Nominations Open for the 2022 Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Awards

The 15th annual Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Awards is now accepting nominations!

Created by the Florida Supreme Court, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee oversees pro bono service to the poor (see Rule 4-6.1, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar) in Hillsborough County. The committee is chaired by the Honorable Barbara Twine Thomas and is administered by the Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) of Bay Area Legal Services. Pro bono service in Hillsborough County, whether performed by an individual attorney or paralegal, or by a law firm or organization, is recognized and promoted as part of our county’s HAVE a Heart program.

The fifteenth annual Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Awards Ceremony is tentatively scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 (more details will follow). Members of the state and federal judiciary will recognize those who have provided outstanding pro bono service in Hillsborough County.

Please use the linked Nomination Form to nominate individual attorneys, individual paralegals, a law firm, or an organization that made significant contributions of pro bono legal services to the poor in Hillsborough County during 2021. If you do not have access to all of the information requested in the nomination form, please contact Tori Simmons at tori.simmons@hwhlaw.com for assistance in completing the nomination form. Please submit your Nomination Form(s) by March 4, 2022 to Tori Simmons at tori.simmons@hwhlaw.com. The deadline for submissions will not be extended.

Awards

These awards recognize a Hillsborough County lawyer, law firm, or organization that made significant contributions of pro bono legal services in 2021. Pro bono legal services are legal services provided to poor individuals or to charitable organizations whose primary purpose is to provide non-legal assistance to the poor.

• Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer – This award recognizes an individual lawyer who provided outstanding pro bono services in 2021.
• Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer – This award recognizes an individual lawyer who is under the age of 36 or has been practicing for five years or less who provided outstanding pro bono services in 2021.
• Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Paralegal – This award recognizes an individual paralegal who provided outstanding pro bono services in 2021.
• Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Law Firm – This award recognizes a law firm of two or more attorneys that provided outstanding pro bono services in 2021.
• Outstanding Pro Bono Service by an Organization – This award recognizes an organization whose primary purpose is anything other than providing legal services
• to the poor, including but not limited to bar associations or divisions of bar associations and charitable, professional, civic, or religious organizations, that provided outstanding pro bono services in 2021.
• The HCBA Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award – This award recognizes a Hillsborough County attorney who for many years has made significant contributions to ensure legal services are available to persons who otherwise could not afford them. It is dedicated to the memory of Jimmy Kynes, who served as Florida Attorney General and later as General Counsel of the Jim Walter Corporation in Tampa.

See last year's award recipients: 2021 Pro Bono Awards.