by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
For someone who owned a Jazzercize studio, Kathy Para has made her mark as a very fit attorney.
Para, just a little over two years out of law school, received the 4th District’s Pro Bono Award last week in Tallahassee. The annual award goes to those who have given of their time — pro bono means “for the good” — and is presented by the president of The Florida Bar.
Para, a contract attorney at the JEA, was recognized for her work with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. She estimates she spends 20 hours a month with Legal Aid and has been the guide behind The Emancipation Support Program, which helps teenagers face the societal demands of adulthood.
“I’ve been involved in volunteering all my life and this is very special,” she said after receiving her award from Bar president Tod Aronovitz as over 200 looked on in the Supreme Court chambers. “I work with youths who are at a crossroads, the 16-17 year olds. Many come from dysfunctional homes. They’re ready to go into the world and they need every opportunity to be given the right road.”
Para graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law in December 2000. She started at the University of Florida but transferred when FCSL opened to stay closer to her family.
“I got interested in law when I was in Leadership Jacksonville,” she said. At the time, she owned the Jazzercize studio on Blanding Boulevard but had wanted to pursue an advanced degree.
“I decided to make the jump,” she said, and sold the fitness studio. Two law schools later, she was an attorney just like her husband Bud, the Director of Legal Affairs for JEA. They have two daughters and live in Riverside.
Para received her certificate — on it, she’s properly “Katherine Bliss Para” — during a ceremony which saw Aronovitz and the Court honor various bar associations and individuals for good works in the past year.
Six of the seven Justices were there — Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead was snowed in somewhere Tennessee — as well as most members of The Florida Bar board, who were in town for a meeting.