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

Pro bono lawyer helps wakeboarding harness inventor skim through patent application

By Stacey Singer DeLoye Florida beaches aren’t globally recognized for surfing, due to a continental shelf that dampens large waves. But plenty of people love wakeboarding behind a tow boat or skimboarding along the shore, among them, Matthew White, a 23-year-old electrical engineering student at the University of Central Florida.

Farmer Jaffe Weissing’s triple play of giving – legal aid is the real winner

Ask any non-profit organization or charity what type of contribution is most valuable – time, talent or treasure – and they will be hard pressed to choose just one. The law firm of Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, P.L. has set the bar high in Broward County, contributing

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

Southern Legal Counsel forces change in policy of denying indigent litigants filing fee waivers

by Jennifer Etienne When Gainesville-based Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) took as clients of a group of homeless people arrested for being in a St. Petersburg park after closing time, they ended up securing access to the courts not only for their clients, but for all civil litigants who can’t afford

Florida Legal Services prevents Medicaid HMOs from limiting care based on family members’ jobs

For three years Mike Cornelius had run a daily race from home to his full-time job and back again so he could to take over from his wife Carol’s caregiver, but on April 8, 2014, he got a letter from Carol’s Medicaid HMO saying that it was reducing her care

Seminole County Legal Aid partners with library to serve more veterans

More than 43 years ago Juan Silva, 60, served in the U.S. Army in Korea, but today he is fighting an ongoing battle to gain custody of his grandchildren. His ally in this struggle is Silvia McLain, executive director of the Seminole County Bar Association Legal Aid Society, who has

Pro bono help brings a mother’s six-year wait to a joyful end

  For six years, Kimberly Conyers did everything in her power to regain custody of her son, writing letter after letter to the judge in her case, but it wasn’t until she got pro bono help – both from a lawyer and a psychologist – that she was able to

Family Law Section gives its third $75,000 gift to The Florida Bar Foundation

With a unanimous vote of its Executive Council Jan. 30, The Florida Bar’s Family Law Section approved its third $75,000 donation to The Florida Bar Foundation since 2012. Section Chair Maria C. Gonzalez presented the gift at the Foundation’s March 4 board meeting along with David Manz, who as Family

Foundation-funded project protects the rights of chronically ill children to specialty care

When Jennifer Rodriguez got a call from a nurse case manager last May asking her to take a survey about her son Alex, 11, she had no idea that her responses could get him tossed from a Medicaid specialty managed care program for chronically ill and disabled kids. “I answered

A decade of partnership puts an end to 275 years behind bars

When James Bain embraced his sisters on the steps of the Polk County, Fla., courthouse on Dec. 17, 2009, as a free man for the first time in 35 years, he had served more time in prison than anyone ever exonerated through DNA testing. On March 4, 2016, 42 years

Foundation CEO Bruce Blackwell to receive 2016 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Award

Florida Bar news story Attorney Bruce B. Blackwell of Winter Park, a founding partner of King, Blackwell, Zehnder & Wermuth, P.A., in Orlando and now CEO/executive director of The Florida Bar Foundation, is the recipient of the 2016 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, the highest statewide pro bono award.