Legal Services Corporation Honors Holland & Knight, Florida Judge, and Five Lawyers for Pro Bono Service
WASHINGTON – The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Board of Directors will present its Pro Bono Service Award to a Tampa judge, five Florida attorneys, and the Miami office of Holland & Knight in recognition of their extraordinary commitment to equal justice on January 23rd. The awards ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. at the University of Miami School of Law’s Alma Jennings Foundation Student Lounge in Coral Gables.
The January 2015 LSC Pro Bono Service Award Reception will be held in conjunction with the LSC Board of Directors’ first quarterly meeting of the year.
Speakers at the event include: Francisco R. Angones, Partner at Angones, McCluire & Garcia and former President of The Florida Bar; John G. Levi, Chairman of the LSC Board; Melissa Pershing, Director of Grants and Development for the Florida Bar Foundation; Judge Vance E. Salter of the Florida Third District Court of Appeals; and Patricia D. White, Dean of the University of Miami School of Law.
Recipients of the Pro Bono Service Award are:
- Russell E. Carlisle, a local and national champion of legal aid who has dedicated thousands of pro bono hours to Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida for more than 50 years. He argued the first petition for Interest on Trusts Accounts (IOTA) before the Florida Supreme Court and led the national effort to establish the program in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. The IOTA program is now the second largest source of funding for civil legal services for the poor in the U.S.
- Wendy S. Loquasto, managing partner of the Tallahassee office of Fox & Loquasto, P.A. who has donated more than 1,200 hours pro bono services on family law and domestic violence cases for Legal Services of North Florida, Inc.
- Frank E. Maloney, Jr., a Baker County attorney who has been volunteering with Three Rivers Legal Services, Inc. for more than 10 years. He has donated nearly 500 hours to helping low-income citizens with family law cases.
- Ashley B. Moody, a Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge in Hillsborough County who has donated more than 1,000 hours of time to Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. She is a member of the Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Services.
- Timothy Moran, a Central Florida attorney and certified housing counselor who has been a volunteer attorney with Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida since 2009. He plays a critical role offering pro bono assistance to low-income clients facing foreclosure.
- David E. Steckler, a Florida Gulf Coast University professor who collaborates with Florida Rural Legal Services and the Abuse Counseling and Treatment Shelter to run the Domestic Violence Pro Bono Project. He hosts a weekly clinic for low-income domestic violence victims.
- The Miami office of Holland & Knight, a law firm committed to providing pro bono service through a partnership with Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc (LSGMI). Holland & Knight attorneys are at the forefront of many LSGMI pro bono initiatives, including offering representation on complex housing and disability cases. The firm’s attorneys have donated more than 5,000 pro bono hours to legal aid organizations throughout South Florida.