Moran honored with Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award
In the most recent 12 months reported, Florida lawyers have provided over 1.5 million hours of pro bono services to people in need and more than $6.8 million to legal aid organizations
With his mother by his side, Timothy Allen Moran was presented the 2023 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award. Moran has been a volunteer with Community Legal Services for more than a decade. Since May 2009, he has dedicated more than 1,500 hours to more than 500 low-income cases.
Accepting the Florida Supreme Court’s highest pro bono award on Thursday, Timothy Allen Moran urged fellow lawyers to heed an 18th century theologian’s advice to serve others before it’s too late.
“Let me do it now, because I will not pass this way again,” Moran said as justices, friends, and family filled a packed Supreme Court chambers in Tallahassee with applause.
The 2023 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award recipient has been a volunteer with Community Legal Services for more than a decade. Since May 2009, Moran has dedicated more than 1,500 hours to more than 500 low-income cases.
Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz noted that Moran’s extraordinary dedication and eagerness to give back has also earned him the 2022 Arthur von Briesen Award, the highest honor presented by the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association.
That was preceded by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award, the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 18th Circuit, and a recognition in 2017 by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee for his pro bono contributions.
After Moran won every pro bono award Community Legal Services offers, including its Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award, all that was left to do was create a new one – the Timothy A. Moran Champion of Justice Award. The award recognizes young attorneys who follow in Moran’s example.
“I think after today, there may not be any other pro bono awards for him to receive,” Muñiz quipped.
A 2004 University of Florida College of Law graduate, Moran is a member of the Elder Law, Real Property, Probate & Trust Law, and Solo & Small Firm Law sections.
Eager to leverage limited legal resources, Moran is currently working with the Community Legal Services team to develop and launch a first of its kind “Peer Academy” to provide training to lawyers in areas of emerging need. The program coordinates mentors, expert case support, sample pleadings and documents, subject matter-specific software and resources, CLE credit, and access to stakeholders and other professionals in the field.
Moran has personally mentored more than 50 law students and new attorneys and worked with Community Legal Services to establish a bankruptcy clinic at Florida A&M College of Law. There he learned first-hand the benefits of mentoring.
“They learned that the law was much more than reading cases and that it has a real life impact on real people” Moran said. “Mentoring works.”
Muñiz noted that Moran is also credited with developing the “Teach-One, Take-One,” pro bono bankruptcy project, a multi-case and hands-on mentoring initiative in which new attorneys learn to navigate the bankruptcy process.
All of which makes Moran a “human force multiplier,” Muñiz said.
Moran said if lawyers pursue pro bono cases like he has “and make it your driving force, you will be happy and fulfilled in your professional life.”
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.
“As we’ve seen, as we’ve experienced, there’s a beauty in serving others,” Muñiz said. “I hope that today’s ceremony will motivate all Florida lawyers.”
Before Moran’s acceptance speech, Florida Bar President Gary Lesser presented The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards to 20 Florida Bar members, including:
• Jennifer Gutai Comella, First Judicial Circuit
• Kevin A. Forsthoefel, Second Judicial Circuit
• Guy W. Norris, Third Judicial Circuit
• Melina Buncome, Fourth Judicial Circuit
• Melissa K. Hancock, Fifth Judicial Circuit
• Charis A. Campbell, Sixth Judicial Circuit
• Paul A. Martin, Seventh Judicial Circuit
• Jan Bendik, Eighth Judicial Circuit
• Paul T. Zeniewicz, Ninth Judicial Circuit
• Kristie Hatcher-Bolin, 10th Judicial Circuit
• Ronald L. Book, 11th Judicial Circuit
• Susan A. Byron, 12th Judicial Circuit
• Harley Herman, 13th Judicial Circuit
• Clark T. Rogers, Jr., 14th Judicial Circuit
• Steven D. Rubin, 15th Judicial Circuit
• David L. Manz, 16th Judicial Circuit
• Douglas J. Glaid, 17th Judicial Circuit
• J. Randall Moore, 18th Judicial Circuit
• Lisa M. Kahle, 19th Judicial Circuit
• Melissa Grege Schiffman, 20th Judicial Circuit
• Patrick C. Valencia, Out of State
Lesser said a few examples of the extraordinary contributions made by the honorees include:
- One honoree donated 610 pro bono hours in his first 10 years of practice and has become a standout among 3,000 volunteer lawyers at the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar and gladly takes on the most difficult cases they have.
- Another honoree created the Frontline Heroes Pro Bono Project to help essential workers during the pandemic by providing free advance directives. This was a project aimed at helping not only hospital personnel but everyone who still had to deal with the public on a daily basis.
- Another honoree organized many different community groups to help address the secondary crises of the pandemic: housing and job loss. She was able to anticipate future challenges and worked to get out in front of some of the longer-lasting problems.
“Each circuit honoree and the out-of-state honoree did more than their part in providing pro bono legal services to citizens of this great state that are in need in so many areas of law,” Lesser said. “The issues they have worked covers a wide variety of legal matters. In every single case, they have made a difference in somebody’s life, impacted a family, and given hope.”
In the most recent 12 months reported, Florida lawyers have provided over 1.5 million hours of pro bono services to people in need and more than $6.8 million to legal aid organizations.
“All of you demonstrate to every lawyer, law student, judge and citizen in Florida that making a difference in the lives of others is what being a lawyer is all about,” Lesser said. “You are the best of the best.”
In addition to Moran, Chief Justice Muñiz presented the following honors:
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Chief Judge Ronald Ficarrotta
Chief Judge Ronald Ficarrotta of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa, is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Judicial Service Award. The award, which honors outstanding and sustained service to the public especially as it relates to support of pro bono legal services, will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 26 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida.
Chief Judge Ficarrotta is a champion of pro bono work and those who provide it, and as the 13th Judicial Circuit’s chief judge, has long helmed the circuit-wide tradition of pro bono service and community work.
Chief Judge Ficarrotta has long supported and championed the Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) of Bay Area Legal Services, providing staff with rent-free office space inside the courthouse, where they may provide legal clinics and connect volunteer attorneys with underserved individuals who need legal representation.
Under Chief Judge Ficarrotta’s leadership, 13th Judicial Circuit pro bono accomplishments include assisting hundreds of pro se litigants each year through the VLP’s Family Forms Clinic (FFC) and connecting thousands of pro bono cases with volunteer attorneys.
His support of the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Annual 5K Pro Bono River Run and Judicial Food Fest has resulted in thousands of pro bono hours being pledged and performed.
Chief Judge Ficarrotta’s leadership has served as an example for the VLP’s panel of over 1,000 volunteer attorneys. He also advocates for pro bono service among his peers, encouraging his judicial colleagues to support pro bono efforts by attorneys and ensuring that the 13th Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee is active.
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Judge Emeritus A. Jay Cristol
Judge Emeritus A. Jay Cristol, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida serving Miami, is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award. The award, which honors outstanding and sustained service to the public especially as it relates to support of pro bono legal services, will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 26 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida.
Throughout his long and distinguished career, Judge Cristol has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to serving his community, his country, and those with whom he engages professionally. Judge Cristol’s military career spans 38 years and two major conflicts in which he served as a naval aviator (Korea and Vietnam). Judge Cristol followed this distinguished military career with an equally long and impressive career of legal and judicial service.
Appointed to the federal bench in 1985, Judge Cristol presided over high-profile bankruptcy litigation including the Chapter 11 reorganization cases of General Development Corp., one of the largest bankruptcy reorganization cases in U.S. history, and Pan American Airways, one of the most iconic brands in aviation history.
His legacy of legal service did not retire with him in 2022, and, in fact, it persists in the form of the University of Miami School of Law’s Eleanor R. Cristol and Judge A. Cristol Bankruptcy Pro Bono Assistance Clinic where he works closely with Patricia Redmond teaching pro bono and mentoring law students.
Judge Cristol’s gestures of service, large and small, have made him a beloved leader of the South Florida legal community and a role model for the next generation.
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Albert E. Dotson of Bilzin Sumberg
Bilzin Sumberg — a Miami-based law firm that has gone above and beyond to serve its community — will receive the 2023 Law Firm Commendation from Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz at the annual Pro Bono Awards ceremony Jan. 26 at the Supreme Court of Florida. The commendation honors significant contributions in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis.
Community engagement and pro bono service are a crucial part of Bilzin Sumberg’s ethos. In 2021, the firm through its single Miami office collectively contributed 2,235 pro bono hours to individuals and nonprofit organizations across the state. The firm has a two-pronged strategy to pro bono work, working with local legal aid and voluntary bar associations to take individual pro bono cases while also supporting the ecosystem in which underserved individuals live and work.
Bilzin Sumberg also regularly collaborates with various pro bono feeder organizations, including Legal Services of Greater Miami (LSGM), Lawyers for Children America (LFCA), the Cuban American Bar Association Pro Bono Legal Services, and the Southern District of Florida federal court pro bono program.
Working with legal aid organizations, Bilzin Sumberg provides pro bono services to a diverse group of individuals. The firm has represented clients in cases ranging from eviction defense, land-use and zoning matters, immigration filings, civil rights and disability determinations. Through its involvement with LFCA, Bilzin Sumberg lawyers have also represented abandoned, abused and neglected children.
Underscoring the firm’s dedication to serving the community is its Bilzin Sumberg Cares program, which has stood as a centerpiece of the firm’s commitment to the community and to service for 14 years.
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Nadine Gedeon, president of the Haitian Lawyers Association
The Haitian Lawyers Association (HLA) is the recipient of the 2023 Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Award, which will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 26 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida. The award 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.
With equality and access to justice being foundational to the Haitian Lawyers Association, it has provided pro bono legal services to vulnerable communities for over 25 years throughout the state of Florida. From its inception, the HLA has provided pro bono legal representation to Haitian immigrants and has represented clients in federal, state and immigration courts. Over the past five years, HLA members as a group have assisted over 1,500 clients and volunteered over 2,668 pro bono hours.
HLA’s ongoing pro bono project provides free legal services to low income-individuals and families in the areas of family law, landlord tenant, contracts, immigration, and small claims matters.
Moreover, HLA continues to collaborate with legal partners, local voluntary bar associations, and legal aid organizations including partnering with Legal Services of Greater Miami on a number of initiatives.
In addition to providing legal representation, HLA often appears on radio shows to educate members of the community about legal issues in the areas of immigration law, family law, unlicensed practice of law, and criminal law.
Irina Shabetayev, left, and YLD President Iris Elijah
The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division also presented Irina Shabetayev with its pro bono service award
Shabetayev has been nothing short of a hero to countless Ukrainian refuges facing unimaginable circumstances and significant challenges in relocating to the United States following the Russian invasion of their country.
Recognizing the exceptional hurdles these refugees were facing, Shabetayev organized a series of pro bono community events for refugees in which attorneys and paralegals would explain the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) process, answer questions, and help refugees fill out the necessary paperwork.
Shabetayev partnered with the Russian American Bar Association to lead this initiative, culminating in multiple events taking place throughout South Florida and helping hundreds of refugees in only a few short months.
Shabetayev also gave of her time and skills as an immigration attorney at these successful all-day events. In addition to leading the team of attorneys, Shabetayev donated supplies and food and water to provide a modicum of comfort in an otherwise stressful time.
The service Shabetayev has provided to the refugee community during this crisis was in addition to the pressures she faced as a young attorney working in a busy firm and as a mother to three young boys. Adding to the pressures were the challenges that the Ukraine conflict created for her own family, who were trying to leave her native Moldova due to the ongoing risks of the war.
Shabetayev joined Elizaveta V. Samorukova, P.A., in 2014, where she specializes in various areas of immigration law, primarily in matters of political asylum and deportation; petitions from victims of domestic violence; difficult situations when applying for a green card; and in family law, assisting clients with divorces, name/surname changes, prenuptial agreements, and other matters.
