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Tampa law firm achieves 100 percent participation in Foundation's Fellows program

The Foundation would like to recognize and thank the Tampa law firm of James, Hoyer, Newcomer, Smiljanich & Yanchunis, P.A. for achieving 100 percent attorney participation in the Foundation's Fellows Program.  Foundation Fellows pledge $1,000 to the Foundation over five years. Government, non-profit and young lawyers have the option of extending the pledge over 10 years.

Senior Partner John Yanchunis, a former Florida Bar Foundation board member, had this to say about his firm's participation in the Fellows program:

"My firm believes that along with the privilege of practicing law in Florida comes the commitment to provide legal services to those unable to afford a lawyer. One of the ways we are satisfying that commitment is by becoming Fellows of the Foundation."

If you'd like to get your law firm involved in the Foundation's Fellow Program, please contact Foundation Development Director Tim Bachmeyer.

Juvenile Life Without Parole Defense Resource Center among grants approved in August

Among the projects funded through Improvements in the Administration of Justice (AOJ) grants at the Foundation's August board meeting was the Barry University School of Law for its Juvenile Life Without Parole Defense Resource Center. Of 109 juveniles sentenced nationwide to life without parole for nonhomicide offenses, 77 of them were sentenced in Florida, according to a study cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and conducted by the Florida State University Public Interest Law Center, also a Foundation grantee. In Graham v. Florida , the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to life without parole for nonhomicide crimes.

Look for the story detailing Barry University's project and the response to Graham v. Florida in the next issue of  the Foundation's print newsletter, Speaking of Justice, and in The Florida Bar News.

Pilot Pro Bono projects, funded through the Foundation's Legal Assistance for the Poor Grant Program, were also approved in August. The Pilot Pro Bono Grant Program was created to expand or improve pro bono legal services among Florida's legal aid organizations.
 

2010 Florida Bar Reporters' Workshop

Twenty-three broadcast and print journalists gathered in Tallahassee Sept. 20-21 for the 2010 Florida Bar Reporters' Workshop, where reporters learned the basics of reporting on the law and the court system. The Foundation is one of the funders of the annual workshop through a $10,000 Improvements in the Administration of Justice grant.

This intensive two-day event is designed for 24 print, TV and radio journalists new to the courts and legal beats, or new to Florida.The workshop is presented by The Florida Bar Media and Communications Law Committee.

Participants heard from Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justices Jorge Labarga and Barbara Pariente, as well as other judges, lawyers and public officials and some of the state’s top journalists. Panel discussions covered topics such as judicial selection and election, covering high-profile court cases and public records.

Maria Henderson, Foundation first vice president, was on a panel focused on the newly formed Florida Innocence Commission. The Foundation provided a $114,862 grant to help fund the Innocence Commission.  

Featured lunch speakers included Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon and lawyer Barry S. Richard, who represented President George Bush in 2000's Bush v. Gore. Reporters also had the chance to talk informally with Florida Supreme Court justices during a reception and dinner at which The Florida Bar's Media and Communications Law Committee presented its annual media awards.

Pictured from left to right: Panelists Julie Montanaro, WCTV Tallahassee; David Royse, News Service of Florida; Susan Spencer-Wendel, The Palm Beach Post; and Margie Menzel, WFSU-FM/ Florida Public Radio offer tips on covering high-profile cases. (Photo credit: Phil Pollock, Florida Supreme Court)

Know Your Amendments!

Providing a comprehensive, objective guide for Florida voters to help them better understand the proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution is the goal of a website, www.flamendments.org, developed by The Collins Center for Public Policy, supported in part with an Improvements in the Administration of Justice grant from The Florida Bar Foundation.

The six amendments on the Nov. 2 ballot deal with subjects ranging from changes in the redistricting process to tax breaks for deployed military personnel and class-size requirements. A question asking Florida voters whether or not the United States Constitution should be amended to require a balanced federal budget will also be on the ballot.

The Collins Center is also traveling around the state making presentations and moderating panels on the amendments.
Visit www.collinscenter.org  to learn more.

Foundation's One-Time grant helps strengthen program's fundraising efforts

St. Petersburg-based Community Law Program (CLP), which works to serve the civil legal needs of low-income and disadvantaged Floridians, credits the funding support from The Florida Bar Foundation’s One-Time Grant Program with helping get their fundraising efforts off the ground. CLP also receives annual Legal Assistance to the Poor (LAP) general support funding from the Foundation.

“We never focused on donor cultivation, marketing to convey our organization’s message, or involvement from the board in fundraising,” said Kimberly Rodgers, CLP executive director. “With one-time funding from The Florida Bar Foundation, we have been able to make significant strides in all of these areas.”

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Palm Beach County Fellows Campaign to launch

The Florida Bar Foundation will hold its Palm Beach County Fellows Campaign Oct. 15 to Nov. 15. The campaign committee is chaired by former Florida Bar President Jay White, along with vice-chairs Jane Kreusler-Walsh and Theo Kypreos.

Florida Bar Foundation Fellows are lawyers and members of the general public who have committed to providing greater access to justice for Florida’s poor through pledges of $1,000. Pledges can be paid over five years or – in the case of non-profit, government, and young lawyers – 10 years.

Members of the campaign committee also include Florida Bar President-Elect Scott Hawkins; Florida Bar Board of Governors members Greg Coleman and David Prather; Bob Bertisch, executive director of Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County; as well as Skip Smith, Donna Krusbe, Adrian Alvarez, Sia Baker-Barnes, and Jessica Callow. Krusbe is a member of The Florida Bar Foundation board of directors.

Committee members will be asking their colleagues in Palm Beach County to become Fellows and join them in their pledge to provide greater access to justice by helping build The Florida Bar Foundation Endowment Trust and fulfill the Foundation’s mission.

The Foundation’s grant funding to the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County for 2009-10 was $1,231,578, while statewide its funding for legal aid, improvements in the administration of justice, and programs to encourage law students to pursue public interest careers totaled 37.1 million.