New pro bono toolkit provides attorneys with resources for limited scope cases
Jayme Cassidy: “The toolkit is for attorneys who are taking on limited-scope representation cases. It gives attorneys resources to help them with those types of cases – some sample templates, some case law, articles, other webpages to go to for help.”
“If every attorney in the country took just one pro bono case a year – just one – it would alter the economic basis of our society,” pro bono advocate Jayme Cassidy asserts.
Cassidy led the development of the newly created Pro Bono Toolkit for Limited Scope Representation, available now on The Florida Bar’s website.
The toolkit, created by the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, benefits both the most seasoned lawyers and newer lawyers. Mentors can point to it as a resource when encouraging newer lawyers in their firms to volunteer for pro bono service, Cassidy said.
The toolkit, a 17-page document, provides guidance and resources to attorneys as they offer targeted pro bono assistance to clients who cannot afford full representation. Included are the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct related to pro bono public service, accepting appointments, and short-term legal services programs, and the rule of civil procedure regarding limited appearance attorneys, as well as:
- Resources for identifying clients for limited scope representation;
- Contact information and links to organizations that assist lawyers;
- Sample representation documents; and
- Applicable case law.
“The toolkit is for attorneys who are taking on limited-scope representation cases,” Cassidy said. “It gives attorneys resources to help them with those types of cases – some sample templates, some case law, articles, other webpages to go to for help.”
In Florida, there is a subset of cases that practitioners can take on a limited-scope basis and the toolkit defines those types of cases, Cassidy said.
The toolkit defines what the attorney must do to comply with the rules, offers guidance on how to communicate with the client, and outlines how set expectations, both from the attorney’s perspective as well as the client’s.
The task to develop the toolkit was assigned to the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services after the Bar received a letter from Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz in August 2023, addressing the final report and recommendations of The Florida Bar’s Special Committee on Greater Public Access to Legal Services.
Board of Governors member Hilary Creary with Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida (who was recently appointed general magistrate for 17th Circuit Domestic Relations Division), Dominic MacKenzie of Funding Florida Legal Aid (FFLA), Angela Vigil of Baker McKenzie, and St. Thomas University law student Dmitri Baskin rounded out the toolkit development team, with the full Pro Bono Legal Services Committee reviewing and offering feedback that was incorporated into the final version.
Although pro bono work is often touted as giving back, Cassidy’s passion for it grows from her unusual perspective: pro bono service supports goals that provide economic sustainability to communities.
“Almost every legal need has something that drives our economy or helps maintain a stable economy,” she said. “For example, helping someone with a landlord-tenant case – by helping them get even a partial deposit back, or eliminating the eviction record so that they’re able to move into another safe environment, it drives the economy, and it helps the client move forward in a safe and stable capacity.”
Cassidy said lawyers are often wary of taking on family law pro bono cases and notes family law is a field of distinct need in which limited scope pro bono representation can be especially effective, using the toolbox.
She offered an example of Social Security cessation cases.
“Something as simple as getting a young-adult Social Security benefits; something that touches so many people in our community,” said Cassidy. “One cessation case touches so many different people because that young adult is involved in the community when they have the resources. A therapist gets paid, a job coach gets paid, [the employer] gets a perk, the parents get a break. Maybe now, mom or dad is able to work full-time instead of part-time because the young adult now has resources to provide some self-care on their own. That’s what I mean by ‘economic sustainability.’…I’d rather have someone working at Publix or Walmart than panhandling at the corner.”
Just one pro bono case per year can be life-altering for the individual and can make a huge impact in the community, said Cassidy. While a case may stretch over a couple of months, she says it usually takes a couple of hours per week, not daily interaction.
Being tapped for the toolkit project was an honor, said Cassidy, whose previous experience as the pro bono advocacy director at Legal Services of Greater Miami made her a natural fit when she was asked if she would like to lead the project. In October 2024, she was appointed co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee of the Business Law Section.
Cassidy practices what she preaches. In 2024 alone, she helped two global nonprofits dedicating 77 pro bono hours . One nonprofit focused on assisting BIPOC young women with STEM education and careers, and the other focused on eliminating the criminalization of Black people. She did this while coping with the declining health of a parent and working. She intends to continue her commitment to pro bono advocacy, education, and training.
“Pro bono is such a vital part of maintaining healthy communities,” she said. “There’s no excuse to not take a case.”
