Carlton Fields Receives 2019 Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Law Firm
April 19, 2019
Carlton Fields believes in putting time, energy, and specialized skills and knowledge to work for the people and causes that most need them. As a charter signatory to the Bay Area Legal Services Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, Carlton Fields’ lawyers and paralegals devote at least 50 hours annually to pro bono work, for which they provide billable credit. Many lawyers exceed this goal, performing 100 to 200 hours of pro bono service per year. The earliest record of pro bono service to Bay Area Legal Services by a Carlton Fields attorney dates back to 1983, which is when Bay Area Legal Services began to track hours formally.
Carlton Fields has played an instrumental role in a number of Bay Area Legal Services pro bono projects, including regularly sending two lawyers bimonthly to assist at the Client Intake Clinic; recruiting pro bono attorneys locally and statewide to assist with the No Place Like Home Project, a pre-disaster project designed to assist clients in clearing title to real property or mobile homes in advance of a disaster so as to qualify for any necessary funds to rebuild in the event of natural disaster, and handling an extremely complicated probate matter for a client through this project; and handling a guardianship case for a client to become guardian advocate of their adult disabled child who is autistic.
The firm also provides pro bono support to a number of other organizations locally and nationally, including but not limited to: the Policing Project, a non-profit organization that works closely with communities and police departments throughout the country to promote community engagement and give community members a greater voice in policing; the Children’s Law Center, one of the largest pro bono organizations in the Washington, D.C. area and services children in need; the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida in connection with several projects at camp properties; and the Carlton Fields construction group participates in the James A. Haley Veterans Legal Clinic, which is operated in conjunction with Bay Area Legal Services and provides legal advice and counseling to Bay Area Veterans.
In its nomination, Bay Area Legal Services said, “[Carlton Fields] and its members foster a culture of pro bono service and freely commit their time and resources to meeting the needs of BALS clients, as well as numerous other clients in the legal community.”
