The Seminole County Bar Association Is Named the Recipient of the 2010 Voluntary Bar Pro Bono Service Award
At the 2010 Pro Bono Service Awards Ceremony, the Seminole County Bar Association received the Voluntary Bar Pro Bono Service Award. The award, which recognizes a Florida voluntary bar that has demonstrated a significant contribution in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis, was presented on January 28 at the Florida Supreme Court by Chief Justice Peggy A. Quince.
The Seminole County Bar Association was established in 1952. Known for being the smallest nonstaffed bar in Central Florida, the SCBA has approximately 160 active bar members. Despite its size, the association provides quality legal service, significant contributions to enhance its community, and pro bono assistance. At the same time, the voluntary bar offers its members experience, knowledge, and support in the legal profession and practice areas.
The SCBA is most proud of its efforts to render pro bono assistance to those who are less fortunate. In 1975, the bar association created the Seminole County Bar Association Legal Aid Society. The organization provides free legal services to eligible Seminole County residents in family, housing, guardianship, consumer, employment, and, most recently, foreclosure defense cases. The society’s success is due, in large part, to the effort of the SCBA membership. While some members opt to financially donate, many members volunteer time and services. Over the last 10 years, the bar members have consistently assisted approximately 125 indigent persons annually. Recently, recognizing the harsh economic times facing the community, the bar members have voluntarily chosen to provide additional pro bono legal service to help the less fortunate in their community.
In 2008, the members of the Family Law Section of the SCBA established a weekly family law advice clinic in the legal aid office. During the clinic, low income citizens are provided with advice and/or brief services at no cost. The individuals learn how to enforce child support or draft a parenting plan or receive instructions regarding the correct manner to complete pro se pleadings by using the family law forms adopted by the Florida Supreme Court. Since the commencement of the program in Spring 2008, 550 citizens have been served.
In early 2009, the civil trial attorney bar members agreed to provide free legal assistance to low income persons facing loss of their homes in foreclosure procedures. Eight attorneys agreed to hold weekly or biweekly consultations at their offices with low income persons facing foreclosure. These efforts have led to over 170 foreclosure consultations, averaging four each week. One grateful participant stated, “It is a blessing to have met with the attorney. I was going to lose everything I worked for my entire life. My attorney is an awesome guy.”
Among its many other endeavors, the SCBA members have provided legal assistance to victims of domestic violence by representing low income women in obtaining injunctions for protection. To date, 411 women and children have been assisted. Besides direct case involvement, SCBA holds an annual fundraiser in which members plan a silent auction. All proceeds benefit the legal aid society.
The bar association’s continuing mission to provide quality legal assistance to all county residents was illustrated in the 2005 case S.L.F. and the Seminole County Association Legal Aid Society v. Mary Anne Morse, when the bar association, through its legal aid society, successfully sued the Seminole County Clerk of the Court Mary Anne Morse. Specifically, S.L.F., an indigent grandmother and resident of Seminole County, filed a petition seeking temporary custody of her grandchild, who had been abandoned by her parents. After the legal aid society attempted to file her petition and appropriate documents, the clerk returned her documents unfiled. Although the clerk determined S.L.F. indigent, she required S.L.F. to produce $130 before agreeing to file her documents to initiate her case. Upon a hearing, the court issued a writ of mandamus compelling the clerk to accept all filings upon presentation, precluded the clerk from returning pleadings and documents, whether accompanied by a filing fee or not, and compelling the clerk to fashion a payment plan for an indigent litigant commensurate with his or her ability to pay.
SCBA member Robert McIntosh worked with the Fifth District Court of Appeal and the Seminole County School District to develop an annual program in which high school students can actively participate in the court process. Twenty-five students from each local high school travel to the school board to observe oral arguments presented to the judges of the Fifth District Court of Appeal. Afterward, the students are invited to join the judges for lunch.
To see the Seminole County Bar Association’s newly designed Web site, go to www.seminolecountybar.org.
