The Supreme Court’s highest recognition of a private lawyer for pro bono service, the award was presented by Chief Justice Charles T. Canady.

Brady has been a pro bono volunteer with Three Rivers Legal Services since the early 1990s and has always been a strong advocate for the poor, in particular people without housing.

Matching grants are a great way to support Southern Legal Counsel (SLC). These grants, also known as volunteer grants or “Dollars for Doers” grants, generally involve a company donating to a nonprofit where it’s employees volunteer.

SLC Pro Bono Director Samantha Howell was chosen by the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association (FPBCA) to receive the 2022 Kay Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award. Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady announced the award Jan. 20 at the annual Pro Bono Service Awards at the Florida Supreme Court.

SLC Pro Bono Director Samantha Howell was chosen by the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association (FPBCA) to receive the 2022 Kay Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award. Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady announced the award Jan. 20 at the annual Pro Bono Service Awards at the Florida Supreme Court.

At its inaugural Pro Bono Recognition event Oct. 28, Southern Legal Counsel will present the Access Justice Impact Award to Akerman LLP. This award is given to a firm that embodies SLC's mission through its service to pro bono clients. Over the last two years, approximately 30 attorneys from Akerman have volunteered with SLC. Examples of their work include:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In a case going back to 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held Aug. 31 that the City of Fort Lauderdale's Park Rule 2.2, banning outdoor food sharing as a social service in public parks, violates the First Amendment.

Southern Legal Counsel, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, the ACLU of Florida Palm Beach County Chapter, and Florida Justice Institute filed a federal lawsuit challenging a West Palm Beach ordinance that prohibits asking for donations in certain public spaces. The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division, also seeks a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the ordinance.

Abigail Adkins, an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by McDermott Will & Emery and Darden Restaurants Inc., will complete her two-year fellowship at Southern Legal Counsel at the end of August 2021 and join the SLC staff as an attorney focused on education issues.

Southern Legal Counsel was awarded grants from The Florida Bar Foundation and the Dharma Foundation, part of which will be used to conduct outreach and represent low-income students with disabilities who have experienced regression due to problems with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southern Legal Counsel’s work on behalf of a transgender Marion County high school student paid off this spring when she was able to walk in her graduation ceremony after bullying and a lack of support from school staff pushed her out of school.

Removing barriers to transgender individuals’ ability to access the legal-name and gender-marker change processes has been a consistent mission of SLC’s Transgender Rights Initiative. We have ensured that Florida birth certificates can be amended without proof of sex reassignment surgery, and we also developed a first of its kind website, FloridaNameChange.org, to make the processes easier to navigate without an attorney. Recently, SLC worked with the Florida Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to amend its policy for amending the gender marker on drivers licenses to make the process more accessible to the transgender community.

An important component of SLC’s Transgender Rights Initiative is building the capacity of others in Florida to represent, protect, affirm, and support transgender individuals statewide.

During Pride Month and on into July we are holding two trainings for which registration is now open.

Pride Month 2021: Best Practices for Representing LGBTQ+ Youth will be held June 29 through the Florida Legal Services Statewide Training Initiative and is sponsored by the Public Interest Law Section of The Florida Bar. Register here.

Free Statewide Transgender Legal Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic will be presented by SLC and Akerman on July 10th. Register here.

SLC filed a lawsuit in federal court in January of 2020 challenging the State of Florida’s exclusion of coverage for the gender-affirming medical needs of transgender state employees, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The case is now at the summary judgment stage and is under consideration by the honorable Judge Mark Eaton Walker in the Northern District of Florida. Motions for summary judgment and other pleadings are on SLC’s Promoting LGBTQ+ Equality page.

SLC attorney Simone Chriss was honored with Equality Florida’s 2021 Voice for Equality Award, which is “bestowed annually upon a person who, with courage, passion and unwavering commitment, moves Florida’s LGBTQ community closer to full equality.” Equality Florida (EQFL) is a civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida's LGBTQ community through lobbying, grassroots organizing, and coalition building.

As part of a strategic, targeted attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States, over 250 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures across the country this year, making 2021 the worst year for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in recent history. The Florida Legislature was no exception.

With a Pro Bono Transformation grant from The Florida Bar Foundation, Southern Legal Counsel established a formal pro bono program in 2019, hiring attorney Samantha Howell as its first pro bono director.

During the first two years of the pro bono program, SLC worked with more than 300 pro bono volunteers, including lawyers, law students, grad students, and undergraduate students. Collectively, this group provided about 9,000 hours of service. Our vision is to continue to increase the number of volunteers and the scope of their work to integrate pro bono across all areas of legal advocacy.

As Florida students returned to in-person education following more than a year of school closures and distance learning, Southern Legal Counsel partnered with pro bono attorneys and other advocacy organizations to support students with disabilities who were impacted by COVID-19 school disruptions.