The Large Firm Pro Bono Roundtable, a subcommittee of the 4th Circuit Pro Bono Committee, launched an effort to help find attorneys for 50 civil legal matters of low-income people in Northeast Florida.
The effort is called No Case Left Behind and it started last month during Celebrate Pro Bono Week.
The week is a nationwide observance by the American Bar Association designed to thank volunteer attorneys, educate the community on the impact of pro bono legal services and to encourage more attorneys to become involved.
Observances in the 4th Judicial Circuit have been numerous and varied.
They included pro bono attorney training sessions, open house events, free legal topic presentations in libraries, recognition of volunteer efforts and pro bono services for seal/expunge cases, advance directives for seniors and consultations for veterans.
Mayor Lenny Curry issued a proclamation designating Oct. 25-31 as Celebrate Pro Bono Week locally, but observances spanned more than a month.
The No Case Left Behind project was spearheaded by John Macdonald, chair of the roundtable and managing partner at Akerman.
Macdonald has championed the effort with support from the managing partners of many of the area’s larger law firms. The project has also been bolstered by several small firms and solo practitioners.
The cases were identified by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership, the Veterans Legal Collaborative and Three Rivers Legal Services. The cases represent a wide range of civil legal matters, including landlord-tenant, tax, probate, guardian advocacy, Social Security disability appeals and child custody.
Deep appreciation is extended to the following firms and solo practitioners that accepted cases: Holland & Knight, Boyd & Jenerette, Driver McAfee Peek & Hawthorne, Akerman, Busch White Norton, CSX legal department, Florida Coastal School of Law, McGuireWoods, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, Adams & Reese, Farah & Farah, Marks Gray, Jason Porter, Rogers Towers, Chris Roland, Lisa DiFranza, John Toro, Ian Christensen and Christopher Kaiser.
Additional help is needed for the remaining 18 cases.
Attorneys and firms willing to review and accept a case or cases should contact Macdonald at [email protected] for the link to the redacted summaries. Cases can be easily reviewed on the “No Case Left Behind” shared listing.
The integrity of our judicial system is rooted in the belief that both sides of an issue must be heard objectively and fairly. When the voices of low-income people are not heard, the system is skewed and weakened and justice does not prevail.
“We can all do better,” Macdonald said. “It is incumbent on lawyers to share their unique skills with those less fortunate. It is the right thing to do for individuals needing help and it’s the right thing to do for our community.
“Although we’ve already achieved great success, we’re not stopping, now. Watch for a future update with the final results of this year’s ‘No Case Left Behind’ effort,” he added.
Attorneys interested in pro bono opportunities throughout the 4th Judicial Circuit should contact Para at [email protected].