Since its creation in 2012, well over 400 children and young adults in Hillsborough have been represented by Crossroads pro bono attorneys. Accordingly, pro bono hours contributed representing poor children in our community have grown each year:
- October, November & December, 2012 – 350 pro bono hours
- 2013 – 3,500 pro bono hours
- 2014 – 4,100 pro bono hours
- 2015 – 4,600 pro bono hours
- 2016 – 5,550 pro bono hours
Advice, counsel, and advocacy for our young clients has meant better outcomes for them. We have represented some children for years, and for the first time in their short lives they have advisors and advocates they can trust. As they experience success in their lives, they gain confidence and empowerment and realize they have viable options from which to choose, and brighter futures within their reach. We have some clients who have finished high school (traditional degrees and GEDs), and are in community college. Moreover, Crossroads attorneys receive enormous satisfaction knowing they have provided their young clients with significant, even life changing, legal remedies. One of our lawyers called her pro bono service “the most rewarding aspect of being an attorney.”
Beginning in 2013, Crossroads attorneys have won awards for their representation of children at the annual Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Awards Ceremony, as well as other community and statewide recognition.
Award winners include:
Jo Ann Palchak – Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer (Circuit Award 2013)
Sara Alpert – Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer (Circuit Award 2014, and Florida Bar award in 2015)
Elizabeth Hapner – Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer (Circuit Award 2014), 2015 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.
Wesley Tibbals – Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award (Circuit Award 2014)
Rosemary Armstrong – Tampa Bay Lightning Community Hero Award (2015), 2016 and 2017 Legal Elite in Non Profit Practice, 2017 Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction.
Fredrique B. Boire – Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award (Circuit Award 2015)
Stephen Todd – Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award (Circuit Award 2016)
Lisa Beggs – Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer (Circuit Award 2017)
Ella Shenhav – Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer (Circuit Award 2017)
Mamie Wise – 2017 Florida’s Children First Tampa Bay Pro Bono Counsel Award
