As you may recall from the December issue of the JBA Bar Bulletin, I told you about a change to the pro bono rules in Florida, allowing attorneys to get CLE credits for doing pro bono work.
By way of a refresher, the state Supreme Court issued an opinion in In Re: Amendments to Rules Regulating the Florida Bar – Rule 6-10.3 (No. SC2024-0964), allowing attorneys to earn one hour of general CLE credit for every one hour of pro bono service, with a maximum of five pro bono CLE hours in each three-year reporting cycle.
The rule became effective Dec. 30, 2024, so any pro bono work performed after that day can be counted.
Three Rivers Legal Services will provide a letter, confirming your pro bono hours, for your records.
Visit trls.org/volunteer, call 904-394-7450 or email [email protected] to sign up for one of the below opportunities (or even inquire about others).
• Telephonic Housing Clinic, an advice-only clinic, Tuesdays from 5-6:30 p.m. Appointments are 45 minutes.
• Attorney “Office Hours” are one-hour appointments, set by the volunteer, to meet with clients for the purpose of providing advice and counsel.
We are piloting this project with family law and consumer law matters. Interested parties may contact TRLS to set their “office hours.”
Clients will be prescreened and assigned to the attorney for a telephone meeting.
• Ask-A-Lawyer clinic, 10 a.m. to noon Feb, 15 at the Jacksonville Branch NAACP, 1225 W. Beaver St.
• Law in the Library presentations are on a specific legal topic. Presentations should be no more than 20 minutes and can be recorded at the volunteer’s convenience.
• Specific cases: Opportunities range from brief services to full representation, in categories including dissolution of marriage, seal/expunge and probate.
The TRLS Pro Bono Legal Assistance Program is also expanding.
Not only do we have Krizia Gonzalez-Colon covering the 4th Judicial Circuit and St. Johns County, we now have a second pro bono coordinator, working in the 3rd and 8th Judicial Circuits.
Ha Nguyen started Jan. 6 and is fluent in Vietnamese.
She is a University of Florida graduate with a bachelor’s in sociology and a minor in African American Studies.