from The Florida Bar
The Florida Bar will recognize 21 lawyers for their work on behalf of poor and indigent clients at a Jan. 27 ceremony at the Florida Supreme Court.
Jacksonville lawyer Bryan Scott Gowdy will be recognized as the honoree for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, consisting of Clay, Duval and Nassau counties.
Gowdy is a partner and shareholder at the law firm of Mills Creed & Gowdy in Jacksonville, practicing primarily appellate and criminal law.
The focal point of Gowdy’s pro bono service involves improving the lives of low-income clients by helping ensure that Jacksonville Area Legal Aid continues to effectively respond to the legal needs of the poor.
He has donated more than 350 hours of pro bono service during the last 12 months. He also makes pro bono recruitment presentations at area law firms, and he’s been instrumental in facilitating placement of the appeals of legal services clients with appellate attorneys across the state.
In 2009-10, Florida lawyers provided 1.6 million hours of pro bono services to those in need and $4.6 million to legal aid organizations.
The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards were established in 1981. They are intended to encourage lawyers to volunteer free legal services to the poor by recognizing those who make public service commitments and to raise public awareness of the substantial volunteer services provided by Florida lawyers to those who cannot afford legal fees.
President Mayanne Downs, of Orlando, will present the 2011 awards.
The awards recognize pro bono service in each of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits and one Florida Bar member practicing outside the state of Florida.
The awards are presented annually in conjunction with the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, which is given by the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Awards recognizing pro bono contributions will also be presented for Distinguished Judicial Service, Law Firm Commendation, Voluntary Bar Association and Young Lawyer during the Jan. 27 ceremony.
In addition to Gowdy, the 2011 recipients are:
• Valerie Erwin Prevatte, Pensacola, First Judicial Circuit (Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties). Prevatte is a supervising attorney at the Department of Children and Families in Pensacola.
• Elizabeth Willard Willis, Tallahassee, Second Judicial Circuit (Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties). Willis is a sole practitioner.
• D. Todd Doss, Lake City, Third Judicial Circuit (Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwanee and Taylor counties). Doss is a sole practitioner.
• Murray Bruce Silverstein, Clearwater, Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pasco and Pinellas counties). Silverstein is a partner and shareholder at Shutts & Bowen.
• Shimene Ashlie Shepard-Ryan, Port Orange, Seventh Judicial Circuit (Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties). Shepard-Ryan is a sole practitioner.
• Margaret Mitchem Stack, Gainesville, Eighth Judicial Circuit (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties). Stack is a sole practitioner in private practice.
• Neal Jonathan Blaher, Maitland, Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orange and Osceola counties). Blaher is a sole practitioner and proprietor at The Law Offices of Neal J. Blaher.
• Stephen Russell Senn, Lakeland, Tenth Judicial Circuit (Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties). Senn is a partner and shareholder at Peterson & Myers.
• Benjamine Reid, Miami, Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade County). Reid is a shareholder and trial attorney at Carlton Fields.
• Troy Harold Myers Jr., Sarasota, Twelfth Judicial Circuit (DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties). Myers is a partner and shareholder at Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timmi, Furen & Ginsburg.
• Rosemary E. Armstrong, Tampa, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County). Armstrong is a sole practitioner.
• Rudolph Carroll Shepard Jr., Panama City, Fourteenth Judicial Circuit (Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties). Shepard is a partner at Appleman, Shepard & Trucks Law Offices.
• Alan Roy Crane, Boca Raton, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County). Crane is a partner at the law firm of Furr & Cohen.
• Michael Halpern, Key West, Sixteenth Judicial Circuit (Monroe County). Halpern is a sole practitioner at Michael Halpern, P.A.
• Lawrence G. Marin, Fort Lauderdale, Seventeenth Judicial Circuit (Broward County). Marin is the founding partner at the Law Offices of Izquierdo & Marin.
• William W. Fernandez, Winter Springs, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit (Brevard and Seminole counties). Fernandez is a sole practitioner at The Law Offices of William W. Fernandez, J.D.
• Thomas Warren Tierney, Vero Beach, Nineteenth Judicial Circuit (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties). Tierney is a partner and shareholder at Rossway Moore Taylor & Swan law firm.
• Russell Thomas Kirshy, Port Charlotte, Twentieth Judicial Circuit (Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties). Kirshy is an owner and sole practitioner at Russell T. Kirshy, Esquire, P.A.
• Noah Clements, Out-of-State Florida Bar member, Washington, D.C. Clements is an associate attorney at Sidley Austin. Over the past two years, he has taken a few notable pro bono cases. In one case, he helped a former sports star who had been tortured by the Yemeni government for 40 days obtain relief under the Convention Against Torture (a form of relief usually with a less than 2 percent success rate). In another high-profile case, he helped a 69-year-old Burmese man receive asylum in immigration court.