Patricia Vail has been selected to receive The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 4th Judicial Circuit.
Vail’s commitment to pro bono involvement and legal services to low-income people began in the late 1980s. Her extensive impact on the community is indisputable.
Vail served on the board of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in the mid-1990s and was president during the search for an executive director.
In her legal career, she has served in several capacities from statewide coordinator for Florida Legal Services to corporate counsel for CSX Transportation.
Upon retirement from CSX, Vail served in The American Bar Association’s Collaborative Europe and Eurasia Law Initiative program as a volunteer lawyer in Kazakhstan.
She has consistently advanced the cause of underserved, vulnerable and low-income people. She recognized the need of pro bono legal services when she served as head of Florida Legal Services.
During that time, federal funding of legal services to the poor was diminishing and the work of pro bono attorneys then, as it is now, was critical to providing access to competent and effective advocacy.
Though many of her professional and pro bono endeavors involved analysis and advocacy on the systemic scale, Vail has remained connected and committed to the pressing needs of individuals.
Since 2008, Vail has been a regular presence in Northeast Florida senior citizen centers and HUD residential facilities.
She has become a trusted pro bono legal resource for the service coordinators at many of those facilities.
Vail meets with residents individually and in groups as legal questions arise. As their own pro bono attorney “on call,” Vail presents information on advance directives, including simple wills, durable powers of attorney, designation of health care surrogate and designation of pre-need guardian.
She meets with residents to clarify, educate and advocate when legal questions and matters become sources of stress, conflict and concern. For three years, she provided these services single-handedly.
Then, in 2011, when it was clear the need far exceeded one pro bono attorney’s efforts, Vail initiated a program to serve more area seniors with comprehensive and scheduled advance directives services.
It was from Vail’s efforts that the Advance Directives for Seniors Project was born.
In a planning session, attorneys and paralegals met from The Jacksonville Bar Association, the Northeast Florida Paralegal Association, local law firms and Florida Coastal School of Law to devise a plan for serving residential senior centers on a regular basis.
Now, completing its fourth year, the project provides 60-80 seniors annually with complete advance directives packets. It has expanded to include senior patients at medical clinics and seniors at the Councils on Aging in Clay and Nassau counties.
Attorney-paralegal or attorney-law student teams meet with seniors to create and execute the advance directives.
These events take place on Saturday mornings, are fully staffed with volunteers and are equipped with laptops, printers, scanners and notary stamps.
The success of the events is due, in large part, to the relationships Vail has built with the contributors to the effort — the pro bono attorneys and paralegals, the residents, the service coordinators and other HUD staff members.
In addition, Vail continues her “house calls” to the residential facilities, upon request, and serves as a mentor and guide to new pro bono attorneys.
She has provided hundreds of hours of pro bono service to Northeast Florida senior citizens.
Her regular visits, responses to individual needs, participation in the advance directives events and participation in community outreach events provide an enormous service to seniors.
Vail’s positive impact in Northeast Florida also is seen by her tenure on the boards of the Women’s Center, Planned Parenthood and Jacksonville Community Council Inc.
She participated on the Citizens’ Review Panel program, addressing issues of children in foster care, under the leadership of Judges Dorothy Pate and Roberto Arias.
She is a regular volunteer with the Department of Elections as a poll watcher.
Vail serves all with respect and professionalism.
The relationships she has fostered — particularly in the legal and senior citizens communities — are built on trust, compassion and ebullience.
Her presence comforts, encourages and empowers hundreds of vulnerable low-income seniors. Vail’s service resolves existing issues and provides stability for seniors, helping them thrive and maintain a high quality of life and productivity.
Vail is deserving of The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.
She will be recognized at a ceremony at the Florida Supreme Court this month along with the honorees from the other judicial circuits.
Attorneys interested in pro bono opportunities in Northeast Florida should contact Para at [email protected].