Please welcome the 2022-2023 Executive Committee:

Claud Nelson, President

Colleen Mullen, President-Elect

Samantha Howell, First Vice President

Jena Hudson, Second Vice President

Nery Alonso, Treasurer

Melissa Kellner, Secretary

Jayme Cassidy, Immediate Past President

Congratulations to the recipients of the Michael Roffino Pro Bono Award:

Winner - Dade Legal Aid Put Something Back ($4,000)

Finalist - Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida ($2,000)

Finalist - Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association ($2,000)

The Florida Supreme Court held the annual Pro Bono Awards Ceremony on January 20,2022. Samantha Howell Pro Bono Director for Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. was named the 2022 recipient of the Kay Meyers Pro Bono Coordinator Award, which honors an outstanding pro bono coordinator in a local legal services provider, who is also an active member of the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association (FPBCA). Those honored are recognized for their activities within their own legal services program and for their involvement with the FPBCA. Samantha demonstrated extraordinary commitment and dedication to both SLC and FPBCA, especially during these challenging times.

Named for Kay Meyers, Pro Bono Coordinator for the Polk County office of Florida Rural Legal Services, this award honors Kay's dedication to her job, the volunteer attorneys and clients, as well as her significant contributions to the Florida Pro Bono Coordinators Association. Since her untimely death in 1992, the FPBCA has honored her service with this award.

 

The JALA eviction answer tool builder (http://floridaevictionhelp.org/) has been translated into Spanish so that Spanish speakers will see all of the questions and information in Spanish and the tool will produce the completed documents in both Spanish and English.  The Spanish version of the documents comes first and there is a note to the user to submit the English version of the forms to the court.  

This eviction tool has been updated to reflect the changes in the CDC moratorium and will continue to be updated as needed.  

Please let me know if anyone has any questions about this form builder.  

Many thanks,

Missy 

Missy Davenport, Esquire

Pro Bono, Director

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA)

Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership

126 West Adams Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Pronouns: she/her/hers

(904) 356-8371, Ext. 363  Phone

(904) 356-8285  Fax

missy.davenport@jaxlegalaid.org  E-mail

www.jaxlegalaid.org  

At today's meeting, the below slate was approved for the 2021-2022 year. Welcome to the new EC and thank you to those who served during the last (very difficult) year! You earned your stripes!

President - Jayme Cassidy

President-Elect - Claud Nelson

First Vice President - Missy Davenport

Second Vice President - Colleen Mullen

Secretary - Nancy Lugo

Treasurer - Jena Hudson

Immediate Past President - Carolyn Fabrizio

Additionally, we accepted new by-laws, which you can review here.

On June 18, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision in the IOTA rule case. Highlights include:

1. LRAP will continue to be eligible for funding;

2. organizations will  have a 15% cap on administrative costs; and

3. that 15% cap will not include the costs of "training. legal research, and technology necessary to the provision of qualified legal services."

You can read the full decision here.

FPBCA extends a hearty congratulations to the winners of the L. Michael Roffino Pro Bono Awards:

Grand Prize - Bay Area Legal Services

Runner-Ups - Legal Aid of Manasota and Catholic Legal Services in Miami

Mark you calendars for the 2021 deadline for award nominations: October 1, 2021.

This month, a number of organizations submitted comments regarding the proposed change to the IOTA rule in Florida. The FPBCA was one of those organization, with comments highlighting the need to retain the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) and urging that the "technology and training" category be removed from the administrative expense cap, proposed to be 10%.

You can access all submitted comments, including FPBCA's, at http://onlinedocketssc.flcourts.org/DocketResults/CaseDocket?Searchtype=Case+Number&CaseTypeSelected=All&CaseYear=2020&CaseNumber=1543.

The Florida Bar also published an article about the proposed rule change and the comments submitted in opposition. You can access that article at https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/commenters-criticize-proposed-iota-rule-amendments/.

Oral arguments have been requested in this case, but the date is TBD.