Jacksonville Area Legal Aid will honor Holland & Knight partner Buddy Schulz with the 19th annual Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Award.
It will be presented at a reception, dinner and celebration that begins at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel.
Schulz is chair of the Public and Charitable Service Department that coordinates the firm’s community and pro bono initiatives that provide assistance to people of limited means and organizations that provide services to them.
He served as a cabinet member of United Way; general counsel of PACE Center for Girls in Jacksonville; a director of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and the Jacksonville Urban League; a member of the Jacksonville Ethics Commission and Jacksonville Juvenile Justice Comprehensive Strategy Board; and a member of the Gator Bowl Association.
Schulz also is a volunteer with the Guardian ad Litem program, a trustee emeritus of the University of Florida Levin College of Law and a member of Florida Blue Key.
The keynote speaker will be Piper Kerman, author of “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.”
In 2004-05, she served 13 months of a 15-month sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering and drug trafficking.
The book was adapted into the Emmy Award-winning Netflix series, “Orange is the New Black.”
General admission tickets are available at jaxlegalaid.org for $300 per person; $350 with a VIP reception with Kerman. Sponsorships are available.
The former Duval County Courthouse along East Bay Street is fenced off and being prepared for demolition.
It, along with the adjacent former City Hall and Courthouse Annex, are being torn down to create one of two sites under consideration for a new Downtown convention center.
No date has been set for completion of the $8 million removal project.
Holland & Knight awarded $28,500 in grants to 21 community organizations in Northeast Florida that assist at-risk children.
For the eighth consecutive year, lawyers and staff in the firm’s Jacksonville office contributed money as part of the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation Inc.’s Jacksonville Local Donor Advised Fund.
The office’s Committee for the Public Good sent grant applications to community organizations. It received requests for funding causes such as camp scholarships for children with special needs, assistance for homeless families with children, personal and professional career development for teens, early childhood literacy, arts and music education, hospice care for low-income children and providing food for food-insecure families with young children.
The organizations chosen to receive grants are:
• Angelwood
• Anthony J. Stinson Jr. Association for Change
• Best Buddies Jacksonville
• The Boys & Girls Club of Nassau County Foundation
• Cathedral Arts Project
• Catholic Charities Bureau
• Child Guidance Center
• The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
• Daniel Memorial
• Downtown Ecumenical Services Council
• Early Learning Coalition of Duval
• Fresh Ministries
• Girls on the Run of Northeast Florida
• Hubbard House
• Jewish Family & Community Services
• Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida
• Museum of Science and History
• Police Athletic League of Jacksonville
• The Salvation Army of Northeast Florida
• The Sanctuary on 8th Street
• YMCA of Florida’s First Coast
In a news release, Holland & Knight partner Eddie Sarnowski said community service and charitable giving are part of the firm’s culture.
“We commend these organizations and take great pride in helping to fund their meaningful projects,” he said.
The Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association is presenting a continuing legal education program, “Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Legal Profession,” at noon Aug. 23 at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse. There is no charge for the CLE or lunch that will be provided by Bellwether.
The Florida Bar has approved the CLE for 2.0 hours of bias elimination credit.
Presenters include Rape Recovery Team Programs Director Robin Graber and Quality Assurance Coordinator Shane Kennedy from the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. The program will provide attendees with the tools to prevent sexual harassment by being a proactive bystander. Women and men are encouraged to attend.
Visit jwla.org to register.