FACDL and Florida Justice Center unveil clothing closet to aid indigent clients
The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Justice Center recently opened a clothing closet in Miami provide new or gently used suits for indigent clients to wear to trial. From the left are Jacqueline Hall, chair Florida Justice Center board; Judge Andrea Wolfson; Darrell Guilford, director of programs at the Florida Justice Center; Jessica Younts, executive director of the Florida Justice Center; Alex John Saiz, director of legal services at the Florida Justice Center and incoming president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers – Miami Chapter.
The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Justice Center held a January 14 ceremony to launch a “Clothing Closet” at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami.
The clothing closet will provide new or gently used suits for indigent clients to wear to trial, says FJC’s Alex Saiz.
“There was a lot of help from Suited for Success, the Miami-Dade Administrator of Courts, and especially Judge Andrea Wolfson,” Saiz says, referring to 11th Circuit Administrative Judge Andrea Wolfson. “This is a massive project that should help hundreds of clients, and it is entirely voluntary.”
The Florida Justice Center became the only nonprofit legal and behavioral health organization in the state authorized to practice criminal law when the Supreme Court approved it in 2021.
FLJC combines legal representation with social and mental-health services “to treat the whole person and address the issues that brought them into the justice system in the first place,” according to a press release.
The Miami-Dade Chapter of FACDL calls itself an “an advocate for the advocate,” and is devoted exclusively to serving all segments of the defense bar. The chapter’s mission is to “preserve the adversarial justice system: maintain and foster independent and able criminal defense lawyers and ensure justice and fairness for persons accused of crimes.”
FACDL, the only statewide association for criminal defense lawyers, is conducting a “Suits and Sips” happy hour for chapters across the state on February 26.
A notice on its website calls it a “gently used professional attire clothing drive for individuals entering or reentering the workforce.”
