Florida Civil Legal UPDATE

Over 300 guests are expected to attend Legal Aid Service of Broward County’s (LAS’s) 8th Annual FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD gala, an evening of awards and entertainment that will celebrate the agency’s 35th year of providing civil legal services to the underserved in Broward.  The dinner will be held on May 15, 2008 at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina to benefit children and families.  Its theme: “YOU’VE BEEN SERVED.”

Honoree Chairs of the event are TERRENCE AND MARY KAY RUSSELL AND RUSSELL E. AND JANET CARLISLE.  The 8th Annual for the Public Good Committee, co-chaired by Katherine Birnbaum, Esq. and Juliette Lippman, Esq. of Kirschbaum, Birnbaum, Lippman  & Gregoire, PLLC, is seeking sponsors, commemorative journal advertisers and gathering Silent Auction donations.

“In these difficult economic times, we are especially grateful to Dr. Arthur and Belinda Keiser for their MAJOR CIRCLE sponsorship,” said  Kathy Thomsen, Director of Development for LAS. Read the rest of this entry »

Brevard County Legal Aid recently hosted their Annual Pro Bono Awards and Recognition Gala at the Suntree Country Club in Melbourne. First District Court of Appeal Judge William A. Van Nortwick was the evening’s special guest speaker. The Annual Gala, strongly supported by National City Bank and the Brevard Bar Foundation, recognized attorneys who have gone above and beyond to help the poor in Brevard. Attorney Scott Krasny was deservedly named Attorney of the Year. BCLA’s Recognition Gala is considered one of the most important events in Brevard’s Legal Circle.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Advocacy Center will be sponsoring a Seminar on Representing Persons
with Disabilities in Medicaid Waiver Determination Hearings.  The
seminar will be held from 12:00 p.m.  to 2:00 p.m., on Wednesday, March
11, 2009, at 1000 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 640, Tampa, Florida 33602.

The seminar will include an overview of how to represent persons with
disabilities who have challenged a denial or change in services by APD.
Many of these individuals will need lawyers to assist them through the
proceedings before the Division of Administrative Hearings. Since
September of 2008 thousands of individuals have had their level of
service changed and many are still without counsel to represent them.
The Advocacy Center is willing to provide technical assistance and
consultation to any attorney choosing to handle a case pro bono.

There is no fee to attend this seminar, and those wishing to attend, are
requested to contact Rhonda Orlosky, at rhondao@advocacycenter.org or by
calling 813-233-2920, ext. 209.

Foley & Lardner, LLP first opened its Miami office on December 7, 2007 and has grown to approximately 15 attorneys and 5 paralegals, along with numerous other people that are an integral part of their office.  Since then, Foley & Lardner has had 100% participation by its attorneys and paralegals in pro-bono work.

Foley & Lardner LLP as a whole has a strong commitment to pro-bono work as evidenced by its national pro-bono committee, the goal of which is to have each office of the Firm represented in this committee by one or more of the local attorneys, and thereafter, having such local representative(s) of the national committee encourage each and every one of the lawyers and paralegals of their respective offices to participate in pro-bono work.   After that, the local representatives report to the national committee on their progress.  Mark Neuberger and Darin I. Zenov lead the pro-bono committee for the Miami office. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m passing this along from our friends at Florida’s Children First.

Attached is a publication we think may be of help/interest.  It is the
result of a collaborative effort among the Advocacy Center, FCF and DCF. (DCF is
paying for printing and distribution to caregivers and kids)

FCF is proud of our work on this and hopes it will advance our efforts to
get folks working together to serve young people in foster care with
disabilities.,and in so doing, protect their rights.

Kudos go to Robin Rosenberg for making it really happen.

Link to Transition: The Passage from Youth to Adulthood at FloridaLawHelp.org.

At its meeting on January 30, the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association honored two of their own.  Paige Palmer and Ethel Wells are the recipients of the 2009 Kay Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award.  Normally this is an honor reserved for only one Coordinator per year.  However, the nominations for Paige and Ethel were so compelling that a joint award for 2009 was most appropriate.

Paige Palmer & Ethel Wells

The Kay Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award honors a pro bono coordinator who is an outstanding coordinator in a local legal services provider as well as an active member of the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association.

Named for Kay Meyers, Pro Bono Coordinator for the Polk County office of Florida Rural Legal Services, this award honors Kay’s dedication to her job, the volunteer attorneys and clients, as well as her significant contributions to the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association.  Her untimely death in 1992 inspiried the FPBCA to honor her service with this award.

The Florida Bar Foundation

Leadership & Funding for Justice in Florida:  heady words, no question.  But when combined with decisive and thoughtful action, their promise is fulfilled.  Such was the case last month when a group of seasoned legal aid attorneys met in Orlando to begin The Florida Bar Foundation’s Leadership Development Institute.  In participation with the Center for Legal Aid Education, the Foundation has called together 15 experienced advocates to act as mentors for up-and-coming staff at programs around the state.  The Leadership Development Initiative was conceived based on needs discovered in the course of a 2007 study by Kelly Carmody.  It is endorsed and supported by the Florida Project Directors Association.

The Florida Leadership Development Institute supports fellows in developing their leadership skills and becoming recognized leaders in the legal aid community.  The Florida Leadership Development Institute will not only encourage fellows to continue in their careers as legal aid attorneys, but also assist them in developing the skills and confidence necessary to become the future leaders of the Florida legal services delivery system.

The 2009 class of fellows will meet in Orlando later this month.  In addition to in-person meetings, participants in the Institute are also using cutting-edge technology to interact on the internet through software provided by the Center for Legal Aid Education.  Throughout the year, we will bring you profiles and information concerning the projects being undertaken by the fellows.

The 2009 Fellows are: Kim Banister of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Dawn Bates-Buchanan of Gulfcoast Legal Services, Viletta Combs of Florida Legal Services, Roberto Cruz of the Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida, Cara Dobrev of the Legal Aid Society of the OCBA, Jennifer Hill of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Jamie Ibrahim of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Lizzie Johnson of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Lissette Labrousse of Legal Services of Greater Miami, Jacina Parson of Legal Services of North Florida, Ariel Patterson of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Laura Pichardo of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Deborah Rivera of Three Rivers Legal Services, Ilenia Sanchez-Bryson of Legal Services of Greater Miami, and Tim Stevens of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.

The Institute’s mentors are: Rose-Marie Archibald of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Tess Arrington of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Lisa Carmona of the Florida Equal Justice Center, Andrea Costello of Florida Institutional Legal Services, Amy Guinan of Florida Legal Services, Mary Haberland of Bay Area Legal Services, Chris Larson of Florida Rural Legal Services, Jimmy Midyette of Florida Legal Services, Carol Miller of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Tequisha Myles of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Leslie Powell of Legal Services of North Florida, Gabriela Ruiz of Southern Legal Counsel, Sue Selsky of the Seminole County Legal Aid Scoiety, and Larri Thatcher of the Legal Aid Society of the OCBA.

From the Daily Business Review, this profile of FLS staffer Purvi Shah.  (registration required)

Tenant rights advocate gives voice to renters in foreclosed properties

When landlords are in the process of losing their apartment buildings to foreclosure, they often stop maintaining the properties. Leaks begin to surface, floors cave in, and sewer systems overflow. Low-income renters are left to fend for themselves, often unaware of the pending litigation on the property and the inevitable eviction that comes at the conclusion of the foreclosure lawsuit. Yet, they have a friend in attorney Purvi Shah, an advocate for tenant rights. She works with the Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services and focuses on tenant and landlord issues prevalent in low-income communities. Her legal advocacy group offers direct legal services and community legal education.

Purvi Shah

Read the rest of this entry »

The Public Interest Law Section
presents

Ethics on Representing People with Mental Health
and Substance Abuse Issues (particularly homeless people)

Presenter:  Linda Mann, Bay Area Legal Services
Telephonic CLE
Thursday – February 26, 2009
12:10 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Establishing attorney-client relationships with clients who are challenged. Assisting clients in making decisions without becoming their de facto guardian. What the Rules of Professional Responsibility allow in these situations,
including circumstances under which an attorney may have to withdraw from representation & discussion.

Telephone Conferencing
(Call-in information will be sent BY EMAIL to registrants prior to the seminar.)

CLE Credit:
1.0 hour   General
1.0 hour    Ethics

Mail no later than Thursday, February 19, 2009 to register.
Questions: call 850-561-5620

Download the attached registration information in MS Word format.

We learned last week that the First DCA did not agree with the Advocacy Center that every person facing a reduction in services from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities is entitled to a fair hearing on the mertis.  We covered the challenge here.

Now there’s reporting on the status of denial letters.

Of the 5,400 people who have appealed, the agency has judged that about 800 are “legally sufficient” for review by the Department of Administrative Hearings. The agency is still mailing out response letters. About 2,000 denial letters went out last week, and more people will get letters in the next several weeks. Those turned down have 10 days to amend their complaint and try again.

That’s obviously not a lot of turn-around time.  For legal services advocates concerned about this issue, please visit and join the Health & Senior Law Section of FLAdvocate.org.  There we have training, practice materials, and a community of advocates working to bring justice to some of our most at-risk neighbors.  A pro bono program also has been launched through the Administrative Law Section of the Bar.  Check out floridaprobono.org for more information.