver. For two years she got the same answer: You have to get sicker
Pro bono attorney prevents wrongful eviction for mother and daughter
by Rayven Wright On the eve of her 21st birthday, Brittney and her mother Tina were shocked to receive a notice of non-compliance from their property manager. According to the notice, Brittney’s emotional support animal, Panga, was in violation of the community’s height and weight guidelines under the pet policy.
Gulfport attorney, 79, still going strong for pro bono clients
By Rayven Wright Not long after his retirement in 2012, Gulfport attorney Larry Markell, then in his mid-70s, began offering his legal services pro bono to low-income residents throughout Pinellas County through the Community Law Program. In Markell’s first case with the program, he represented a divorcee about his age.
Miami pro bono attorney works to reunite teen with his aunt
By Rayven Wright After his parents lost their parental rights, “Jake,” 15, began the battle to find stability and permanency in a forever home. While living with his parents, Jake had been exposed to violence and drug use and experienced severe neglect. Jake was placed with his maternal aunt, but
Florida Bar Foundation hires South Florida pro bono program officer
MIAMI – Anais Taboas will join The Florida Bar Foundation Nov. 7 as its new South Florida Pro Bono Program Officer and will work out of space donated by top 100 U.S. law firm Akerman LLP in its Miami office. A statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide greater
Mobile Law for All project sends volunteers into high-poverty neighborhoods
By Stacey Singer DeLoye Located within the Leon County Courthouse near the Capitol, the Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee connects more than 120 volunteer attorneys per year to low-income Floridians faced with complex civil matters such as landlord-tenant disputes and child custody concerns. Getting to the foundation requires finding parking
Teamwork enables Miami veteran to keep longtime family home
By Stacey Singer DeLoye For 40 years the Rolle family had lived in the same modest home in the Miami area. Ten Rolle children grew up in that 1,200-square-foot house. But as the patriarch of the Rolle family grew older, he took out a reverse mortgage to help with living
Tampa man’s family homestead benefit secured with attorney’s help
By Stacey Singer DeLoye After losing his mother to Alzheimer’s disease, a Tampa-area man almost lost the homestead exemption on his family home because he mistakenly assumed he had automatically become the titled property owner and qualified for the exemption upon her death. After seeking to continue the homestead exemption
Jacksonville attorneys help disabled client resolve landlord-tenant dispute
By Stacey Singer DeLoye When landlords don’t keep up their property, the consequences for low-income tenants can be severe without the help of an attorney. Fortunately for a disabled woman from Duval County, Lanny Russell and Joseph Rogan of Smith Hulsey & Busey accepted her case pro bono, through Jacksonville