Outreach packets give Florida legal aid organizations the names of eligible retired and inactive lawyers in their service areas and the tools to invite them into pro bono service
MAITLAND, Fla. — FFLA has partnered with The Florida Bar Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services to help 39 legal aid organizations recruit emeritus lawyers to provide free civil legal assistance under their supervision. Emeritus Lawyers are retired and inactive attorneys, authorized house counsel who are certified to provide pro bono civil legal services, former judges, and law professors.
FFLA sent emeritus outreach packets to each of its 39 grantee organizations. Each packet identifies the people in that grantee’s service area who are eligible to apply for emeritus status and supplies the materials the organization needs to invite them to volunteer.
“Emeritus lawyers bring decades of experience to the table, and many of them are ready to put it to work,” FFLA Executive Director Donny MacKenzie said. “These packets do the legwork of identifying who is eligible, so our grantees can focus on making the ask.”
Each packet includes:
- a letter from FFLA Executive Director Dominic C. MacKenzie explaining the initiative;
- spreadsheets listing every person in the grantee’s service area who is eligible to apply for emeritus status;
- a template letter that organizations can customize and send to potential emeritus lawyers;
- Rule 12 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, as amended, and a Florida Bar Journal FAQ on the 2018 rule changes;
- an article by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Peek McEwen addressed to retired lawyers considering emeritus service;
- a presentation on emeritus lawyers in Florida; and
- the Florida Supreme Court’s Emeritus Lawyer Pro Bono Participation Program form package.
FFLA encouraged legal aid organizations that share a service area to coordinate so every known eligible lawyer in Florida is contacted. Grantees that bring emeritus lawyers onto their volunteer panels also strengthen their eligibility for FFLA’s Pro Bono Support and Enhancement Grant funding.
The Florida Supreme Court amended Rule 12 in 2018 to broaden who may qualify as emeritus lawyers, including lawyers retired from other states. Generally, applicants must not be practicing law, must have been in good standing with The Florida Bar or another licensing authority and must not have been disciplined within the past 15 years. Emeritus lawyers do not need to be active Bar members or pay Bar dues.
Volunteers choose the types of cases they take. They receive training, malpractice coverage through their sponsoring organization and free continuing legal education through InReach and the Statewide Training Institute hosted by Florida Legal Services. Many available pro bono cases are listed at FloridaProBonoMatters.org, a website developed by FFLA as a hub for organizations to post cases needing pro bono assistance and for lawyers looking to volunteer and take on pro bono cases.
In December 2020, FFLA, then known as The Florida Bar Foundation, sent similar packets to 31 legal aid programs at the committee’s urging. This year’s distribution reaches eight more organizations.