TALLAHASSEE — Longtime pro bono legal services champion attorney Patricia A. Redmond of Miami is the recipient of the 2019 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award.
The award is the highest statewide pro bono award. Redmond will receive the award at a Feb. 7 ceremony from Chief Justice Charles T. Canady. The awards will be held at the Supreme Court of Florida in Tallahassee.
The Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award commemorates Miami lawyer Tobias Simon, who was a tireless civil rights attorney, a crusader for prison reform and an appellate authority, according to a press release from the Florida Bar. The award is intended to encourage and recognize extraordinary contributions by Florida lawyers in making legal services available to people who otherwise could not afford them, and to focus public awareness on the substantial voluntary services rendered by Florida lawyers.
Redmond, a bankruptcy attorney and a shareholder in the Miami office of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, began taking pro bono cases in 1980. She has dedicated 200 to 400 hours each year to pro bono service through the years.
Redmond received The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 11th Judicial Circuit in 2002. She also serves on the Dade County Bar Association’s Board of Directors and has been an active volunteer for decades.
In 1999, Redmond, along with Hon. Laurel lsicoff started the bankruptcy clinic at St. Thomas University School of Law, where Redmond still mentors students while serving pro bono clients.
A similar clinical program was added to the University of Miami in 2003. Redmond now serves as director of the Eleanor R. and Judge A. Jay Cristol Bankruptcy Pro Bono Assistance Clinic at the University of Miami.
Remond also works as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Miami and St. Thomas University schools of law. At the university, she recruits students to participate in the pro bono programs of the Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida.
In 2017, Redmond represented now-bankrupt Philadelphia wedding gown retailer Alfred Angelo. She worked with former store managers and employees in order to gain limited access to the stores which allowed local customers to pick up the gowns and accessories they had already purchased.