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Florida Legal Services, Inc. 2425 Torreya Drive Tallahassee, FL 32303 Phone: (850) 385-7900 Fax: (850) 385-9998
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Florida Legal Services, Inc. (FLS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973 to provide civil legal assistance to indigent persons who would not otherwise have the means to obtain a lawyer. A statewide support center, dedicated to ensuring poor people have equal access to justice, FLS fulfills its mission primarily by working with local legal aid and legal service programs to improve their ability to provide legal assistance to those in need in their communities. Providing service delivery coordination, training, case consultation and technical assistance to all legal service providers in Florida, FLS also is the coordinating organization for the first in the nation comprehensive Florida Supreme Court Voluntary Pro Bono Attorney Plan. FLS has published our January 2009 Docket - Check it out. Florida Legal Services/Legal Aid Programs Announce ADA Coordinators
And also... The Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU presented their Rodney Thaxton Award for Racial Justice to Florida Legal Services (Community Justice Project), along with The Law Offices of Chavez & Leon, Miami Workers Center, Power U Center for Social Change, South Florida Jobs With Justice and Take Back the Land honoring their leadership work in affordable housing. The presentation was on January 30 at their annual Bill of Rights Day Reception. Statewide Meeting Photos! Click Below For More
2008 Summer Fellows Trained & Ready For Duty
Chuck Elsesser Honored With Prestigious NLADA's Kutak-Dodds Prize
Legal Aid Day 2008
Miriam Harmatz in Medicaid victory.
Arthur Rosenberg honored by the Florida Coalition for the Homeless
The Migrant Farmworker Justice Project (MFJP) is a special advocacy project of FLS. FLS policy is established by a volunteer Board of Directors and is primarily funded by The Florida Bar Foundation and The Florida Bar. In February 1999, with funds provided by the Foundation, the PDA and Foundation representatives held a retreat at which numerous issues regarding Florida’s legal services to the poor delivery system were discussed. As the group talked about individual program and statewide accomplishments and the things that “made them most proud,” the phrase Energetic Affirmative Advocacy emerged as a statewide goal. The results were the state plan, "Reinvigorating Florida’s Legal Services Community".
Legal services embodies two basic principles: fidelity to our clients, and commitment to our community which is bound together by our devotion to equal justice. |
Information is available about FLS's ongoing Capital Campaign. Click the image below to learn how you can help FLS build justice in Florida.
Training Updates Click here for training/CLE opportunities from FLS. Updated 6/26/2009. Sharon Caserta's Deaf & Hard of Hearing Advocacy Handbook - click here. The Florida Bar Foundation 2006 Recipients Steven M. Goldstein Award for Excellence
First Place Florida Legal Services, Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County and Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association Prescription Drug Access Project First Runner-up Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. The Cuban-Haitian Entrant Project Second Runner-up Legal Services of North Florida, Inc. |
For
most of the last 33 years, Charles Elsesser has tirelessly worked as an
advocate for low-income people covering a wide swath of legal issues, from
affordable housing to welfare. As the senior litigation attorney with
Florida Legal Services, Inc., he principally engages in the representation
of community organizations in complex and class action litigation in federal
court involving housing and disaster-related issues, as well as
naturalization and public benefits.
FLS Winners Left to Right: Katie Mahoney, Miriam Harmatz, Anne Swerlick,
Courtney Landreth, Shirley Spuhler