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OVIEDO’S TIMOTHY ALLEN MORAN HONORED WITH TOBIAS SIMON PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD

Timothy Allen Moran

Timothy Allen Moran, a pro bono volunteer with Community Legal Services (CLS) for more than a decade, is the recipient of the 2023 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, the Supreme Court’s highest recognition of a private lawyer for pro bono service. The award will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 26 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida.

Since 2009, Moran has volunteered with CLS and has been recognized as a zealous and tireless advocate for the underserved populations in his community, having donated more than 1500 pro bono hours on almost 500 low-income cases.

Moran also trains and educates the extended legal community to expand pro bono reach and leverage limited legal aid resources. He has mentored more than 50 law students and new attorneys, and countless more have benefitted indirectly from his leadership and commitment to mentoring.

After Moran won every pro bono award CLS offers, including its Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award, all that was left to do was create a new award – the Timothy A. Moran Champion of Justice Award. This award recognizes young attorneys who follow in Moran’s footsteps.

In addition to the awards Moran has received through CLS, he has received the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award and the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 18th Circuit. He has been recognized by the city of Oviedo and by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee for his pro bono contributions. Moran also received the 2022 Arthur von Briesen Award, the highest honor presented by the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association.

The Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award commemorates Miami lawyer Tobias Simon, who was a tireless civil rights attorney, a crusader for prison reform and an appellate authority. The award is intended to encourage and recognize extraordinary contributions by Florida lawyers in making legal services available to people who otherwise could not afford them, and to focus public awareness on the substantial voluntary services rendered by Florida lawyers.

This year’s awards ceremony, which also honors Circuit, Voluntary Bar, Law Firm, Distinguished Federal Judicial Service, and Distinguished Judicial Service and Young Lawyers Division pro bono efforts, takes place at the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 3:30 p.m. Watch it live on Facebook, WFSU: Gavel to Gavel and the Florida Channel.