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Written by Cathy Tucker and Marcie Lockhart December 2003 History From 1960 through 1970, concerned lawyers and others made a push to provide civil legal services to each county in the state. Federal funds, first from President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty and the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), and then from President Richard Nixon's authorization of the Legal Services Corporation, encouraged expansion of legal aid and legal services programs throughout Florida. In 1973 full time staff attorneys worked in legal aid and legal services offices in 12 counties and volunteer lawyer programs served 12 additional counties. Forty-one counties remained without any legal assistance to the poor. By 1980 there was a civil legal aid and services staff program providing help to every county in Florida. During the 80's funding for many social service programs was cut and the Legal Services Corporation was targeted for reductions. The American Bar Association, who opposed reduction or elimination of LSC, sought to coordinate support of local bar associations for continued funding. The ABA encouraged members to provide pro bono services and the LSC Board of Directors used this movement to place specific requirements on LSC grantees to use 12.5% of their grant for Private Attorney Involvement. In response to this increased interest in the development of local pro bono efforts, a group of legal aid and legal services representatives met to form the FPBCA. An ad hoc committee was formed in 1985. Members of this committee included pro bono coordinators Gary Gilbert of Florida Rural Legal Services, Allison Graham of Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach, Michelle Ivy of the ACLU Public Interest Law Project, Henry George (Skip) White of Florida Legal Services, Alice Schofield of Withlacoochee Area Legal Services' Volunteer Lawyer Project, and Doreen Cook of Central Florida Legal Services' Volunteer Lawyer Project. They met to create a structure for a statewide organization of people who directed or coordinated pro bono work in local programs. After a couple meetings and attempts to reach out through the local voluntary bar and the legal providers, the organization formalized with officers, by-laws and a meeting structure. The LSC cutbacks of the late 80's caused a decline in FPBCA membership. In 1992, the Florida Supreme Court made its initial decision on pro bono and later created the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Services and circuit committees. The Florida Bar Foundation encouraged support of the circuit committees and beginning in 1994, membership in FPBCA increased with numbers ranging from 15 to 35 members. FPBCA's initial role of identification and development of statewide pro bono programs and resources has moved into staff program support and circuit program development with information sharing, monitoring, support and training. At the close of the 90’s there was a push by the Legal Services Corporation to require consolidation and ‘reconfiguration’ of individual programs throughout the country. In Florida this process was endorsed by The Florida Bar Foundation and became a statewide effort to re-invigorate the delivery of legal services by including a broader group of providers, all IOTA recipients as well as LSC funded programs. Committees were developed statewide to make recommendations on various delivery issues such as intake, technical assistance, training, and pro bono services. A document was developed called a State Plan which identified seven regions within which consolidation and combining of resources to serve client legal needs was to be designed and a plan for implementation created. Pro bono legal services is one of the substantive committees and is chaired by Mary Anne De Petrillo, project director and Sheila Seig, pro bono coordinator. Bonnie Allen was retained as a consultant by Florida Legal Services and prepared recommendations about pro bono within the state plan. LSC approved the recommended creation of seven regions in Florida and the discussion moved to the regions and complex issues of configuration and the future. 2004 should see the move to the new funding of entitities by LSC. There is no comprehensive implementation document of the various committee’s recommendations at this time. All regions have designated Design Teams and are at various stages of development. Structure The FPBCA is a voluntary association of coordinators of pro bono programs throughout Florida. Originally the officers were Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer, later modified as President and President-Elect. The membership elects officers at the annual meeting in June and the prior year's President-Elect succeeds to the Presidency. Original standing committees included Training, Technical Assistance, and Publication. Added later were Public Relations, General Practice Section Pro Bono Award, and the Kay B. Meyers Award. The Technical Assistance Committee no longer exists. The original Executive Committee was composed of the officers, the standing committee chairs and a representative from Florida Legal Services. The Executive Committee expanded to include the immediate past president. By-Laws supplement the Procedural Guidelines, both amended several times. The original Procedural Guidelines included a detailed timetable and transition worksheet for each office and committee. Under the Florida State Plan it is unclear whether FPBCA will become a working group. It remains a separate statewide entity with funding from FLS. Funding FLS administers the FPBCA budget, with startup funding by The Florida Bar and Florida Bar Foundation. An initial budget of about $20,000, including in-kind services from The Florida Bar and FLS, was reduced to $15000 and then to $12000 over the next decade. In 2004 funding will be reduced again by half. Funds are currently used to pay for meetings and travel costs and to encourage attendance at the ABA conference by paying some of the cost of travel. The Florida Bar provided a lump sum to FLS for FPBCA, and The Florida Bar Foundation gave money to The Florida Bar (which in turn funded FLS) to provide staffing for the Standing Committee. The Foundation also provided a grant for the purchase of display fixtures for the FPBCA to use at conferences and other functions. The Florida Bar provided some printing costs for letterhead and desk books. Throughout the years, the role and level of involvement of FLS staff has varied, however, after creation of the Standing Committee, the FLS Liaison has been an active member of the organization. A Statewide Pro Bono Coordinator position was created in 1999 by matching funds from The Florida Bar and three private law firms. The position was to be a two year position. In 2000, Pat Vail was hired and worked out of Florida Legal Services office in Jacksonville for a little over a year before taking a position with another program. With the development of the State Plan and the inclusion of pro bono in the state plan, a statewide pro bono position was moved to be part of a resource development team. In 2003 a one year effort to develop statewide resources, including pro bono was launched. Marilyn Kershner was hired as staff attorney and focused on Cy Pres Education and Development, The Florida Bar’s Challenge For Children, and the Law Firm/Corporate Pro Bono Challenge. Activities FPBCA has supported several activities over the past decade, including the newsletter, the booth at the Florida Bar Annual Meeting, trainings, brief information exchanges and networking opportunities, participation in The Florida Bar annual pro bono awards, attendance at ABA Pro Bono Conferences, General Practice Section Pro Bono Award, Kay B. Meyers Pro Bono Coordinators Award, and Consultant Directory. Short lived, unsuccessful projects included vouchers for pro bono attorneys through The Florida Bar, free reporting services through Shorthand Court Reporters Association, and participation in NAPCO. The organization holds its annual meeting in conjunction with The Florida Bar Annual Meeting in June. Originally FPBCA was an official meeting on the convention schedule, but Wednesday time slots provided by the bar made coordination with other activities expensive and difficult. The FPBCA moved the meeting off site to a less expensive hotel with meetings Friday, allowing members to attend The Florida Bar Foundation Annual Dinner and the General Practice Section Awards. The FPBCA continues to use the booth at the annual meeting to display ongoing projects of coordinators and programs throughout the state. The election of officers was held at this meeting but because of the number of events it was changed to the fall meeting. The FPBCA always holds the spring meeting of the year at the ABA Conference site. Dates and locations of the remaining two meetings, previously held with the midyear Florida Bar meetings, vary. The fall meeting in the early 90's seemed to follow or be followed by a late season hurricane as the FPBCA met with other FLS workgroups for their meetings at a common site. The FPBCA has also held the fall meeting during alternating years with the statewide meetings sponsored by the Florida Bar Foundation. In the early 90's the FPBCA moved the January meeting to Tallahassee so that it would coincide with the annual statewide pro bono awards presentation at the Supreme Court. This event of The Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court is held in the beginning of each year. ABA Conference Sites: 1985 Charlotte, North Carolina 1986 Dallas, Texas 1987 Seattle, Washington 1988 New Orleans, Louisiana 1989 Miami, Florida 1990 Snowbird, Utah 1991 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1992 Austin, Texas 1993 Baltimore, Maryland 1994 San Diego, California 1995 Nashville, Tennessee 1996 Phoenix, Arizona 1997 St. Louis, Missouri 1998 Asheville, North Carolina 1999 Innisbruck, FL 2000 Houston, TX 2001 San Diego, California 2002 Cleveland, Ohio 2003 Portland, OR The Florida Bar General Practice Section Pro Bono Award The General Practice Section of The Florida Bar decided to recognize each year a pro bono program in Florida that offers opportunities for bar members to participate in pro bono activities and provides outstanding services to their community. Originally named the Bill Jacobs Award for a long-time section member, the first award of $2500 was presented in 1990 at a reception sponsored by the FPBCA at The Florida Bar Annual Convention. Gerald Curington, past GPS president, has developed the award with the support and appreciation of the FPBCA. During the past years, the Section has awarded over $45,000 to pro bono projects. Currently three awards are presented one for $3000, and two additional awards of $1000. The section presents the awards during their lunch at the annual convention. Kay B. Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award Kay B. Meyers worked for Florida Rural Legal Services, Inc. from 1981 until her death on October 31,1992. She began at FRLS as a legal secretary, advanced to an office manager and then to administrative assistant/part-time pro bono coordinator. This split role is a familiar challenge to many coordinators. Ultimately Kay became a full time pro bono coordinator. FRLS served 14 counties in central and south Florida. Based in the Polk County office of FRLS, Kay's responsibilities included several counties. Three formal agreements Kay helped establish in Hardee, Highlands and Polk County, especially made her proud. In addition, she began advice clinics and recognition events in each county. As a charter member of FPBCA, Kay played a major part of the formation and growth of the organization. The driving force behind the series of desk books, she helped recruit authors and coordinated publication with The Florida Bar. She began the newsletter and helped write the By-Laws and Procedural Guidelines. Her dedication helped with the growth of FPBCA and the inclusion of more coordinators. Kay was active in several local organizations including the Polk County Legal Secretaries Association for which she served as president, and the Lakeland Spouse Abuse Center. She was the mother of four children and the grandmother of five. Unfortunately Kay began smoking as a young woman and in spite of health warnings and many attempts to quit, she could not. Her stroke and bypass surgery slowed her, but she continued to attend FPBCA meetings until her death in 1992. In her honor, the FPBCA made a donation to the Lakeland Spouse Abuse Shelter. Kay had the qualities that make a great coordinator. She liked people and liked to talk and tell stories. A great salesperson, if she believed in something, she wanted you to know why and believe it too. She liked to know the rules (think by-laws and procedures). FPBCA benefited greatly from her leadership, her humor, her ideas. In the small world inhabited by coordinators, we do not get recognized or even acknowledge each other's good work. This is why the FPBCA created an annual award named for Kay Meyers to honor and recognize the contributions and dedication of a coordinator in their own project and to the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association. Kay B. Meyers Pro Bono Coordinators Award recipients: 1994 - Bonnie Silverstein, LAS of Palm Beach County 1995 - Christine (Marini) Whalen, Broward Lawyers Care 1997 - Marcia Lockhart, Three Rivers Legal Services 1998 - Cathy Tucker, LAS of Orange County Bar Association 1999 - Susan Christmas, Brevard County Legal Aid 2000 - Rob Johnson, Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach 2001 – John Fenno, North Florida Legal Services 2002 – Sheila Seig, Bay Area Legal Services 2003 – Bruce Levine, Put Something Back Officers: 86-87 Judy Cantwell, Chair Doreen Cook, Chair-Elect Jackie Barr, Secretary Marcie Lockhart, Treasurer Training: Alice Schofield/Jackie Bellinger Publications: Kay Meyers Technical Assistance: Ann Piccard/Deloris Gilmore FLS Liaison: Ann Smith Davis
87-88 88-89 President Doreen Cook Cathy Tucker President-Elect Cathy Tucker Kay Meyers Secretary Kay Meyers Cynthia White Treasurer Marcia Lockhart Marcie Lockhart Technical Assistance Ann Piccard Keith Schantz John Traphofner Publications Kay Meyers Susan Christmas Cynthia White Alice Schofield Training Jackie Bellinger Jackie Bellinger Susan Woodlief Susan Woodlief FLS Liaison: Scott Manion Scott Manion
89-90 90-91 President Kay Meyers Marcie Lockhart President-Elect Keith Schantz Bonnie Silverstein Secretary Jackie Bellinger Charly Johnston Treasurer Bonnie Silverstein Judy Cantwell Technical Assistance Marcie Lockhart Jackie Bellinger Publications Cathy Tucker Cathy Tucker Susan Woodlief Training Susan Christmas John Fenno FLS Liaison: Karen McDowell
91-92 92-93 President Bonnie Silverstein Marcia Lockhart President-Elect Sue Wolf Merille Glover-Gambles Secretary Sarah Fowler Karen Ladis Treasurer Cathy Tucker Sarah Fowler Technical Assistance Jackie Bellinger Publications Merille Glover-Gambles John Fenno Training Marcia Lockhart Cathy Tucker Christine Whalen
93-94 94-95 President Merille Glover-Gambles Sarah Fowler President-Elect Sarah Fowler Cathy Tucker Secretary Mariele Jones Pat McConnell Treasurer Karen Ladis Shirley Green Technical Assistance Alice Schofield White Michael Mann Publications John Fenno John Fenno Christine Whalen Training Cathy Tucker
95-96 96-97 President Cathy Tucker Bruce Levine President-Elect Bruce Levine Rob Johnson Secretary Rob Johnson Ramona Escobedo Treasurer Debra Angerman Debra Angerman Technical Assistance Michael Mann Publications Marcie Lockhart Marcie Lockhart Training John Fenno FLS Liaison: Barbara Brown Barbara Brown
97-98 98-99 President Rob Johnson Debra Angerman President-Elect Debra Angerman Diane Moore Secretary Diane Adams Moore Sheila Seig Treasurer Nina Perry Nina Perry Newsletter Marcia Lockhart Marcia Lockhart Training Bruce Levine Bruce Levine P.R. Donna Graf Donna Graf GPS Award FLS Liaison Barbara Brown Barbara Brown
99-00 00-01 President Sheila Seig Nina Perry/Kelly Rauch President-Elect Nina Perry Kelly Rauch Secretary Kelly Rauch Donna Graf Treasurer JoAnn Tucker JoAnn Tucker-Hall
01-02 02-03 President Kelly Rauch JoAnn Tucker-Hall President-Elect JoAnn Tucker-Hall Donna Graf Secretary Linda Harradine Joy Inzitari Treasurer Donna Graf Linda Harradine
03-04 President Donna Graf President-Elect Linda Harradine Secretary Ann Marie Cavazos Treasurer Joy Inzitari |