by Kathy Para
JBA Pro Bono Committee Chair
Pro bono legal services to the poor is an integral and particular part of a lawyer’s pro bono public service responsibility. As our society has become one in which rights and responsibilities are increasingly defined in legal terms, access to legal services has become of critical importance. This is true for all people, be they rich, poor, or of moderate means. However, because the legal problems of the poor often involve areas of basic need, their inability to obtain legal services can have dire consequences. (The Comments section of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar, Rule 4-6.1)
The Jacksonville Bar Association and the Fourth Circuit Pro Bono Committee are launching a new way to say “thank you” to the many generous and committed pro bono attorneys in the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
All attorneys who have been involved in pro bono legal services during this The JBA year (since July 1) are asked to stop by the “Pro Bono Ribbons” table that will be located near the luncheon check-in table. Each pro bono attorney will simply pick up a ribbon and attach it to his/her name tag. It’s a way for all of us to recognize and thank those who have assisted low-income persons and/or the organizations that serve them with pro bono legal service, guidance and support.
As with reporting pro bono involvement to The Florida Bar, pro bono attorneys are asked to self-identify, pick up their ribbons and attach them to their The JBA name tags.
These and other legal services are considered pro bono:
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Representing an individual low-income client in a legal matter. This can be achieved through a legal services agency such as Guardian ad Litem, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the Office of Public Defender and/or the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership. It can also be through the attorney’s good faith judgment that a client is indigent.
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Participating in an Ask-A-Lawyer event.
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Offering advance directive services to elderly persons or military reservists.
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Teaching a CLE seminar for pro bono attorneys or legal services staff attorneys.
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Presenting a group informational session accessible to and targeted for low-income or vulnerable persons on a specific topic such as bankruptcy; child support modification; debt collection and credit reports; dissolution of marriage; foreclosure; wills and advance directives; or sealing and expunging criminal records.
(BOLDFACE FIRST LINE)• Serving as an expert resource or mentor for another pro bono attorney or legal services staff attorney.
(BOLD FIRST LINE)• Supervising the work of a law student while assisting a low-income client through the Florida Coastal School of Law legal clinics or Pro Bono program.
(BOLD FIRST LINE)• Serving on the board of a legal services organization or project such as Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Missing Links, the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership or Three Rivers Legal Services.
(BOLD FIRST LINE)• Providing legal services to charitable, religious or educational organizations whose overall mission and activities are designed predominately to address the needs of the poor. For example, legal service to organizations such as a church, civic or community service organizations relating to a project seeking to address the problems of the poor would qualify.
Some of the many organizations include the Sulzbacher Center, the Clara White Mission, Community Connections, The Sanctuary on Eighth Street, the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation, Habijax and The Grace and Truth Community Development Corporation.
If you are a pro bono attorney, please accept our thanks and pick up your ribbon. We hope you will wear it proudly at our JBA luncheons. It’s a small way for us to recognize and thank you for your contributions to our community, to our profession, and to our system of justice.
For information on pro bono opportunities throughout the Fourth Judicial Circuit, contact, Kathy Para, The JBA Pro Bono Committee chair at [email protected], 356-8371 ext. 363.