2017

Presented by The Chief Justice The Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award Distinguished Judicial Service Award Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award Law Firm Commendation

Presented by The Florida Bar President The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards Presented by The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division President Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award Justices of The Supreme Court of Florida

The Honorable Jorge Labarga Chief Justice The Honorable Barbara J. Pariente The Honorable R. Fred Lewis The Honorable Peggy A. Quince The Honorable Charles T. Canady The Honorable Ricky Polston The Honorable C. Alan Lawson

2016 - 2017 Officers of The Florida Bar

William J. Schifino, Jr., President Michael J. Higer, President-elect John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director TOBIAS SIMON (1929 - 1982) “He opposed capital punishment, pressed for criminal reform, fought to improve the jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court, taught scintillating law school classes and wrote books on appellate review. He made enemies doing so — but also a lot of friends.” In those few words of tribute, Roberta Simon summed up much of her illustrious father’s career that ended with his death from cancer at age 52, on Feb. 25, 1982. Toby Simon was well-known throughout Florida and beyond as a tireless civil rights attorney, a crusader for prison reform, and an appellate authority. During his 30 years of law practice, he represented such divergent interests as major land developers, Communists, Nazis, teachers’ unions, and governmental agencies. In between causes there were intervals as a visiting professor at the Florida State University College of Law and at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center. He died while serving as a representative of his fellow 11th Judicial Circuit lawyers on The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors. He counted Martin Luther King Jr. among his clients, having provided legal counsel for King during the 1960 civil rights marches in Florida and throughout the Deep South. “He defended everyone,” his daughter added in tribute. “He believed that every client, especially the underdog, deserves a competent lawyer.” Toby Simon’s spirit lives on in the chief justice’s award that bears his name and honors those other Florida lawyers who have unselfishly carried on his work. THE TOBIAS SIMON PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD Presented by the Chief Justice The Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award com- memorates Miami civil rights lawyer Tobias Simon, who died in February 1982. It is intended to encour- age and recognize extraordinary contributions by Florida lawyers in making legal services available to persons who otherwise could not afford them, and to focus public awareness on the substantial voluntary services rendered by Florida lawyers in this area. The award was created in 1982 and is believed to be the first of its kind in the country conferring recognition by a state’s highest court on a private lawyer for voluntary, free legal services to the poor. A permanent plaque listing the names of all award recipients is displayed in the lawyers’ lounge of the Florida Supreme Court Building in Tallahassee.

2017 RECIPIENT

Mark Olive Tallahassee t was March of 1770, and British soldiers faced charges of murder in the killing of five people Iin the Boston Massacre. A more unpopular as- signment for a defense attorney is hard to imagine, but future president John Adams stepped forward, despite possible threats to himself and his family, to make sure that the soldiers received equal justice and a fair trial. That American tradition of justice for all is embodied in the 21st century by Mark Olive, who has devoted himself to an exhausting, tedious and unpopular cause: the defense of death row inmates. He is being honored for his exemplary pro bono assistance to his death row clients and the uncompensated legal assistance he has given to lawyers handling death penalty cases in Florida and throughout the country. Olive, a 1977 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, is an attorney in private practice in Tallahassee. He came to Florida in 1985 at a time of crisis, with eight executions the previous year and a backlog of post-conviction death penalty cases. He directed the Volunteer Lawyers’ Resource Center of Florida, Inc., which was funded by The Florida Bar to recruit and provide support and assistance to pri- vate counsel who represent indigent death-sentenced individuals on a pro bono basis in post-conviction proceedings. The resource center was the first of its kind in the na- tion, but it was so successful that other states adopted the concept, and Olive later headed similar centers in both Georgia and Virginia. Mark Olive’s hand can be seen in many important death penalty cases. In Hall v. Florida, which chal- lenged Florida’s rule on execution of the intellectu- ally disabled, he was part of the defense team before the U.S. Supreme Court and, on remand, the Florida Supreme Court. Olive also was on a team that pre- pared briefs and arguments for Atkins v. Virginia, in which the high court said executing people with intellectual disabilities is cruel and unusual punish- ment. He devoted substantial pro bono time for the team in Hurst v. Florida, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that Florida’s method of sentencing in capital cases was unconstitutional. Most recently, he became one of two pro bono counsel assisting Richard Glossip in Oklahoma. Glossip’s case raised questions first about Oklahoma’s method of execution and then about his innocence. The list goes on. On one U.S. Supreme Court case alone, Herrera v. Collins, which did not prevent the execution of Leonel Herrera in Texas, Olive spent well over 1,200 hours. Nominator Sandy D’Alemberte – a previous winner of the Tobias Simon Award – estimates that Olive has donated about 10,000 hours of pro bono service. Anthony Amsterdam, a law professor emeritus at New York University and another of Olive’s nominators, said: “As you know, I worked extensively with Toby Simon and loved the man. No one who was blessed with Toby’s companionship would be arrogant enough to guess what he would say on any subject. But I am as sure as I can be of anything relating to that mar- velous free spirit harnessed only by his dedication to the cause of freedom, that Toby would be proud to see Mark Olive honored with the award that bears his name.” THE DISTINGUISHED JUDICIAL SERVICE AWARD

Presented by the Chief Justice

A judge is in a unique position to contribute to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice. The support of pro bono services improves the judicial system as a whole. This award is for outstanding and sustained service to the public, especially as it relates to support of pro bono legal services.

2017 RECIPIENT

Honorable Virginia Baker Norton

Administrative Judge, Civil Division Fourth Judicial Circuit here’s a very good reason that Virginia Bak- er Norton is being honored with the Distin- Tguished Judicial Service Award. “Virginia Norton suffers from an affliction which I do not be- lieve she will ever overcome,” said one of her nomi- nators. “She is simply unable to say ‘no’ to people who ask for help.” That “affliction” led Judge Norton to the program with which she is most identified: The DAWN (De- veloping Adults with Necessary Skills) program at the Duval County Jail. The program, which gives inmates vocational training and life skills and helps them earn a GED, was founded by Richard McKis- sick nearly 20 years ago. Almost from the moment Norton took the bench in January 2009, McKissick was grooming her to carry on his work with DAWN. The day before McKissick died at the age of 90 on Jan. 1, 2016, he and Norton had a bedside meeting to discuss plans for DAWN for the next week. Norton has worked with inmates in the jail’s one- room schoolhouse, reviewing topics from job strate- gies to patriotism. She even has worked one-on-one with students whom she has sentenced to the pro- gram. Now Norton – who has a gift of being collabor- ative yet often is called the “Board of One of DAWN” – is working with the city of Jacksonville and the sheriff’s office to expand the program. She is known for repeating a mantra she attributes to McKissick: “You can do better than this, and I am going to help you do better than this.” Norton took her first pro bono case as a new associ- ate fresh out of law school. It was a routine case of trying to keep a woman’s electric power from being turned off, but in talking with the woman, Norton saw the symptoms of an abusive relationship. That insight led Norton to seek social services for the woman and help her find a new, safe place to live. Norton has been an active participant and leader in Jacksonville Legal Aid since then. In 2005, as Florida grappled with the painful dispute over the life and death of Terry Schiavo, Norton helped found the Living Will Program of Jacksonville Legal Aid. The program, with clinics in low-income and elderly housing communities, continues today. Norton is the “go to” person in Duval County when a bar association needs a judge to assist with a CLE program or encourage pro bono legal service. She regularly takes part in One Campaign pro bono re- cruitment efforts and, in 2016, was one of the judges extending a personal thank-you to lawyers at the Jacksonville Bar Association’s first “Presentation of the Pins” pro bono recognition luncheon. The judge also makes time for a range of other activ- ities, such as taking a high school intern every sum- mer, coaching a mock trial team and serving on the Fourth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee. She is a board member of several community organiza- tions, and last May she completed her L.L.M. in judi- cial studies at Duke, in addition to be chosen editor- in-chief of the fall 2016 issue of the Duke University School of Law’s “Judicature” magazine. “Judge Norton is a pillar of grace and calm who does not shy away from any challenge or controversy,” said Judge Mark H. Mahon, chief judge of the Fourth Circuit. Norton earned her J.D. in 1997 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. THE DISTINGUISHED FEDERAL JUDICIAL SERVICE AWARD

Presented by the Chief Justice

The purpose of the Chief Justice’s Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award is to recognize an active or retired federal judge for outstanding and sustained service to the public, whether through legal or civic service or a combination of them, especially as it relates to the support of pro bono legal services. The award is given to a judge who exemplifies the ideals embodied in the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, furthering the goals of equal justice under the law and encouraging pro bono service by Florida lawyers.

2017 RECIPIENT

Honorable Laurel Myerson Isicoff

United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Florida he Hon. Laurel Myerson Isicoff, chief judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court of Tthe Southern District of Florida, has been a leader in pro bono representation, diversity, inclu- sion and professionalism throughout her 35-year legal career. Isicoff is a native New Yorker who came to Florida to finish her law degree, which she earned from the University of Miami School of Law in 1982. She was in private practice from 1984 to 2006, and while practicing as a bankruptcy lawyer, she served a year as president of the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida and was the Pro Bono Task Force chair from 2000 to 2006. As presi- dent of that bar association, she helped form the Bankruptcy Bar Foundation to provide financial support for the bar’s pro bono program. “I am passionate about law being a vehicle to help people,” Isicoff said. “And I continue even though, now that I am a judge and can no longer do pro bono work anymore, I now have to help from a different angle.” Isicoff was sworn in as the first female bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Florida in 2006, and she spoke of the importance of pro bono work in her acceptance speech. Since then, she has used her endless enthusiasm and determination to be a catalyst in getting others involved in providing pro bono legal assistance. Last year, she organized and led a Pro Bono Bank- ruptcy Summit for the district. Task forces ad- dressed specific areas of pro bono service, and their reports were presented later in the year during Pro Bono Week. Before taking the bench, Isicoff taught a clinical course at St. Thomas University School of Law, in which students, mentored by attorneys, gave pro bono assistance to parties in active bankruptcy cases. Isicoff still mentors students in those clinical programs, which have expanded to four law schools in South Florida. To encourage pro bono participation among lawyers appearing before her, Isicoff allows pro bono vol- unteers to appear first (and usually out of turn) at motion calendar hearings, recognizes pro bono attor- neys in a monthly bulletin posted in a conspicuous place at the entry to her courtroom, and often refers debtors who are trying to represent themselves to the Bankruptcy Bar Association or to the intake at- torney for such cases at the Dade County Bar As- sociation’s “Put Something Back” program. She also wears a pro bono pin on her robe. Isicoff is the judicial chair of the Pro Bono Committee of The Florida Bar’s Business Law Section and is active on the Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. She also has served on the American College of Bankruptcy Pro Bono Committee since 2006. That’s in addition to her involvement with the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, the Bet Shira congregation in Miami and many other organizations. “It’s never too early or too late to get involved,” Isicoff said of pro bono service, “and there is something for everyone.” THE LAW FIRM COMMENDATION Presented by the Chief Justice The purpose of the Law Firm Commendation is to recognize a law firm that has demonstrated a signifi- cant contribution in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis.

2017 RECIPIENT Immigration Law Group of Florida, P.A. ou don’t need a big law firm to provide big support for pro bono legal assistance. The Im- Ymigration Law Group of Florida, P.A., of St. Petersburg has compiled an astonishing list of ac- complishments since it was formed only three years ago. Kathlyn Mackovjak and Adriana Dinis, the founding attorneys of the firm, are passionate about helping those less fortunate. Dinis, who earned her J.D. in 2008 from the Stetson University College of Law, where she received the William F. Blews Pro Bono Service Award, joined Gulfcoast Legal Services in St. Petersburg that same year. She still is a staff attorney for its Children’s Im- migration Legal Defense project. Mackovjak graduated from college in 1992 and then spent the next 10 years with the Peace Corps and Red Cross, working in places such as Rwanda, the People’s Republic of Congo, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. She earned her J.D. in 2003 from American University’s Washington College of Law, and then, like Dinis, rep- resented clients for Gulfcoast Legal Services. When they founded the Immigration Law Group in 2014, they chose to make pro bono service an inte- gral part of the firm’s culture. The firm addresses the unique needs of immigrants in two ways: Through direct support with pro bono services, and by educat- ing the entire community, including law enforcement, about issues specific to immigrants. The Immigration Law Group assists the InterCultur- al Advocacy Institute of Clearwater (also known as the Hispanic Outreach Center) by providing pro bono advice at a clinic every other month. It made at least 13 community presentations in 2016 on issues such as unaccompanied children at our borders, refugees and asylum, and human trafficking. The firm also of- fers training to law enforcement on human traffick- ing. The firm currently is representing three victims of domestic abuse whose cases promise to extend months or even years from now. A woman from Central America who is seeking asy- lum was a victim of extreme domestic violence in her home country. In 2015, she and her two young chil- dren were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and placed into detention. She and the children were later released to join family in Florida. Her asylum hearing is scheduled for February 2018, but in the meantime she is not authorized to work. Two other woman, both from Mexico, endured years of domestic violence that included rape. One, undocu- mented and alone with four children, finally got the courage to seek an order of protection. The other tried to get help from her family but was told that her hus- band could do as he wished. She stayed with him un- til he punched her in the face because their daughter had a diaper rash. The firm has filed for a U visa (for victims of crimes) for both women, but because of the current backlog, both will be pro bono clients for years to come. In 2016, the Immigration Law Group of Florida was honored in the Sixth Judicial Circuit for Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Law Firm. “To paraphrase Aristotle,” said a nominator from the Pinellas County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, “although Kathlyn and Adri- ana’s individual accomplishments are impressive, together the Immigration Law Group of Florida is greater than the sum of its parts.” THE VOLUNTARY BAR ASSOCIATION PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD Presented by the Chief Justice The purpose of the Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award is to recognize a voluntary bar that has demonstrated a significant contribution in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis.

2017 Recipient Jacksonville Bar Association

he Jacksonville Bar Association has a com- mitment to pro bono service that has spanned Tdecades, and its positive impact on the legal needs of the poor throughout Northeast Florida is immeasurable. The JBA received the Chief Justice’s Law Firm Com- mendation in 1997 and again in 2002, and its good works continue. Recent pro bono projects include: • In 2009, the Pro Bono Committee of the JBA started quarterly Ask-A-Lawyer events, largely in response to the foreclosure crisis. At locations in low-income neighborhoods chosen with help from the Jacksonville City Council, people with legal questions can have 15-minute, one-on-one conversa- tions with pro bono attorneys. The clients can learn whether they have a meritorious case, how they can proceed on their own and where to go for additional support. Each event draws 12 to 15 attorneys offer- ing counsel for up to 100 people. • In 2010, at the 12th Annual Equal Justice Awards event, the JBA received the Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Award from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in recognition of its work with JALA in address- ing problems in the community with financial sup- port and ongoing pro bono service. • The Pro Bono Attorney Ad Litem program, man- aged by the Legal Needs of Children Committee, was started in 2012. The JBA has recruited and trained attorneys and facilitated the placement of dozens of children with them, which has resulted in hundreds of hours of pro bono legal assistance and advocacy. As of late 2016, the project had about 60 pro bono attorneys willing to consider appointments. • In 2013, the JBA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee created the Pro Bono Mediation Project. Mediators volunteer according to the needs of the case and their areas of expertise, and they may pro- vide meeting space or go to the firm of one of the parties. • In 2016, the JBA joined with the Fourth Circuit Pro Bono Committee to organize and implement the first circuitwide pro bono attorney recognition event at the Duval County Courthouse. Attorneys received letters from Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and an Outstanding Pro Bono Service lapel pin (provided by The Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division). “The Presentation of the Pins” will be held again this year. In addition, the Law Week Committee coordinates Citizenship Day at Florida Coastal School of Law. Attendees complete applications for naturalization, have the applications reviewed by one of nearly 40 pro bono attorneys and submit them for consider- ation. The JBA also assists with fundraising efforts including the Law Review (a variety show featuring the talents of judges and attorneys), donation drives at luncheons and receptions, and the 30/60 Chal- lenge. ln 1937, members of the JBA -- already in existence for 40 years -- gathered to consider the civil cases of low-income people who came to their offices seeking help. Attorneys divided up the cases, and that was the beginning of the Duval County Legal Aid Society, later named Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Eighty years later, the Jacksonville Bar Association continues to provide dynamic, effective and gener- ous support of pro bono legal services. THE FLORIDA BAR YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD

The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award recognizes the public service or legal aid performed by a young lawyer (younger than 36 or who has not practiced for more than five years in any jurisdiction) and who provides outstanding contribu- tions to those in need of legal services.

2017 RECIPIENT Jennifer Edwards

fter graduating from law school in December A2014, Jennifer Edwards attended a lecture that focused on the needs of children who can become lost in the legal system without a voice. The speaker issued a call for mem- bers of the audience to adopt, foster or volunteer. Edwards didn’t hesitate, decid- ing to use her newly acquired legal skills to volunteer as a guardian ad litem and serve as a court-appointed advocate for children in Pinellas County. That work has earned her the pro bono honor presented by The Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division, which includes lawyers who are under the age of 36 or who have not practiced for more than five years in any jurisdiction. Edwards typically is appointed to serve in dependency cases. Those cases show the need, the difficulties and the rewards of guardian ad litem work. In her most recently completed case, Edwards worked for about a year representing a 7-year-old boy whose behavior and school work were suffering because of his parents’ substance abuse. In this emotionally charged situation, Edwards worked to determine whether reunification with the parents was in the boy’s best interest. She wore many hats, sometimes acting as counselor and coordina- tor, in addition to being the boy’s attorney. She met regularly with the boy and gained his trust; she met with his parents and persuaded them to complete the reunification plan; and she met with other in- volved parties to investigate, monitor and evaluate the evolving circumstances. Through the year, the boy improved his lagging language arts skills, and in the last six months made either the Honor Roll or the Principal’s List. At the conclusion of the case, the court agreed with Edwards’ recommendation that the boy be reunited with his parents -- a heart-warming ending to a difficult and emotional year. In late 2016, Edwards also was representing the interests of a 3-week-old girl and anticipated being appointed to another case as well. While still a law student at Stetson University, where she earned an M.B.A. at the same time as her J.D., Edwards demonstrated her commitment to pro bono service by volunteering with the Community Law Program, a nonprofit created by the St. Petersburg Bar Association to serve the legal needs of low-income and disadvantaged people. She regularly participated in the Family Law Clinic as well as Lawfest Days, providing initial advice and guidance in completing legal documents. She still participates in LawFest Days and is on the Community Law Program’s call list for pro bono at- torneys. “She embodies the saying that one makes time for those people and things that truly matter,” one nominator said. “Jennifer takes to heart the plight of abandoned, neglected or abused children and gives them a voice in the legal system.” THE FLORIDA BAR PRESIDENT’S PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award was established in 1981. Its purpose is twofold: “to further encourage lawyers to volunteer free legal services to the poor by recognizing those who make such public service commitments; and to communicate to the public some sense of the substantial volunteer services provided by Florida lawyers to those who cannot afford legal fees.” This award recognizes individual lawyer service in each of Florida’s specific judicial circuits, as well as one Bar member practicing out-of-state.

The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award Recipients 2017 David H. Abrams – Tallahassee Steven Lawrence Applebaum – Panama City Brett Alan Barfield – Miami Laura J. Boeckman – Jacksonville Jay S. Grife – St. Johns Lynn Katz Hanshaw – Tampa Kristie Hatcher-Bolin – Lakeland Brigitta Hawkins – Titusville Richard Francis Hussey – Fort Lauderdale Brenda L. London – Winter Park Joseph D. Lorenz – Fort Walton Beach David L. Manz – Marathon Mark Miller – Palm Beach Gardens Peggy-Anne O’Connor – Gainesville Samuel Pennington – Tavares Christina Nieto Seifert – Lake City Michele S. Stephan – Sarasota Holly Tabernilla – West Palm Beach Jonathan I. Tolentino – Naples Laura Thayer Wagner – Atlanta, Georgia Katherine Earle Yanes – Tampa Joseph D. Lorenz 1st Circuit ro bono service has been a hallmark of Joseph D. PLorenz throughout his 43-year legal career in Oka- loosa County. In 1998, he received The Flor- ida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the First Judicial Circuit, and almost 20 years later he is being honored again. Notably, said his nomi- nators with Legal Services of North Florida, the body of pro bono work he has engaged in over the last two decades is almost double the amount for which he was first honored. Lorenz’s specialty is marital and family law, and that is reflected in his pro bono work. In one case a few years ago, he provided more than 60 hours of pro bono work in a dissolution of marriage that involved domestic violence and custody of the children. More recently, he has worked on other domestic cases. He has provided his pro bono work directly as well as through Legal Services of North Florida (and through Okaloosa-Walton Legal Aid when that program existed). Lorenz also has provided service through the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, which delivers appel- late services to veterans with disabilities through the federal Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He also has volunteered as an attorney for the First Circuit Guardian Ad Litem Program and has worked as an attorney for the state’s Child Protection Team, to ensure the safety of children believed to have been abused. In 1994, he was honored by the governor and the Florida Supreme Court for service to the Guardian ad Litem program. Lorenz was lured to Florida from Pennsylvania in 1966 to study at the University of Miami. He earned his law degree from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and immediately went into practice in Fort Walton Beach. Over the years, he has been ac- tive in his community, serving as an officer with the Jaycees, the Boy Scouts, Child Guardians, Inc., the Chamber of Commerce and First United Methodist Church. He is a Florida Supreme Court-certified Family and Civic Circuit Mediator, and he has been a mediator in more than 2,000 family cases since 1991 – most of them through the court-ordered mediation program at reduced fee levels. David H. Abrams 2nd Circuit avid H. Abrams got a late start in his legal Dcareer, receiving his J.D. 10 years after he graduated from college and set off to be- come a registered professional nurse. He still describes him- self as a nurse who practices law, and that personal care shows in his pro bono work. While still at the City Univer- sity of New York School of Law, Abrams became involved with Florida State Professor Paolo Annino’s Children in Prison project, and he was the lead author on a clemency petition for a young woman who imprisoned for a first offense at age 13. With his law degree in hand, Abrams worked for the public defender, specializing in juvenile delinquency defense. At the same time, he continued his pro bono efforts and earned the Lone Star Legal Aid Project Award for representing a Texas mother whose child was kidnapped in a custody battle. Since opening his own office in Tallahassee in 2004, specializing in consumer rights and bankruptcy, Abrams has taken on some challenging pro bono cases. He represented a transgender student who was expelled from Leon County schools for wearing opposite-gender clothes and further represented the child in delinquency proceedings. He used his nurs- ing background in helping a 26-year-old pregnant woman who was fighting her court-ordered bed rest in a hospital. He spent a holiday weekend doing research and drafting pleadings, and he paid a fil- ing fee for an appeal out of his own pocket. Though the woman had a miscarriage before the case ended, Abrams won the appeal with a holding that pregnant women have rights to privacy and liberty in making medical decisions. Abrams spent more than 100 hours representing a cognitively impaired child in dependency court and through the child’s recent adoption. In a current case, Abrams is helping a former property manager whose homeowners’ association has reneged on waiving his HOA fees. His total in that case is 50 pro bono hours and counting. Abrams also takes on smaller challenges, such as of- fering area students free lease previews. He is active in his community, organizing and sponsor- ing “Saving Homes for the Holidays” for the homeless defense program of Legal Services of North Florida. Christina Nieto Seifert 3rd Circuit hen Christina “Tina” Nieto Seifert went Winto private practice in 2009, after spending most of the first 14 years of her legal career with the State Attor- ney’s Office, legal aid was the big winner. Seifert immediately signed up with Three Rivers Legal Ser- vices as a volunteer, and since then she has provided pro bono assistance to nearly 60 family law clients, spending as much as 60 hours on just one divorce case. Family law cases always are difficult to place with volunteer attorneys. That’s why Seifert, whose solo practice in Lake City concentrates on family and criminal law, is so valuable to Three Rivers. Her pro bono clients often are victims of domestic violence, and they often are facing a crisis in their lives. Seif- ert’s nominators said she is exceptionally patient and understanding of her clients’ needs, and the clients in turn become more comfortable and at ease, recog- nizing that Seifert truly enjoys working with them. Seifert also regularly volunteers to conduct the Three Rivers Legal Services pro se divorce clinic and has said she’d be happy to volunteer every month. Outside of her pro bono service, Seifert is active in the legal and local community. Throughout her career, she has been a role model for newer attorneys in the Third Judicial Circuit. She has been an active member of the Third Judicial Circuit Bar Association, holding every officer position at least once and serving as president twice, most recently in 2014-15. Each December, she organizes the local bar association’s toy drive for low-income children, and this year she also organized a food drive for a local food bank. She also has coached Columbia County High School’s mock trial team, and she is on the Board of Directors of the Gateway Art Gallery in Lake City She is a graduate of the Stetson University College of Law. Laura J. Boeckman 4th Circuit ot only has Laura Boeck- man donated hundreds Nof hours of pro bono ser- vice, but she also has been a vocal advocate advancing the availability of civil legal ser- vices for low-income people. For more than 15 years, she has demonstrated a commitment to protecting victims from those who engage in deceptive and unfair trade practices. Two years after receiving her J.D. in 2001 from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Boeckman joined Jacksonville Area Legal Aid as a staff attorney. In 2005, she joined the faculty of the Florida Coastal School of Law and was the supervis- ing attorney for the school’s Consumer Law Clinic. She helped dozens of people through the clinic while providing hundreds of hours of pro bono work on an individual basis, accepting cases from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the Federal District Court, and the American Bar Association’s Military Pro Bono Project. mostly focusing on consumer disputes. Just as important as Boeckman’s pro bono case repre- sentation has been her leadership as a mentor, guide and expert for other pro bono attorneys and legal services staff. Boeckman has developed and presented topics such as “Litigating Garnishment Exemptions” and “Profes- sionalism and the Pro Bono Client” for training pro bono attorneys across the state. She was one of the first coaches for the Fourth Circuit’s Bankruptcy Pro Bono Practice Groups, which helped clear a backlog of cases and foster a new group of dedicated pro bono attorneys. Now, as the North Florida Bureau Chief in the Con- sumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office, still Boeckman participates in pro bono efforts. For example, as the current president of the Jack- sonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, she has supported participation of members in the Legal Information Program, in which federal practice pro bono attorneys work with legal services staff attorneys to guide pro se litigants. The pilot program was so suc- cessful that it is being expanded to Tampa and Orlando. Boeckman also is co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Jacksonville Bar Association, has made presenta- tions on small-claims court and bankruptcy issues and has spoken to clients of Habitat for Humanity about their rights as consumers. Samuel Pennington 5th Circuit amuel Pennington’s road to the legal profession Shad several twists and turns. After graduating from Titus- ville High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was honorably discharged in 1970. He then went to college and graduated from the Cumber- land School of Law at Samford University in 1979. Pennington didn’t get around to taking The Florida Bar exam until 1988, instead working for several years with Christian Prison Ministries. But since the mid-1990s, he has limited his practice to the area of bankruptcy law. He also has kept a focus on helping people in need through pro bono legal services. In 1996, Pennington was recognized for his extraordi- nary pro bono services by the Greater Orlando Legal Services and the Lake County Bar Association. And in 2015, he was named the Lake County Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida. Pennington joined the pro bono panel of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida in July 2015 and was instrumental in the establishment of a recurring bankruptcy legal advice clinic in Lake County. He also recruited attorneys to staff the clinics and has mentored new pro bono attorneys as well as staff at- torneys for Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida. During the past year, Pennington has provided more than 100 hours of pro bono assistance to Community Legal Services clients. In addition to providing legal advice at the bankruptcy clinics, he has provided full representation to clients in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies. Pennington returned to private practice in 2012, a few months after retiring from his job as staff attorney for Laurie K. Weatherford, the Chapter 13 Standing Trustee for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, whom he had served from January 2001 through November of 2011. His Pennington Law Firm now has offices in Tavares and Orlando. He is a mem- ber of the Order of Barristers, given for excellence in courtroom advocacy. He also was chair of the Orange County Bar Association Bankruptcy Committee in 1998-99, and again in 2015-16. Lynn Katz Hanshaw 6th Circuit ynn Katz Hanshaw really wanted to be an attorney. LThe fact that she was a single mother of three who was holding down a full-time job and had needed 20 years to get her undergraduate degree wasn’t going to keep her from her goal. Hanshaw entered the Stetson College of Law when she was 40. While there, she interned with the legal aid organization Gulfcoast Legal Ser- vices and received the college’s William F. Blews Pro Bono Service Award. Upon her graduation in 1999, she was offered an opportunity to return to Gulfcoast Legal Services, and she stayed there until going into private practice in 2006. But she never forgot her pro bono roots. Over her years in private practice, Hanshaw has vol- unteered at intake sessions at the Community Law Program, participated in every Lawfest (a community law event in south St. Petersburg), volunteered to speak whenever asked, helped establish the first fair-housing consortium in the Pinellas-Hillsborough area, and made arrangements to take every single caller to Stetson’s veterans program with a landlord/ tenant issue. She never hesitates to offer assistance to an attorney or individual in need of direction in a housing-rights case, and you’ll still find her working the 7 a.m. shift at the monthly Ask a Lawyer program offered by the Hillsborough County Bar Association. Before she accepted her current job with Langford & Myers, P.A., in Tampa, where her practice includes extensive civil and administrative litigation, she explained that she would do so only if she could con- tinue her pro bono work. She even created an “Option Two” form that made it easier for her and others to act as a firm’s designated pro bono attorney, opening an untapped source of pro bono services. In 2016, she received the Sixth Judicial Circuit’s Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service by an Attorney. (Though Hanshaw’s office is in the Thirteenth Circuit, she also is being honored by The Florida Bar for work done in the Sixth Circuit.) “When something needs to be done, Lynn just does it,” one of her nominators said. Jay S. Grife 7th Circuit ay S. Grife had a success- ful career as a physician Jand podiatric surgeon and might have retired comfortably after his health wouldn’t allow him to continue. Instead, he chose a second career as an attorney, earning his J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1995, more than 20 years after he had earned his M.D. Today, the Grife Law Office in St. Johns concentrates on medical malpractice and health-related law. Grife’s pro bono work, though, takes a different di- rection, focusing on consumer finance and banking matters affecting low-income residents of St. Johns County. Since January of 2014, Grife – or “Mr. Jay” as some clients like to call him – has contributed more than 495 hours to pro bono cases. That’s in addition to the equally staggering 480 hours he has spent doing cli- ent intake interviews for the St. Johns County Legal Aid Consumer Pro Bono Program, often working into the evening. Want to know what pro bono service is worth? At $300 per hour – not an unreasonable rate for an attorney with 20 years of experience – Grife has contributed more than $290,000 in free legal services since 2014. There are faces behind those numbers. A 94-year-old woman couldn’t understand why her home was in foreclosure. Grife found that a relative had fraudu- lently obtained a reverse mortgage on the house and that the bank, while claiming the woman no longer lived in the house, was having foreclosure papers delivered to that very address. Eventually, Grife saved her home. In another case, a woman was sued twice by a na- tional bank for the same debt. Grife swiftly obtained a dismissal of the second suit, then file a malicious prosecution claim against the bank and obtained complete relief for his client. His nominator said Grife probably has opened and closed more pro bono cases in the interview room – making a phone call to work out a solution – than most attorneys will take on in their careers. “I have not met another lawyer who contributes so much of his time and energy to pro bono work or who cares so deeply for his pro bono clients,” the nominator said. Peggy-Anne O’Connor 8th Circuit s part of her commit- ment to Alachua Coun- Aty’s Ask-A-Lawyer proj- ect that serves people who are homeless, Peggy-Anne “Peg” O’Connor joined other volun- teers in serving a meal at Grace Marketplace. No doubt there was extra satisfaction in that effort when some of the people in line exclaimed, “Hey, that’s my lawyer!” The Ask-A-Lawyer project -- a collaborative effort of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association, Three Rivers Legal Services, Southern Legal Counsel and volunteer law students from the University of Florida Levin College of Law -- meets 10 times a year at locations serving the homeless, including Grace Marketplace, a domestic violence shelter and the downtown library. O’Connor began working with the project in March 2015 and has been an active and integral member. She has met with more than 30 clients to discuss their issues, primarily in criminal law, and has worked with other volunteer attorneys to determine how to best advise the clients. “She doesn’t miss an event,” a nominator wrote. “It is no doubt very difficult to live with the stigma of being homeless. But when these clients meet Peg, they are greeted with a friendliness and dignity that assures them that they are just as important to Peg as any of her other clients.” O’Connor also handles pro bono work outside of Ask- A-Lawyer. She prepared and filed a clemency petition for the compassionate release of a 73-year-old federal inmate in South Carolina who was sentenced to 262 months in prison for conspiracy to import marijuana. She also is partnering with the ACLU and another local attorney against the Florida Department of Corrections for mistreatment inflicted on inmates by guards at Suwannee Correctional Institution. O’Connor earned her J.D. from the Levin College of Law in 1998. She has been in private practice with Turner O’Connor Kozlowski in Gainesville since 2007. Active in the legal community, she serves on the board of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association and the Southern Legal Counsel, and is a past-chair of the Gainesville Women’s Network and a past-president of the Federal Bar Association, North Central Florida Chapter. Brenda L. London 9th Circuit hen Brenda London’s 13-year-old son was Woffered extra credit to write a poem about a local hero, he wrote “Do You Hear Me?” which ends with the lines: She didn’t give up and I was surprised. Do you hear me? Now I laugh and even if I cry, I know That someone hears me. It was about his mother and her many years of work with children in need, and it was one of the winners in Orlando’s “Writes of Spring” contest and became part of a play, written around students’ words, titled “Do You Hear Me?” Since 1988, London has taken more than 100 Guard- ian ad Litem appointments. She currently assists nine children, and she has donated more than 1,200 hours on closed cases. In 2016, she received the Judge J.C. “Jake” Stone Distinguished Service Award, the highest recognition from the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association. Many of the cases have been difficult. In one, a mother abandoned her three children at a hotel, and they later faced severe abuse after being adopted. In another, sisters aged 10 and 12 were forced to act out pornography with their father. In yet another, three children witnessed the beating death of their 4-year-old sister. London worked for 10 years with six children who had one mother and three fathers, standing by them as they experienced accidents and disability. London went the extra mile, even learning sign lan- guage so she could communicate with a child who was deaf. London also serves as director of the Barry University Collaborative Family Law Clinic, which helps families restructure their lives and make good choices for their children. London received her J.D. in 1988 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She has been with the Aiken Family Law Group in Winter Park since 1993. “My pro bono work has allowed me the greatest op- portunity to become the best lawyer, wife, mother and human being I could ever have hoped to be,” London said, “and I am grateful and humble to all the families that have allowed me into their lives.”

Kristie Hatcher-Bolin 10th Circuit

ince 2005, Kristie Hatch- er-Bolin has been a pro Sbono attorney ad litem and volunteer advocate for the children in the 10th Judicial Circuit Guardian ad Litem program. The challenge can be daunting, but she never misses a beat, attending all the hearings and contacting all the interested stakeholders before the hear- ings. She also takes time to attend all staffings involv- ing children in her cases. Often, her nominators said, Hatcher-Bolin provides the court and parties with information that was unknown previously, thanks to her thorough research into the cases. Hatcher­-Bolin is currently serving on two complex cases, one of which offers a perfect example of the importance of a guardian ad litem. The child involved is a victim of sex trafficking. The state of Georgia subpoenaed the child to testify against the accused perpetrator, and an attorney for Florida’s Department of Children and Families told the case manager that the child must go to Georgia and appear at the hearing. When the Guardian ad Litem program and Hatcher-Bolin learned of the sub- poena, she worked with the Georgia district attorney to gather information so that the state obtained a conviction without the child having to face her abuser again in the courtroom. The child is currently thriving in a placement in Florida, with Hatcher-Bolin remaining on her side. Hatcher-Bolin is a shareholder at GrayRobinson, P.A., a large law firm in Lakeland. Despite a demanding professional schedule, she still averages 15 to 20 hours each month on her pro bono cases. Her nominators said she often carries the day in court because of her thorough knowledge about the children in her cases, and details of the cases well beyond what is expected. Hatcher-Bolin, a former high school English teacher, is a 2001 graduate of the Florida State University College of Law. In addition to her pro bono work, she also serves as a member of the Second District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission. Brett Alan Barfield 11th Circuit

s a partner with Holland & Knight LLP in Mi- Aami, Brett Alan Barfield handles business litigation with an emphasis on domestic and international commercial disputes. But he has become known for another specialty through his pro bono work: litigation under the Hague Convention on international parental child abduction. Through Barfield’s leadership, Holland & Knight has handled more than 80 Hague cases. Barfield has personally litigated more than 50 such cases, mostly in Florida, offering him an op- portunity to mentor younger lawyers as they work to reunite parents and children and, at the same time, gain invaluable courtroom experience. In 2016, Barfield spent more than 380 hours on pro bono work, most of it on three cases: In a case from Venezuela, Holland & Knight lawyers helped Alfredo Salvi reunite with his daughter. When the child was 11 months old, the mother obtained a fraudulent U.S. passport for the child using her new husband’s surname, then took the child from Venezu- ela to New York City, in violation of a Venezuelan court order. Ironically, facing threats in Venezuela, Salvi and his daughter fled to the United States, while his ex-wife filed a Hague Convention action seeking the return of the child to Venezuela. Barfield defeated that petition based on an exception when the child would face a “grave risk of physical or psychological harm.” Another case involved a Panamanian father seeking to reunite with his twins, whom the mother secretly removed in 2009 and again in 2014. The court ruled that too much time had passed for the children to be returned, and Barfield is appealing the decision. Finally, Barfield was awaiting a ruling on a case in which a father in Florida took his three children for a “summer vacation” and refused to return them to Canada. Barfield, valedictorian of his 1999 graduating class at St. Thomas University School of Law, has coordinated Holland & Knight’s pro bono program for the last few years, taking on challenging matters and recruiting colleagues to do the same. The firm cosponsors­ self- help clinics, a pro bono website, seminars, hotlines and other projects benefitting disadvantaged people. Michele S. Stephan 12th Circuit

ven before she joined The Florida Bar, Michele ES. Stephan understood the value of pro bono service. Stephan went to the Stetson University College of Law on a Public Service Fellowship from The Florida Bar Foundation and, while there, developed a program to provide legal services to the poor and volun- teered at legal clinics. She was awarded the college’s Pro Bono Service Award in 1996, the year she earned her J.D. Now, after 20 years of legal practice, she has left a Sarasota personal-injury firm and started a solo prac- tice, Sui Juris, P.A., to offer unbundled legal services to pro se litigants and others who can’t afford a lawyer. Stephan has been an outstanding advocate for Legal Aid of Manasota, helping clients and teaching a di- vorce clinic. She is dedicated to serving the homeless at Resurrection House, a local day shelter. Over the years she has donated more than 800 hours of pro bono service. For five years, Stephan has single-handedly run a weekly clinic at Resurrection House, assisting people who are homeless. She helped a German man get his driver’s license by requesting records from the U.S. Consulate document- ing his legal entry into the United States. She also helped a man with Stage IV lung cancer obtain his driver’s license for identification. She assisted a client through the Social Security disability process, enabling him to get off the street and into safe housing. She helped a father defend a termination of parental rights so that he could estab- lish a relationship with his child, and she helped a woman recover uninsured motorist benefits after she was involved in a hit and run. Another client was living in a decrepit motel, even though she had an inheritance. Stephan helped establish a guardianship, and the client is now in an assisted living facility, getting three meals a day, while the trustee trying to steal the money was held accountable. Stephan earned the 2015 Distinguished Community Service Award from the Sarasota County Bar Asso- ciation and the Service to the Community Award by Legal Aid of Manasota in 2011, 2014 and 2015. Katherine Earle Yanes 13th Circuit

ederal prisons are full of drug offenders who might Fhave received much light- er sentences if they had been sentenced under current law. That injustice led to the cre- ation of Clemency Project 2014, and Katherine Earle Yanes has been one of the keys to the project’s success. Since she became involved in July 2014, Yanes has documented more than 500 hours volunteering for Clemency Project 2014. That does not include countless nights and weekends spent working on the clemency cases and assisting others with their clemency cases. “To watch Katherine leave in the evening with a brief- case under her arm and come back the next morning having written two cases,” fellow attorney James Felman told the Tampa Bay Times, “it’s unbelievable.” Felman works at Kynes Markman & Felman, P.A., in Tampa, where Yanes is a partner. Kynes, Markman & Felman has submitted more than 110 petitions to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the Department of Justice. As of late 2016, President Obama had granted clemency to 30 of those. Yanes has written petitions, assisted other volunteer attorneys outside of her firm by answering questions or giving them guidance with sentencing guidelines, and serves as a member of the Screening Committee for the project. “We felt like this was really a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- tunity to be able to make a difference on a larger scale in people’s lives,” Yanes told the Tampa Bay Times. “Honestly, I feel like it’s about the most satisfying and fulfilling thing I’ve done as an attorney.” Yanes also continues to represent clients on a pro bono basis through Crossroads for Florida Kids, Inc. and the Stetson Innocence Pro Bono Project. She serves on several committees for The Florida Bar, is president of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar As- sociation and is a past-president of the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers. In 2016, the Hillsborough County Bar Association Criminal Law Section awarded Yanes its annual Mar- celino “Bubba” Huerta III Award for Professionalism and Pro Bono Service. Yanes earned her J.D. in 1997 from the Stetson Uni- versity College of Law, where she was valedictorian. Steven Lawrence Applebaum 14th Circuit teven Applebaum got an early exposure to the Slegal needs of low-income people when, right after gradu- ating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1991, he went to work for Legal Services of North Florida at its Panama City office. Applebaum worked at LSNF for three years, representing clients in landlord/tenant is- sues, consumer law, bankruptcy, family law, and wills and probate. In 1995, he went into private practice, but he didn’t stop helping others. First he volunteered as a mock trial coach at a local high school, helping the team win state champion- ships in 1994 and 1995. He retired from coaching but remained as a mock trial judge and was named At- torney of the Year in 1996 by the Florida Law Related Education Association. He began volunteering at the monthly First Saturday Legal Clinic, a joint project of Legal Services of North Florida and the Bay County Bar Association. Several times he was co-chair, which meant helping to run the clinic and recruit attorneys to attend. In 2013, after a six-month term as co-chair, Applebaum wanted to become more involved with coordinating pro bono ef- forts and joined the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee. In 2015, he helped coordinate and attended a pro bono advice clinic in nearby Jackson County. About the same time, the administrators of the First Saturday Legal Clinic retired, so Applebaum stepped in to fill the void, working with staff at Gulf Coast College to make sure classrooms were available and becoming the unofficial liaison with Legal Services of North Florida. Applebaum also has donated about 30 hours each of the last four years to direct pro bono services. He helped a man with disabilities get child support reduced to an appropriate, affordable amount and then helped the client reorganize his finances, which brought him stability and peace of mind. In another case, he got an eviction notice dismissed and helped a client through the foreclosure process, letting her redeem the equity in her home. Applebaum has worked with the Law Office of Brian D. Hess in Panama City since 1995. Holly Tabernilla 15th Circuit

ndocumented immi- grants can be under- Ustandably reluctant to have contact with law enforce- ment, a worry that can become tragic when the person is a victim of abuse or other crimes. That’s why the pro bono work of Holly Tabernilla is so im- portant. Tabernilla began volunteering with the Immigrant Advocacy Project in September 2013. One of a number of advocacy projects of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County (along with projects handling issues from wage disputes to children’s health and fair housing), the Immigrant Advocacy Project provides legal services to immigrants apply- ing for lawful permanent residence, with a focus on noncitizen victims of domestic violence and dependent immigrant children, and community education in the area of immigration and nationality law. Tabernilla volunteers there about three days every week, and handles mostly U Nonimmigrant Visa cases, helping undocumented immigrants obtain legal status when they have been the victim of a crime and have cooperated with law enforcement in the investi- gation or prosecution of that crime. She has logged nearly 80 hours per month in pro bono services -- well over 2,000 hours total. She has represented more than 100 victims, most of whom would have gone unrepresented if not for her willing- ness to volunteer. “Holly is a superb advocate and has become a valuable member of the Immigration Advocacy Project team,” supervising attorney Shane O’Meara said. Her repre- sentation of these victims can result in many benefits for them, including eligibility to apply for a driver’s license, access to public health insurance programs as well as employment authorization. Tabernilla, who lives in West Palm Beach, received the 2016 Immigration Law Award from the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County. She received her J.D. in 1988 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She has worked in the public and private sector and practiced commercial litigation in both state and federal court. David L. Manz 16th Circuit

f you want to see the impact that pro bono service can Ihave on people in need, just take a glance at some of the cases handled by David Manz. The mother of a 4-year-old boy with special needs was asking the court to enforce the terms of a custody and visitation agreement, after the father refused to abide by it. Manz dedicated 110 pro bono hours to that case alone. A woman needed to set up a durable power of attorney over her sister, who was suffering from dementia. The case was referred from another jurisdiction, and as soon as Manz was notified of the need for an attorney, he jumped in to assist the client at a difficult time. In a dissolution-of-marriage case, Manz handled things expeditiously and obtained alimony so the woman could get a fresh start. In a guardianship case, Manz successfully handled ali- mony and child-support issues after a father refused child support for an adult dependent child. After another dissolution-of-marriage case, the client said, “Mr. Manz was so wonderful.” In all, Manz provided more than 300 hours of pro bono service on 10 cases in 2015 and 2016. Manz finds many of his pro bono legal cases through the Put Something Back pro bono project, for which he handles primarily family law, guardianship and other civil matters. Though the office of the Manz Law Firm is in Marathon, on the Overseas Highway, he accepts pro bono cases from many jurisdictions, and clients consistently praise his willingness to help and his dedication to their causes. “He never says ‘no’ when called upon to assist the Put Something Back pro bono project,” said one nominator. Manz received his J.D. in 1984 from the Cumberland School of Law. He became a member of the Alabama bar the same year, but moved to Monroe County in 1988, when he became a member of The Florida Bar. He is a past chair of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar (2011-2012) and also is a past president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Richard Francis Hussey 17th Circuit

he perfect word to de- scribe the pro bono le- Tgal service of Richard Hussey might be “reliable.” Almost every year since 1989, Hussey has handled a pro bono case, racking up nearly 870 hours of pro bono service. Most of the cases involved divorce or separation, with custody and visitation cases also being common. The reason is that Hussey chooses to represent survivors of do- mestic violence, helping them to resolve their family law and housing issues. One client whom Hussey represented was a woman who was fleeing violence, displaced from her home and living in her car. In another instance, he agreed to accept a pro bono case to represent a client in a restraining order hearing, with just one day’s notice before the hearing. But without Hussey’s help, that client might have had to go before the court without representation. Hussey accepts most of his cases through Legal Aid Service of Broward County and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida, who are partners in a joint pro bono project, Broward Lawyers Care. Broward Lawyers Care recruits, trains, retains and recognizes volunteer attorneys through campaigns, presenta- tions, seminars, clinics and awards. Hussey also helps families through the Broward County Bar Association and previously served with the Guardian ad Litem Program in Broward County. In addition, Hussey mentors other pro bono attorneys in dealing with difficult family law cases. Hussey is a 1981 graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law. He joined the California Bar, of which he still is a member, in 1982 and then joined The Florida Bar in 1983. Since 1990, he has been a solo practitioner in Fort Lauderdale, dealing in both trial and civil litigation. His office has been in the same building in downtown Fort Lauderdale since 1994. In 2005, he was named Lawyer of the Year by Broward Lawyers Care. Brigitta Hawkins 18th Circuit

he spring of 2010 was not a good time for many res- Tidents of Brevard County, who faced unprecedented hard- ships with the collapse of the economy and the housing mar- ket. With that hardship came a vast and unmet need for legal information and assistance. Later that same year, Brigitta Hawkins created the Space Coast Community Law School, with the help of a team of volunteers who included attorneys, judges and paralegals. Since then, a dozen judges and more than 50 at- torneys have provided hundreds of pro bono hours offering free legal seminars to the public on topics such as foreclosure, bankruptcy, estate planning and probate, Social Security disability, employment law, landlord-tenant disputes, small claims, guardianship, post-conviction relief, domestic violence injunctions, consumer law, constitutional law and criminal law. Sessions on law library information, clerk’s office procedures and legal aid services are also included. The bimonthly seminars are held in an informal set- ting, in the evening at two locations during spring and fall terms, and general questions are welcome. Hawkins also is a familiar face to the staff at Brevard County Legal Aid – they know her as “Britta” -- for being willing to provide individual representation to people in need. Since 2009, she has provided about 400 hours of pro bono service to 230 clients. Hawkins has been recognized by Brevard County Le- gal Aid with its Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award in every year since 2009. The Florida Association of Women Lawyers has given her its Leader in Law honor, and the Brevard Bar Foundation presented her with the President’s Certificate of Excellence for Exemplary Leadership and Service to the Com- munity Award. Hawkins, who received her J.D. in 2006 from the Florida A&M University College of Law, is now a partner at Telfer, Faherty, Anderson & Hawkins, P.L., in Titusville, where her primary focus is on Social Security, worker’s compensation, veteran’s law and personal injury. Her nominators at Brevard County Legal Aid called Hawkins “a shining example of professionalism in our community.” Mark Miller 19th Circuit iamond Litty had been the elected public de- Dfender for the 19th Ju- dicial Circuit since 1992, and never before had a lawyer in private practice walked in and asked to help with her office’s burgeoning caseload. That changed in 2009, when Mark Miller inquired about a lack of funding and the need for more legal services. Miller quickly put together a group of lawyers who created the Pro Bono Appellate Program to assist indigent defendants with the appeals process. At- torneys volunteering through the program have won numerous appeals for their clients. In one case, all charges were dismissed after the State Attorney’s Of- fice reviewed the appeals brief submitted on behalf of a defendant. Miller has said that the best part of the appellate program is seeing other attorneys step in to help the Public Defender’s Office carry out its mission. Carolyn Fabrizio, director of private attorney involve- ment with Florida Rural Legal Services, had a similar story of surprise with Miller. In 2009-10, when she was a pro bono coordinator for FRLS, she was delighted to meet Miller – who then had a boutique appellate practice – and find him zealously working pro bono on a foreclosure case assigned through the Florida Attorneys Saving Homes program. She says Miller always has found ways to work outside the box to help pro bono clients. He also has mentored FRLS attorneys in their work on appellate cases. Over the past eight years, Miller has provided more than 400 hours of pro bono services to low-income clients on the Treasure Coast. Even when he’s not working directly with a client on a pro bono basis, Miller is generous with his leadership skills. He has worked to find ways that the Martin County Bar Association (of which he is now president) could help Florida Rural Legal Services (of which he is a board member) meet the needs of vulnerable people. He’s also a member of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee. Martin, a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, has been managing attorney of the Pacific Legal Foundation’s East Coast office in Palm Beach Gardens since March 2014. Jonathan I. Tolentino 20th Circuit

espite his status as a solo practitioner with a busy Dpractice in Naples, Jona- than I. Tolentino places a prior- ity on pro bono service. Over the last few years, his work has changed the lives of members of more than 20 debt-laden, low- income families, helping them to find financial relief and get a fresh start. Tolentino was one of the found- ing members of the Pro Bono Bankruptcy Legal Clinic, launched in 2012 by the Legal Aid Service of Collier County’s Collier Lawyers Care Pro Bono Program. Using software and equipment funded through a grant from the American College of Bankruptcy At- torneys, Tolentino and four other experienced bank- ruptcy attorneys were paired with law students to help clients at several legal advice clinics at Legal Aid Service of Collier County. Part of the purpose of the clinics was to screen clients to see if they might qualify for a Chapter 7 filing in Bankruptcy Court. Tolentino ended up taking on a number of these cases – 21 since 2012. Obviously, because the clients already were deeply in debt – often due to job loss or serious medical issues – they were in desperate need of the free legal services that Tolentino provided. Tolentino continues to work on Chapter 7 cases for Legal Aid Service of Collier County, and he has provided more than 200 hours of pro bono services – with five cases still pending -- since the legal clinic was launched, helping to discharge many thousands of dollars of debt for the low-income clients served by legal aid. Tolentino’s nominators praised his flexibility and his willingness to take on pro bono cases. In turn, he serves as a role model for other attorneys, and he has helped Legal Aid Service of Collier County recruit ad- ditional pro bono attorneys to handle the heavy load of bankruptcy cases. His work has relieved emotional and economic bur- dens that were weighing down struggling families. Tolentino is a 1999 graduate of Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center. Laura Thayer Wagner Out-of-state

aura Wagner’s dedication to pro bono legal service Lstarted early, when she was a student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She was involved in both the Pro Bono Project, which offers legal services to organizations with limited resources, and the Community Service Project, which provides support to a variety of community-based projects, devoting more than 105 hours to each. She received Outstanding Achievement Certificates from the college for both efforts. One year after receiving her J.D. in 2012, she joined Hunton & Williams LLP at its Atlanta office, and there she has spent more than 700 hours on pro bono representation during the last two years. Almost since her arrival, Wagner has been working on a major habeas corpus case that Hunton & Williams accepted after being approached by the Southern Center for Human Rights. Three brothers were tried together on charges of murder, and all three were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. However, there was a likelihood that material evidence was not uncovered or introduced at trial. In addition, while reviewing the trial transcript, Wagner found that a prospective juror had said under oath that he could not be fair and impartial in the case – but was seated on the jury anyway. Wagner now is handling habeas petitions for two of the brothers (one, now deceased, is believed to have been the shooter in the case). One petition was denied but is on appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia. As of early December, the second was fully briefed and awaiting a hearing. Wagner has dedicated more than 600 hours to the two cases. In addition, in 2014, Wagner spent more than 95 pro bono hours representing a senior citizen referred by the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. She obtained a favorable result for the client, who was involved in a property dispute. For her efforts over the last two years, Wagner re- ceived her firm’s E. Randolph Williams Award for outstanding pro bono service. Wagner is a member of the Florida and the Georgia bars, and also is a member of the Young Lawyers Division of each. Recipients of the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award Mark Olive, Tallahassee (2017) Bruce B. Blackwell, Winter Park (2016) John W. Kozyak, Miami (2015) Karen Meyer Buesing, Tampa (2014) Jeanne Trudeau Tate, Tampa (2013) Rosemary E. Armstrong, Tampa (2012) Robert G. Kerrigan, Pensacola (2011) Robert C. Josefsberg, Miami (2010) Russell E. Carlisle, Fort Lauderdale (2009) Sylvia Hardaway Walbolt, Tampa (2008) Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, Tallahassee (2007) Katherine Warthen Ezell, Miami (2006) James M. Vanderplas, Indian Rocks Beach (2005) Edward M. Waller, Jr., Tampa (2004) Jacqueline Marie Valdespino, Miami (2003) Maurice Wagner, Deltona (2002) Gerald Israel Kornreich, Miami (2001) Victor Manuel Diaz, Jr., Miami (2000) Daniel Frederick Wilensky, Jacksonville (1999) Vance Edwin Salter, Miami (1998) James M. Russ, Orlando (1997) Richard Craig Milstein, Miami (1996) Leon Blakely Cheek, III, Fern Park (1995) Allan Howard Terl, Fort Lauderdale (1994) Nancy S. Palmer, Maitland (1993) Steven Mark Goldstein, Tallahassee (1992) Alexandra delaVergne St. Paul, Bradenton (1991) Howard W. Dixon, Miami (1990) Herbert Lee Allen, Jr., Orlando (1989) Jean Gillespie Booher, Fort Lauderdale (1988) Steven Lauren Seliger, Quincy (1987) Roderick Norman Petrey, Miami (1986) William J. Sheppard, Jacksonville (1985) Neil Chonin, Coral Gables (1984) Philip John Padovano, Tallahassee (1983) Ira J. Kurzban, Miami (1982)

Recipients of the Distinguished Judicial Service Award Hon. Virginia Baker Norton, Jacksonville (2017) Hon. Cynthia L. Cox, Vero Beach (2016) Hon. Ashley B. Moody, Tampa (2015) Hon. Emily A. Peacock, Tampa (2014) Hon. Claudia Rickert Isom, Tampa (2013) Hon. James M. Barton, II, Tampa (2012) Hon. Susan G. Sexton, Tampa (2011) Hon. Nikki Ann Clark, Tallahassee (2010) Hon. John Robert Blue (retired), St. Petersburg (2009) Hon. Michael Francis Andrews, Clearwater (2008) Hon. Lauren L. Brodie, Naples (2007) Hon. Charles A. Francis, Tallahassee (2006) Hon. William A. Van Nortwick, Jr., Tallahassee (2005) Recipients of the Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award Hon. Laurel Myerson Isicoff, Miami (2017) Hon. Catherine Peek McEwen, Tampa (2016)

Recipients of the Chief Justice’s Law Firm Commendation Immigration Law Group of Florida, P.A. (2017) Duane Morris LLP (2016) Akerman LLP (2015) Stichter, Riedel, Blain & Prosser, P.A. (2014) Clark & Washington, P.C. (2013) Fisher, Butts, Sechrest Warner & Palmer, P.A. (2012) Foley & Lardner, LLP (2011) Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen & Ginsburg, P.A. (2010) Hunton & Williams LLP (2010) Fishback, Dominick, Bennett, Stepter, Ardaman, Ahlers, Bolton & Langley LLP (2009) City Attorney’s Office, City of Tallahassee (2008) Hogan & Hartson LLP (2007) Messer & Messer (2007) Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns LLP (2006) Barrett & Barrett (2005) Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton, P.A. (2004) Carlton Fields (2003) Markowitz, Davis, Ringel & Trusty, P.A. (2002) Podhurst Orseck Josefsburg Eaton Meadow Olin & Perwin, P.A. (2001) Fisher & Sauls, P.A. (2000) Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (1998) The Broward County Attorney’s Office, Office of the Public Defender (1997) Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal and Banker, P.A. (1995) Steel Hector & Davis (1994) Wooten, Honeywell & Kest, P.A. (1993) Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon (1992) Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff, Rosen & Quentelo, P.A. (1991) Fine Jacobson Schwartz Nash Block & England (1991) Holland & Knight (1990) Thomson, Zeder, Bohrer, Werth, Adorno & Razook (1985) Recipients of the Chief Justice’s Voluntary Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award Jacksonville Bar Association (2017) Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association (2016) Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers (2015) Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association (2014) Tampa Bay Hispanic Bar Association (2013) St. Lucie County Bar Association (2012) Tallahassee Women Lawyers (2011) Seminole County Bar Association (2010) Dade County Bar Association (2009) Cuban American Bar Association (2008) Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida (2007) Hispanic Bar Association, Stetson College of Law (2006) Clearwater Bar Association (2005) Indian River County Bar Association (2003) Jacksonville Bar Association (2002) St. Petersburg Bar Association (2001) Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida (2000) Collier County Bar Association (1999) Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers, Inc. (1998) Jacksonville Bar Association (1997) Counsel for Cuban Detainees (1996) Escambia/Santa Rosa Bar Association (1995) The Legal Aid Foundation of the Tallahassee Bar Associa- tion, Inc. (1994) Put Something Back, A Joint Project of the Eleventh Judi- cial Circuit and Dade County Bar Association (1993) Orange County Bar Association (1992) Hillsborough County Bar Association (1991)

Recipients of The Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award Jennifer Edwards, Largo (2017) Elisa J. D’Amico, Miami (2016) Sara Alpert, Tampa (2015) Laura E. Ward, Tampa (2014) Rebecca Lauren Sosa, Miami (2013) Timothy Allen Moran, Oviedo (2012) Rachel May Zysk, Tampa (2011) Monica Miller Evans, Tallahassee (2010) Carin Manders Constantine, St. Petersburg (2009) Heather Pinder Rodriguez, Orlando (2008) Mac Richard McCoy, Tampa (2007) Joseph F. Summonte, Jr., Sarasota (2006) Melanie Emmons Damian, Miami (2005) Thomas Alan Zehnder, Orlando (2004) Laurel Francis Moore, Tampa (2003) Lawrence Howard Kolin, Orlando (2002) Jacqueline Hogan Scola, Miami (2001) Steven H. Malone, West Palm Beach (2000) Scott Edmonds Ray, Miami (1999) Karen Josefsberg Ladis, Miami (1998) Michelle Anchors, Tallahasssee (1997) Robert Lowery Hamilton, Orlando (1996) Cheryl Ada Elizabeth Little, Miami (1995) A. Bryant Applegate, Orlando (1994) Robert Alan Williams, Tallahassee (1993) Recipients of The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards

2017 David H. Abrams, Tallahassee Steven Lawrence Applebaum, Panama City Brett Alan Barfield, Miami Laura J. Boeckman, Jacksonville Jay S. Grife, St. Johns Lynn Katz Hanshaw, Tampa Kristie Hatcher-Bolin, Lakeland Brigitta Hawkins, Titusville Richard Francis Hussey, Fort Lauderdale Brenda L. London, Winter Park Joseph D. Lorenz, Fort Walton Beach David L. Manz, Marathon Mark Miller, Palm Beach Gardens Peggy-Anne O’Connor, Gainesville Samuel Pennington, Tavares Christina Nieto Seifert, Lake City Michele S. Stephan, Sarasota Holly Tabernilla, West Palm Beach Jonathan I. Tolentino, Naples Laura Thayer Wagner, Atlanta, Georgia Katherine Earle Yanes, Tampa 2016 Jennifer C. Anderson, Ponte Vedra James V. Cook, Tallahassee William H. “Bill” Drumm, Sarasota Patricia A. Eables, Key West Pamela L. Foels, Orlando Kathryn “Kate” Hill, Vero Beach Andrew J. Kamensky, New York, New York Frederick Koberlein, Jr., Lake City Lyndall “Lyndy” Lambert, Miami Jason D. Lazarus, West Palm Beach Lawrence J. Markell, Gulfport Raymond T. McNeal, Ocala Russell Miller-Thompson, Sunrise Kelley Geraghty Price, Naples Taras S. Rudnitsky, Longwood Thomas Saunders, Bartow Isabel “Cissy” Boza Sevelin, Thonotosassa Robert L. Thirston, II, Panama City Beach Patricia Vail, Jacksonville Jason A. Waddell, Pensacola Mary K. Wimsett, Gainesville 2015 Elizabeth S. Baker, Miami Andrew R. Boyer, Sarasota Kenneth Brooks, Jr., Milton Samuel G. Crosby, Lakeland Jimmy Allen Davis, Deltona Michelle L. Farkas, Gainesville Garrett A. Fenton, Washington, D.C. Robert “Bob” Goldman, Key West Bonnie Green, Lake City Elizabeth L. “Betsey” Hapner, Tampa Anne E. Hinds, Fort Lauderdale Gregory T. Holtz, Estero Michael G. Howard, Melbourne Beach Jay Kim, Fort Lauderdale Blane McCarthy, Jacksonville Steven A. Messer, Port St. Lucie Richard A. Perry, Ocala Elizabeth Ricci, Tallahassee Douglas L. Smith, Panama City Frank C. Wesighan, Orlando Brent A. Woody, Tarpon Springs 2014 Joseph L. Amos, Jr., Orlando Virginia Marie Buchanan, Pensacola Karen Meyer Buesing, Tampa Maria Frances Caldarone, Vero Beach A. Leigh Cangelosi, Branford Susan V. Carroll, Panama City J. Davis Connor, Lake Wales Sonia R. Crockett, Tallahassee William Walker Gallogly, Jacksonville Timothy G. Hains, Naples Michael Harshman, Lakewood Ranch Amy U. Hickman, Boynton Beach David Mangiero, Miami Joseph M. Mason, Jr., Brooksville William Fletcher McMurry, Louisville, Kentucky Stephen Bruce Moss, Fort Lauderdale Jessica L.C. Rae, St. Petersburg David Joseph Rodziewicz, Ormond Beach Gary Siegel, Sanford David Van Loon, Key West Nancy Ericksen Wright, Gainesville 2013 Bridget Ann Berry, West Palm Beach Bruce Beuford Blackwell, Orlando Jennings Kemp Brinson, Lakeland Mary-Ellen Cross, Gainesville Carolyn Davis Cummings, Tallahassee Janice Joy “J.J. Dahl, Clermont William Kenan DeBraal, Vero Beach Frederick J. Gant, Pensacola Steven D. Kramer, Altamonte Springs Janella Kayla Leibovitz, Sarasota Maxine Master Long, Miami Emerson Lotzia, Jacksonville Steven Wayne Marcus, Fort Lauderdale James D. “Jim” McDonald, Venice Robert Allan “Bob” Pell, Port St. Joe Tania Romaine Schmidt-Alpers, St. Augustine Leon Claudio Skornicki, New York, New York David Elihu Steckler, Fort Myers Monica Taibl, Live Oak Jeanne Trudeau Tate, Tampa Mary Vanden Brook, Key West Jeannine Smith Williams, St. Petersburg 2012 Edmund T. Baxa, Jr., Orlando Steven G. Cripps, West Palm Beach Elizabeth Geary Daugherty, Fort Lauderdale Sandra H. Day, Spring Hill Michael Patrick Dickey, Panama City Daniel John Endrizal, III, Fort Myers Arthur Don Ginsburg, Sarasota Leslie Smith Haswell, Gainesville Charles Patterson Hoskin, Pensacola Myriam Irizarry, Clearwater Suzanne M. Judas, Jacksonville James Anthony Kowalski, Jr., Saint Augustine Wendy S. Loquasto, Tallahassee Melissa Lea Mackiewicz, Baltimore, Maryland Leenette Wilhelmina McMillan-Fredriksson, Mayo Adrian J. “Stan” Musial, Jr., Tampa Norman L. Paxton Jr., Fort Pierce James F. Pollack, Miami James Lawrence Torres, Indialantic Deborah Lynn Wells, Bartow Thomas Edward Woods, Tavernier 2011 Rosemary E. Armstrong, Tampa Neal Jonathan Blaher, Maitland Noah Clements, Washington, D.C. Alan Roy Crane, Boca Raton D. Todd Doss, Lake City William W. Fernandez, Winter Springs Bryan Scott Gowdy, Jacksonville Michael Halpern, Key West Daniel Lee Hightower, Ocala Russell Thomas Kirshy, Port Charlotte Lawrence G. Marin, Fort Lauderdale Troy Harold Myers, Jr., Sarasota Valerie Erwin Prevatte, Pensacola Benjamine Reid, Miami Stephen Russell Senn, Lakeland Rudolph Carroll Shepard, Jr., Panama City Shimene Ashlie Shepard-Ryan, Port Orange Murray Bruce Silverstein, Tampa Margaret Mitchem Stack, Gainesville Thomas Warren Tierney, Vero Beach Elizabeth Willard “Bib” Willis, Tallahassee 2010 Richard Lloyd Abedon, West Palm Beach Rebeccah Lee Beller, Jacksonville Caroline Kapusta Black, Tampa William G. Bostick, Jr., St. Petersburg Larry Ronald Chulock, Bradenton Michael Jordan Cooper, Ocala Robert Lee Dietz, Orlando Kerry M. Donahue, Dublin, Ohio Robert Steven Goldman, Tallahassee Scott Douglas Krasny, Melbourne Juliette Ellen Lippman, Fort Lauderdale Dana Yvonne Moore, Winter Haven John Edward Moore, III, Vero Beach Gordon Charles Murray, Sr., Miami Kathleen C. Passidomo, Naples Stephen Lee Romine, Tampa Robert Anthony Rush, Gainesville Raven Elizabeth Sword, Daytona Beach Monica Taibl, Madison Timothy Michael Warner, Panama City Thomas Edward Woods, Key West 2009 Todd Clifford Brister, Panama City Melanie Freeman Chase, Lake Mary Judith Duggan Davidson, Bunnell Jean M. Finks, Punta Gorda Thomas Carlton Gano, West Palm Beach George Michael Germann, Spring Hill Shari Thieman Greene, Gulf Breeze Harry Charles Greenfield, Merritt Island Mark Edward Hill, Vero Beach Robert C. Josefsberg, Miami Albert Lewis Kelley, Key West John Justin Kendron, Lake City Heidi Davis Knapik, Fort Lauderdale James Anthony Kowalski, Jr., Jacksonville Stanley Morris Krawetz, Sarasota William James Lobb, Bartow Shannon McKenzie Miller, Gainesville Gregory Keith Showers, Clearwater Twyla Lawrene Sketchley, Tallahassee Scott Alan Stichter, Tampa Susan Voight Stucker, Orlando Michael J. Willis, Kalamazoo, Mich. 2008 Debra Trevlyn Alexander, St. Augustine Carlotta Appleman-Moniz, Panama City Danelle Dykes Barksdale, Tampa Morgan Ray Bentley, Sarasota Dionne Maria Blaesing, New Port Richey Ross Benjamin Bricker, Chicago, Illinois Suzanne Smith Brownless, Tallahassee Theodore Mark Burt, Trenton Russell E. Carlisle, Fort Lauderdale Melanie Emmons Damian, Miami Patricia Ann Eables, Key West James D. Francis, Jacksonville Robert Eugene Fridley, Gainesville Gary Randal Gossett, Jr., Sebring John Richard Hamilton, Orlando Amy Christine Hamlin, Longwood Julie Hope Littky-Rubin, West Palm Beach William Jemison Mims, Jr., Pensacola Ginger Allison Miranda, Fort Pierce Jack Arthur Moring, Crystal River Melinda Paniagua Riddle, Naples 2007 Margaret M. Anderson, Vero Beach Rita C. Chansen, Fort Myers Robert Cintron, Key West Philip Henry Elliott, Jr., Daytona Beach Wendy Pamela Fischman, Rockville, Maryland Walter Eugene Forehand, Tallahassee Kelly B. Hardwick, III, Bartow Nancy Carol Holliday-Fields, Lake City Thomas Murray Jenks, Jacksonville Marian Audrey Lindquist, Fort Lauderdale Frank Edward Maloney, Jr., Macclenny William Leonard Penrose, St. Petersburg Michael Robert Reiter, Lynn Haven Elisha D. Roy, Palm Beach Gardens Neil William Scott, Sarasota Lawrence Dean Silverman, Miami Deborah M. Smith, Rockledge Susan Voight Stucker, Apopka Rollin Eric Tomberlin, Ocala Arthur Richard Troell, III, Crestview Sylvia H. Walbolt, Tampa 2006 Gwendolyn Palmer Adkins, Tallahassee Matthew Gary Brenner, Orlando P. Ause Brown Jr., Gainesville Brian James Connelly, Vero Beach Thomas Gene Freeman, Jr., Altamonte Springs John Justin Kendron, Lake City John Wesley Kozyak, Coral Gables Janeice Trippe Martin, Naples John Stewart Mills, Jacksonville Larry Donald Murrell, Jr., West Palm Beach Bryant Martin Richardson, Washington, D.C. Douglas Julien Sale, Panama City Charles H. Scruggs, Tampa Stephen Russell Senn, Lakeland Michael John Stebbins, Pensacola Mary B. Steddom, Ocala Julia Ann Soerpeboel, Palm Coast Joseph Frank Summonte, Jr., Sarasota Howard M. Talenfeld, Parkland Elise Katherine Winters, Clearwater 2005 Matthew Patrick Coglianese, Miami D. Patrick Dalton, Ocala Martin Robert Dix, Tallahassee Joanne Fanizza, Fort Lauderdale William Robert Garrett, Panama City Diego Handel, Daytona Beach Beth Harlan, Lakeland Nancy Carol Holliday-Fields, Lake City Deborah Marie Hooker, Okeechobee Richard Allen Horder, Atlanta, Georgia Joseph Steven “Joe” Jackson, Gainesville Aileen Naja Josephs, West Palm Beach Jacqulyn Mack, Englewood James Michael Magee, Orlando Kathleen Schin McLeroy, Tampa Michael I. Miller, Sanibel Steven Edward Quinnell, Pensacola Chad Steven Roberts, Jacksonville Kenneth F. Tworoger, Micco James M. “Van” Vanderplas, Indian Rocks Beach Linda Beth Wheeler, Key West 2004 Chris M. Ballentine, Orlando David A. Bentley, Washington, D.C. John Joseph Cassidy, Jr., Naples Robert Saul Cohen, Tallahassee Irwin A. Connelly, Bunnell Walter Merritt Green, Gainesville Nancy Wood Gregoire, Fort Lauderdale Michael Louis Guttmann, Pensacola Jack Helinger, St. Petersburg Allen Nathaniel Jelks, Jr., Panama City Robert Conrad Meyer, Miami Guy W. Norris, Lake City Joseph N. Nusbaum, Boca Raton Paulette R. Pace, Bradenton Richard A. Perry, Ocala Alan Matthew Pickert, Jacksonville Christine E. Puto-Murray, Marathon Portia Beth Scott, Stuart Sheryl Diane Snodgrass, Lakeland Edward M. Waller, Jr., Tampa 2003 Catherine F. Ackerman, Ocala Sher L. Allan, Panama City Susan Meyer Barber, Lake Wales Paul Richard Berg, Vero Beach Susan H. Bingham, St. Petersburg Kathleen McCarthy Bishop, Perry F. Blane Carneal, Fort Lauderdale Bruce Richard Conroy, Tallahassee Susan Fagan, Daytona Beach Daniel Patrick Faherty, Cocoa Richard James Fowler, Key West Gary Lloyd Kornfeld, West Palm Beach Richard A. Leigh, Winter Park Christopher Alan Likens, Sarasota Katherine Bliss Para, Jacksonville Sharon W. Potter, Pensacola James Randall Stokes, Pensacola Cynthia Stump Swanson, Gainesville Jacqueline Marie Valdespino, Miami Gwynne Alice Young, Tampa 2002 N. Albert Bacharach, Jr., Gainesville Thomas Richard Bakkedahl, Fort Pierce Robert Thomas Bergin, Jr., West Palm Beach John Thomas David, Fort Lauderdale Celia Ellen Deifik, Naples Jerry W. Gerde, Panama City John Michael Keller, Brooksville David Patrick Kirwan, Marathon Alex D. Littlefield, Jr., Tallahassee Merette Oweis, Lakeland James Justice Partlow, Sanford Robert Louis Peters, Jr., Fernandina Beach Richard Barton Ray, Bradenton Patricia Ann Redmond, Miami James Clayton Runyon, St. Petersburg Hala A. Sandridge, Tampa Thomas Edward Stone, Madison Maurice Wagner, Deltona G. Charles Wohlust, Winter Park 2001 Bryan Lee Albers, St. Petersburg Nina Nigest Ashenafi, Tallahassee Michael S. Becker, Daytona Beach Mark Alan Bednar, Pensacola Jeffry Jon Branham, Orlando Thomas W. Brown, Lake City J. Kevin Carey, Tampa Lawrence Gordon Chadband, Lakeland Mary Day Coker, Gainesville Billy Joe Hoot Crawford, Panama City Josephine Gagliardi, Fort Myers Peter Thomas Gianino, Stuart Marvin C. Gutter, Fort Lauderdale Edward Pendleton Jackson, Jacksonville Gerald Israel Kornreich, Miami John Edwin Moxley, Ocala William O’Neil, III, Longboat Key Adam D. Palmer, Boca Raton Julie Glocker Pierce, Melbourne Helen Howell Sundgren, Naples Richard E. Warner, Marathon 2000 Anne V. Gallagher Alper, Fort Lauderdale Deborah J. Andrews, Ponte Vedra Beach Joy Anne Bartmon, Boca Raton Conrad Cecil “Sonny” Bishop, III, Perry Mikele Stander Carter, Blairsville, Georgia Russell Lyle Cheatham, III, St. Petersburg John Richard Cook, Okeechobee John David Dumbaugh, Sarasota Susan Whaley Fox, Tampa Amy Ellen Goodblatt, Orlando Alexander John Gordon, Punta Gorda Larry D. Hardaway, Lakeland Bruce Edward Hoffman, Gainesville Samuel S. Jacobson, Jacksonville M. Catherine Lannon, Tallahassee Patrick M. Magill, Orlando Joel Margules, Panama City John W. Merting, Pensacola Keith Marshall Schenck, Inverness Holly R. Skolnick, Miami Joseph J. Vetrick, Key Largo 1999 Calvin Joseph Allen, Key West Robert Lee Appleget, Jr., Ocala Terry Lytle Bledsoe, Altamonte Springs James Andrew Conway, Stuart George T. Dunlap, III, Bartow Ross Mathew Goodman, Pensacola Lloyd C. Hawthorne, Live Oak A. Margaret Hesford, Lauderdale Lakes David Albert King, Orange Park Elizabeth R. Mannion, Clearwater Sidney Lewis Matthew, Tallahassee Catherine Gail Novack, Tampa Marilyn Wolf Peterson, Gainesville Lawrence James Phalin, Orlando Stephen Ralph Ponder, Daytona Beach Bonnie Kay Roberts, Bonifay Richard Brian Simring, Miami Kurt Alan Streyffeler, Fort Myers Stanley Robert Swartz, Bradenton Gary A. Woodfield, Palm Beach 1998 Jodi Marie Anderson, Tavares Gypsy Cowherd Bailey, Tallahassee Charles Bennett Bollinger, III, Panama City Jill Jacob Burzynski, Naples A. Thomas Connick, Jr., Deerfield Beach Mary Alice Ferrell, Sarasota Frank M. Gafford, Lake City Robert James Gorman, Fort Pierce Lynne Hankins Fielder, Key West Kelly B. Hardwick, III, Bartow Norberto Sergio Katz, Orlando Joseph D. Lorenz, Fort Walton Beach Margaret Diane Mathews, Tampa Joseph Clay Meux, Sr., Jacksonville Roger W. Plata, St. Petersburg Robert Rivas, Boca Raton Phyllis M. Rosier, Starke Vance Edwin Salter, Miami Dwight W. Severs, Titusville Michael Bryant Wingo, Daytona Beach Howard Jeffrey Wunderlich, East Islip, New York 1997 Leonard Albert Barrow, Jr., Melbourne Bruce Beuford Blackwell, Orlando Barbara Ann Burns, Chicago, Illinois Raymond Francis Brady, Gainesville Susan Lynn Chapman, Sarasota Stephen Herre Echsner, Pensacola Joseph P. George, Jr., Key West Alice Julia Graves, Vero Beach Frank Allan Kreidler, Lake Worth Henry Latimer, Fort Lauderdale Dominic C. MacKenzie, Jacksonville Teresa Byrd Morgan, Lake City Kimberlee Ann Nagel, Lakeland Stewart Oliver Olson, St. Petersburg Abigail Price Williams, Miami Warren Russell Ross, Punta Gorda Lou Tally, Mount Dora Cerese Crawford Taylor, Tampa Timothy Michael Warner, Panama City Sarah Hague White, Daytona Beach (posthumously) Harriet Williams Williams, Tallahassee 1996 Louis Vincent Cianfrogna, Titusville Graham Clarke, Panama City Ivan Kensey Clements, Jr., Deland Cynthia L. Cox, Vero Beach Robert Franklin Dallas, Atlanta, Georgia Jessica Calvert Dumas, Jacksonville Sara Vermelle Fielding, Lakeland Josephine Gagliardi, Fort Myers Cary Augustus Hardee, II, Madison William Charles Henry, Bradenton John Alexander Jabro, Key Largo Charles Daniel Jamieson, West Palm Beach Richard Thomas Jones, Gainesville John Marshall Kest, Orlando Nancy Moate Ley, Clearwater William Douglas Marsh, Pensacola Robert A. Mick, Tallahassee Richard Craig Milstein, Miami David Thomas Price, Deerfield Beach Gilbert Michael Singer, Tampa Carol Ann Volini, Ocala 1995 J. Victor Africano, Jr., Live Oak Thomas Porter Bell, Pembroke Pines Joye Marie Clayton, Gainesville Jane Louise Cornett, Stuart Caroline Carthage Emery, Jacksonville Jonathan Edward Hausburg, Sarasota Harley Herman, Leesburg David Brooks Kundin, Tallahassee Warren Thomas LaFray, Clearwater Alan Isaac Mishael, Miami Carol C. Murphy, Lakeland Harold D. Oehler, Tampa Julie Lynne Ozburn, Holly Hill Christopher Nida Patterson, Panama City Melinda Paniagua Riddle, Naples Louis Kahn Rosenbloum, Pensacola Siobhan Helene Shea, Palm Beach Tegan Slaton, Key West Pearl Crosby Smith, Cocoa William David Wallace, Washington, D.C. Dorothea Watson, Orlando 1994 J. Nickolas Alexander, Jr., Orange Park Brian Peter Battaglia, St. Petersburg Jerri Ann Blair, Tavares Edwin M. Boyer, Sarasota Kathryn Eckerlein Errington, Pensacola Nancy Wood Gregoire, Fort Lauderdale Charlene G. Guller, Key West Christine P. Hissam, Naples Frederick Laurence Koberlein, Lake City Clark David Lochridge, Fern Park Alexander C. MacKinnon, Orlando Ellen Sly Masters, Bartow Elizabeth Maria Schwabedissen, Miami Robert Alan Shimberg, Tampa Anne Talbot, Washington, D.C. Joseph Tomberg, Wabasso Robert L. Travis, Jr., Quincy Frank D. Upchurch, III, St. Augustine Terence John Watterson, Palm Beach Gardens Jeffrey Pat Whitton, Panama City E.A.W. “Pan” Zettler, Williston 1993 Michael Alan Bedke, Tampa Charlotte Elaine Brayer, Tallahassee Matthew James Comisky, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Richard Domenick Custureri, Ocala John Fletcher Daniel, Panama City William E. Evans, Jr., Bartow Linnes Finney, Jr., Fort Pierce William Stephen Graessle, Jacksonville David Brian Haber, Coral Gables Michael Halpern, Key West Jane Kreusler Walsh, West Palm Beach Michael Leddy O’Neill, Daytona Beach George Thomas Paulk, II, Cocoa Beach James M. Russ, Orlando Robert P. Scheb, Sarasota Jeanne Marie Reichrath Singer, Gainesville James Dunwoody Swearingen, Pensacola Allan Howard Terl, Fort Lauderdale Craig Christopher Villanti, New Port Richey Robert David Young, North Fort Myers 1992 Janice F. Bessinger, Lake City Ronald Ira Cole, Ocala Richard J. D’Amico, Ormond Beach Karen A. Gievers, Miami Pierce James Guard, Jr., Lakeland Ralph Vincent “Terry” Hadley, III, Winter Park Randall Wayne Hanna, Tallahassee Jeffrey Allen King, Sarasota Karen Boroughs Lopez, St. Petersburg Linda Weinhold McIntyre, Coral Springs Roger N. Messer, Port St. Lucie David W. Palmer, Destin Marina Stevens Roach, Naples Robert M. W. Shalhoub, West Palm Beach F. Emory Springfield, Gainesville Edward Leonard Stahley, Merritt Island William A. Van Nortwick, Jr., Jacksonville William Gerard Warner, Panama City John W. Wilcox, Tampa 1991 Eddie Mack Anderson, Lake City Mitzi Cockrell Austin, Gainesville Vanda Y. Bayliss, Sarasota M. Robert Blanchard, Pensacola Sara Blumberg, Boynton Beach M. Thomas Bond, Jr., Ocala Timothy Craig Campbell, Panama City Samuel George Crosby, Lakeland V. James Dickson, St. Petersburg Theresa Bland Edwards, Fort Lauderdale Donald Arthur Gifford, Tampa Diego Handel, Ormond Beach William Huggett, Miami Sally Dee Millward Kest, Orlando Wayne Raymond McDonough, Vero Beach John Michael Passidomo, Naples George “Buddy” E. Schulz, Jr., Jacksonville Steven P. Shea, Marathon William Eugene Sizemore, Tampa William Mark Stern, Maitland David Gregory Tucker, Tallahassee 1990 Martin Gerald Brooks, Hollywood Pamela Arianne Brown, Deland Patrick Desmond Doherty, Clearwater Patrick James Faucheux, Panama City Ricardo A. Fernandez, Tampa Gwendolyn Elaine E. Gibson, Jacksonville James Kellogg Green, West Palm Beach Pierce James Guard, Jr., Lakeland Douglas Martin Halsey, Miami Charles Emil Heim, Jr., Indian Harbour Beach Norman Linder Hull, Orlando Michael W. Johnson, Ocala Martha Ann Lott, Gainesville Pamela S. Mac’Kie, Naples Donald Francis O’Connell, Venice Karen Lynn Oehme, Tallahassee Timothy McManus Ryan, Dania Evett Louise Simmons, Port St. Lucie Daniel Mark Soloway, Pensacola Joseph Bryan Wolkowsky, Tavernier 1989 Herbert Lee Allen, Jr., Orlando Sandra Gail Atkins, Panama City Robert B. Bennett, Jr., Sarasota Barbara A. Burkett, Gainesville Pamela D. Cichon, Daytona Beach William Gentry Crawford, Jr., Hollywood Marlin Marion Feagle, Lake City G. Tiny Geiger, Tampa Charlotte I. Hunter, Ocala Jeffrey Michael Kirsch, Stuart David J. Lillesand, Miami Julie Osterhout, Cape Coral Robert E. Pyle, Winter Haven Kenneth Steven Rappaport, Boca Raton Louis Francis Ray, Jr., Pensacola Richard M. Smith, Tallahassee Robert E. Warren, Jacksonville Thomas Edmondson Whigham, Sanford Douglas Mark Williamson, St. Petersburg 1988 Robert Lee Appleget, Jr., Ocala Rosemary E. Armstrong, Tampa Jean Gillespie Booher, Fort Lauderdale Joseph Glenn Bywater, Lakeland John B. Carr, Pensacola Clyde Mabry Collins, Jr., Jacksonville Meredith Craig, St. Petersburg Donald N. Crowell, Orlando Thomas E. Cushman, St. Augustine John Paul Fleck, Jr., Bradenton Crisse Bates Foster, Palm Bay Kathleen Carol Fox, Gainesville William Adams Lewis, Panama City John Bolling Powell, IV, West Palm Beach Maurice Rosen, North Miami Beach Robert A. Sandow, Live Oak Joan Stewart, Tallahassee David Clayton Weigel, Naples Carol Ann Wolf, Tavernier 1987 Terrence William Ackert, Orlando William H. Andrews, Jacksonville Dan Phillip Brawley, Lakeland Rowlett W. Bryant, Panama City Charles J. B. Cino, Daytona Beach Patrick G. Emmanuel, Pensacola Thomas Kenwood Equels, Miami Bobbie Lee Eubank, Gainesville Saxton Robert Gaskin, III, Clearwater Julian R. Hanley, Naples Stephen P. Hoskins, Fort Pierce Alice Ruth Huneycutt, Tampa William Hamlin Kilby, Fort Lauderdale Gregory Charles Meissner, Bradenton Steven Lauren Seliger, Quincy Charles Raymond Stepter, Jr., Orlando Michael A. Viscomi, West Palm Beach 1986 Samuel Thomas Adams, Panama City Ronald V. Alvarez, West Palm Beach Marvin Wecker Bingham, Jr., Gainesville Jack Thomas Edmund, Bartow Sally Harris Foote, Clearwater Sandra Torcise Fowler, Key West Kenneth Roy Hart, Tallahassee Harry Michael Hipler, Dania H. Randolph Klein, Ocala Richard Craig Milstein, Coral Gables Samuel John Morley, Pensacola John G. Pare, Tampa John C. Patterson, Jr., Sarasota Gerald Sheldon Rutberg, Casselberry Kimberly Sands, Daytona Beach Stephen Duane Thompson, Fort Myers Louis B. Vocelle, Jr., Vero Beach Waddell Arlie Wallace, II, Jacksonville Michael Raymond Walsh, Orlando 1985 Terrence William Ackert, Orlando Joan Helen Bickerstaff, Melbourne Michael Lee Bryant, Gainesville Henry M. “Hank” Coxe, III, Jacksonville Michael Dubiner, West Palm Beach Jose Antonio Garrido, Jr., Miami John C. Guerriero, Fort Pierce James W. Kynes, Tampa Susan Sheppard Lazier, Key West Walter W. Manley, II, Lakeland David Paul Montgomery, Bradenton Cathi C. O’Halloran, Tallahassee John Michael Passidomo, Naples Ronald Greg Thornton, Port Richey John Dirffie Tyler, Daytona Beach R. John Westberry, Pensacola William J. Zloch, Fort Lauderdale 1984 Jon Harmon Anderson, Lakeland Robert Stanley Appleton, Marathon William Reid Clifton, Cocoa Cecil L. Davis, Jr., Tallahassee Kenneth S. Davis, Gainesville Rafael E. “Ralph” Fernandez, Tampa Donald T. Franke, Naples Samuel R. Hillman, Clearwater Walton B. Hunter, Tavares Thorwald John Husfeld, Deland Milton Kelner, Miami Robert Gordon Kerrigan, Pensacola Carroll L. McCauley, Panama City Hugh T. Maloney, Fort Lauderdale Richard Joseph R. Parkinson, Orlando John “Jack” Scarola, West Palm Beach William J. Sheppard, Jacksonville 1983 Harvey Martin Alper, Altamonte Springs Ben F. Barnes, Marianna William Bill Barnett, Orlando Neil Chonin, Coral Gables Julian Edward Collins, Lake City Linda A. Conahan, Fort Lauderdale Burton Cornell Conner, Okeechobee Whitney Hugh Cotney, Jacksonville Joseph Cardwell Fuller, Fort Myers Harry Allison Johnston, II, West Palm Beach Jacalyn Nichols Kolk, Tampa Philip John Padovano, Tallahassee Shon Alan Saxon, Gainesville W. Denis Shelley, Daytona Beach James Vanderplas, Indian Rocks Beach Robert Arthur Young, Bartow 1982 Ralph Artigliere, Lakeland Kenneth S. Beall, Jr., Palm Beach Russell E. Carlisle, Fort Lauderdale William M. Chanfrau, Daytona Beach Leon Blakely Cheek, III, Altamonte Springs Irwin A. Connelly, Bunnell C. Andrew Coomes, Orlando Lyman T. Fletcher, Jacksonville Clara Floyd Gehan, Gainesville Judith Ann Ginn, Wildwood Baya Harrison, III, Tallahassee Mayo C. Johnston, Panama City Ira J. Kurzban, Miami Michael S. Moreland, Fort Myers Michael F. Novilla, St. Petersburg Stephan Jay Ross, Tampa Richard J. Saliba, Fort Pierce