Dan Bean President, The Jacksonville Bar Association
Like many of you, as I age I find my opinions on a number of topics, of which I was supremely certain less than a decade ago, have changed. While I would like to think that my opinions have evolved solely as a result of external factors, I know the truth is that the change is due more to internal ones. One such opinion that falls into this category is the importance of pro bono service.
Excepting the last few years of my 15-year legal career, I must concede that I only gave pro bono lip service. My canned lines included: “Yes, pro bono service is important” and “Yes, every attorney should perform pro bono service.” As I have matured (yes, I have matured a little) I have made it more of a priority that my actions regarding pro bono service will speak louder than my words.
During the past two years, I have annually logged nearly 100 hours of pro bono service. I currently have three pro bono cases ongoing which include the conversion of a corporation, devoted to the protection of felines, into a not for profit so that it may garner more donations; and two cases assigned from the federal court, one involving a breach of contract for the purchase of a fishing vessel and the second involving a death row inmate and the terms of his confinement.
I have enjoyed each of these matters and experienced the same feelings of satisfaction with victories (and defeats) along the way that I encounter with my billable work. These pro bono service opportunities have also forced me to work through new legal issues that I had not previously encountered. In short, I have experienced all the benefits that folks in the know — Jacksonville Area Legal Aid — tell us we will experience when we perform pro bono service. In other words, the JALA folks, as well as our legal mentors, were right about pro bono service.
Every year, The Jacksonville Bar Association devotes a monthly lunch to JALA in order to promote the many services that JALA provides our Community, including increasing pro bono service by the members of our legal community. This year the JALA guest speaker is The Honorable William A. Van Nortwick Jr., from the First District Court of Appeal. His topic at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at the Riverfront Hyatt will be one that he is passionate about — The One Campaign.
One client. One attorney. One promise.
Judge Van Nortwick will tell us that the Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Chief Justice Peggy Quince have issued an important charge to all Florida attorneys. Take a pro bono case. As attorneys we have special skills, skills to navigate the legal system and obtain fair outcomes for our clients. For too many in our State, obtaining legal counsel is cost prohibitive. For those living within federal poverty guidelines it is financially impossible to hire an attorney. With nearly 4,000 licensed attorneys in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, imagine the impact we could have if each attorney took just one pro bono case annually.
Does this sentence sound familiar? “I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed.” It’s the promise we all made when we took our oath and became licensed to practice law in Florida. The simple message of the Florida Supreme Court’s One Campaign is for each attorney to take at least one case a year: One client. One attorney. One promise.
If you are unable to take on a pro bono matter, please consider making a financial contribution to JALA. There is an immediate need. For the past year, through funding from the City of Jacksonville and the Community Foundation, JALA has been able to provide services to families facing foreclosure in our hardest hit zip codes: 32209, 32208, 32218, 32244, and 32206. The services have been rendered by two JALA attorneys operating out of the Ribault Family Resource Center. The close proximity to the people in need of the services is one reason that the project has been so successful. The attorneys have assisted hundreds of families and have litigated dozens of cases. Clients received legal representation, legal advice, foreclosure counseling, or referral to other agencies.
Unfortunately, Project House-Hold, as it is called, did not receive a renewal of the City funding due to budget cuts. JALA will try to keep the two attorneys by relocating them to the Adams Street office and will continue to seek funding to keep the Ribault location open. In the meantime though, please consider making a financial contribution to assist JALA to continue this work that is so vital to the stabilization of our neighborhoods.
We already have the first donation of $5,000 from Parker & DuFresne, P.A. toward this goal. Once again the great folks at Parker & DuFresne are leading the way and we need to follow. It is acts such as these that make me proud of our legal community and remind me that it is a great day to be a Jacksonville lawyer.